Zeppelin/Chameleon set-up help!

[GTPowers]

Morning folks,
Note to the UGQ family, I absolutely adore my 0 degree Zeppelin! I just don't think it likes my Chameleon very much.
But I could just be new to the world of non-hodgepodge Costco quilts.

Last night was my tenth night out with my new Zeppelin and the temps were slated to drop into the teens. I was very excited to get to such a low temp, especially since my wife had blessed me with a Cedar Ridge TQ from Dutch for Christmas. I'd used both insulation layers a couple times in the twenties and things were peachy.

Last night...my feet kept falling over the side of the hammock.

So here is my situation. I've gone back and forth about how to best hang the Zep with my Chameleon. Its a challenge because the "attachment" points on the quilt and hammock don't really jive without extra faffery. Previously I had fashioned some mini zing-it whoopies to the ridgeline and run them down to the quilt to hold up the head and foot sides. This works well but its just something extra to screw with and have in your face.
Last night I left the mini-slings at home and gave it a shot without. My Chameleon was hung rather well, very comfortable lay without the Zep up. I put up the quilt and kept the tension a little low. Previously I kept the main suspension rather tight but it always felt like it restricted my lay and left me sliding into the banana shape.
The quilt felt fine, I set the draft collars, secondary suspension, and I hopped in to sleep. In the end I woke up several times with the UQ pulled under my calves and my feet/TQ hanging over the side.

What am I doing wrong here? I haven't found a may to make the attachment points and the mini-slings are really obnoxious. Am I just stuck with a quilt and hammock combo that don't mesh well?

Thank you for any feedback!
-GTP

[cmc4free]

What length Zeppelin?

Chameleon/Zeppelin is probably my most often used combo. I have a 20* Zeppelin, 77" length, with 3/32” primary shock cord.

I simply hook the S-biner from each end of the Zeppelin through the continuous loops at each end of the hammock, and have never had the need to tighten the primary suspension by cinching up on the heavy duty cord lock. I cinch up on each of the white secondary suspension shock cords until they're medium tight - probably pulling out about 12" on each of the 4 secondary cords. Then cinch up the draft collars at each corner - probably pulling out about 8" on each of those. The only other thing I do (sometimes) is attach the 4 pack hooks closest to the ends of the Chameleon to the primary suspension on the Zeppelin.

If I had a zero degree Zeppelin, I might have opted for 1/8" shock cord.

IMO with the Chameleon / Zeppelin, you should not need to do any extra attachment such as over the hammock ridgeline. I think they work great together.

[TrailSlug]

Morning folks,
Note to the UGQ family, I absolutely adore my 0 degree Zeppelin! I just don't think it likes my Chameleon very much.
But I could just be new to the world of non-hodgepodge Costco quilts.
....
-GTP

How tall are you?

[GTPowers]

How tall are you?

Only 5’9 and 200# so pretty neutral for hammock sizing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TrailSlug]

Only 5’9 and 200# so pretty neutral for hammock sizing.

Hum... I'm your exact same size and I've not experienced this issue. Did you have the foot end higher to prevent you from sliding down to the foot end too far? I wonder if you would like a Chameleon wide or maybe something like the Blackbird with a footbox? There's also the bridge hammocks which I switched to as I just got tired of messing with my under quilt and trying to stay on a diagonal, etc, etc.

[GTPowers]

Hum... I'm your exact same size and I've not experienced this issue. Did you have the foot end higher to prevent you from sliding down to the foot end too far? I wonder if you would like a Chameleon wide or maybe something like the Blackbird with a footbox? There's also the bridge hammocks which I switched to as I just got tired of messing with my under quilt and trying to stay on a diagonal, etc, etc.

Yup, I’ve tried setting my lay ends higher. I might go back out again tonight and set up in the yard. I’m pretty much stuck with Dutch since their shop is a town over. I hear that UGQ is buddy buddy with Dream Hammock so I many give theirs a shot next winter if I don’t finish this season happy with the set up.

[cmc4free]

Again, what length Zeppelin do you have? If it's a 55" or 66", your issue sort of makes sense. If you have a 77" or 83" then I can only guess it's a setup issue with either the primary or secondary suspension. As you said, you're of average height, so that's not the problem.

Do you have someone who could help you by making adjustments to the shock cords while you lay in the hammock? That might make troubleshooting a little easier until you have it dialed in.

I wonder if all the length UQ's have the same length primary suspension. I don't know the answer to that, but in my experience, the full length (77") Zeppelin has a proper length to clip to the loops on an 11' hammock. From there, the primary suspension could be adjusted tighter if necessary, but I've not found the need. For venting in hotter months, I've added an extension to loosen the tension on the primary suspension so the UQ can sag a little more.

If the UQ is interfering with your diagonal lay, it sounds like the primary suspension might be strung too tight, so if you had cinched up on the primary suspension cord lock, try letting that out so that the primary suspension is as long as it goes.

If you can, maybe take some photos next time you set it up.

UGQ used to offer an option where there were small cutouts in the primary suspension channels in just the right places to line up with the pack hooks locations on a Dream Hammock. Other than that, I don't think the Zeppelin will fit any better or worse to a Dream Hammock than any other 11' hammock.

Shug is at a group hang this weekend but he loves to help folks fix their UQ dilemmas. If you haven't seen his videos on underquilts, check those out as they're a great resource.

[cmc4free]

If you loosen the primary suspension all the way and it still seems too tight, you could add a loop or carabiner or dog bone to each end to allow it more slack.

[GTPowers]

If you loosen the primary suspension all the way and it still seems too tight, you could add a loop or carabiner or dog bone to each end to allow it more slack.

Thanks for the feedback, I’ll piggy back off this one.

I’ve got a full length so I’m guessing at least the 77. I can lay covered head to toe.

The primary suspension has always seemed tight so I’ve historically left it alone except for last night I had it pulled an inch or so.
I’ll try tonight without any tension set or even grab an extra CL I’ve got laying around.

I guess it makes sense that if the primary suspension is to tight, it would be pulling against where I’m trying to keep it with my feet.
I wonder if someone from UGQ can chime in with experience.

-GTP

[cmc4free]

Yeah, full is the 77". The 83" is considered "long." I am 6'1" and think the 77" is plenty long enough for me.

If you opted for the 1/8" shock cord, that tension effect on your diagonal would be even more pronounced.

Seemed like you described two separate problems. One being that the UQ restricted your diagonal, which could mean the primary suspension was a little tight. The other was that it sounded like the UQ moved on you over the course of the night, which could mean the secondary was a little loose and maybe looser at the foot end than the head end, if the UQ migrated toward your head, away from your feet.

Paul from UGQ (sr1355 on the forum) posts once in a while, so maybe he'll have some other suggestions. Don't hesitate to email him with questions either; he's responded promptly to me in the past when I had questions during the order process.