Ok so I am a long time viewer of HF and this is my first post. I have been a DIY guy from the very start making my first gathered end hammock two years ago. I have never thought I was any good at it but love the challenge of making my own stuff.
I hike a Golite perspective pack and a Skeeter Beater hammock. On a recent trip out I screwed up and did not do a weather report and went out with my z-rest and a fleece throw. Man I like to have froze as temps got down to the low 50's (at one point started a fire in the middle of the night and slept next to it) so after returning home I was determined to do something about this. I wanted a under quilt. I have seen that almost everyone uses one and though I like to buck the system I think it is worth a try. When I really started digging into them I found that for a good one I was going to have to part with a little money (ok alot) so I started looking at DIY quilts. Then I was looking through my gear box and found that I had gotten a down long coat some time back at the salvation army that I think i bought just to get the down out of it. As I looked at it I thought with very few mods it might do as a under quilt at least for testing.
So I first tried to just hook on some elastic I had around and connect it to the bottom of the hammock. This was as is sleeves and all. I don't know if it was the way i was suspending it or just being a newbie but I could not get it to seal up against the hammock. So I took the sleeves off and sewed them together to make a doubling at the top and it seems to work. I made some channels and hooked it up and I think I like it. I am not sure how I will do suspension but I am hoping it will work as a starter quilt. It only weighs about 8.5oz and compressed down nicely.
So I want to post this to get people opinion as well as to as some suspension questions. I have seen people do the channels along the sides but when I tried that the middle sagged and when I do the corners the elastic seems to have to be very tight. I am going to try some shock cord but not sure what thickness to get. Any help would be great even the you must be crazy help. I will try to put pics on this post but have never done that so we will see.
Thanks
Mark
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