Questions on DIY draft collars

**Knotty** · 03-06-2012, 09:13

DemostiX - I agree with your statement about the draft collar taking on too big a challenge. It won't be foolproof but for me at least it's a stop gap measure (pun intended

) until alternate UQ attachment methods are developed. My plan is to sit back and let you do the hard work of developing and testing that new system first.

One concern with the approach you suggest is that it may require sewing within the body of the hammock. In his book, Ed Speer says that shouldn't be done for risk of compromising the hammocks strength. Then again he also says never to use any fabric lighter than 1.9oz and many have gone on to show that 1.1oz works fine if you're not a big hanger.

**HappyCamper** · 03-06-2012, 09:42

Nice job, Knotty. Looking at your hanging hammock and UQ picture, shouldn't the UQ be tighter around the hammock? That way the tube and down are compacted and then when you move around and create a hole the down expands to fill in the gap? If it's loose like in the picture, won't you just get gaps that don't fill in? Or will the bungee cord suspension take care of that?

Last night BearChaser and I got together for burgers and gear talk. He brought his updated HammockGear UQ with the new suspension and draft collars and I brought my Tewa quilt with the DIY tubes pictured in this thread. The HammockGear tubes were larger but mine were overstuffed and stand up very well so I'm going to leave mine on for right now and do some testing with them. If I do put a new larger set on, I believe I will continue to overstuff them until I come up with a reason not to by me or someone else. I like the way they stand up.

**Home Run** · 03-06-2012, 10:00

Hey HappyCamper! Looks good! I'm impressed with all you DIY folks. Once I get some more experience, I'm going to give it a shot myself. Bought a simple sewing machine (wife thinks I've gone bonkers) for whatever will be my first project.
Did get my Phoenix UQ from Adam! Wow, it's a purty piece of heaven. Gotta work to get it dialed in. In back yard got a little CBS...too much air gap. At least I'll be ready for MAHA. Say hi to Bearchaser!

Home Run

**HappyCamper** · 03-06-2012, 10:07

Hiya HR! I think a simple sewing machine is a good choice. Soooooo . . . now you will have 2 addictions. Hammocks and DIY! And nice quilt! You'll probably find that you have to hang it tighter than you first thought. Have fun playing!

**DemostiX** · 03-06-2012, 14:14

I am emboldened by knowledge that Clark has not gone out of business from returns on their hammocks, what with the pockets sewn clear across the beds in highly stressed areas. I'd appreciate someone here telling us if Clark uses hmmk bed fabric that is special. All I see is something that is not ripstop, and pockets sewn with a heavy double row of stitches 5.5 stitches to an inch. I couldn't say if the thread is polyester or nylon.

If the pocket / skirt material is much lighter than the hammock bed to which it is sewn, then the pocket will more easily stretch than the bed. I need someone as much as JohnSawyer does to watch and measure how much stretch occurs when the hammock is occupied. But, JohnSawyer is correct that even the lightest zippers would not stretch at all, and so would be a poor way to attach the skirts I proposed.

Maybe the range of partial UQ sizes and positions that can be accommodated by a single fixed pair of skirts is greater and even complete?

For easy calculation, start with a 10' x 5' hammock. A partial UQ will cover a minimum of 4 running feet of the middle of it. Full length UQs are 7 feet long leaving the last (10-7) / 2 = 1.5' unprotected. So a skirt at each end needs be just 2-2.5 ft long to wrap a partial UQ and still not be in the way of a full UQ. With 1.1oz fabric for the skirting, it looks like a maximum of 25'sq = 3 oz of fabric will be enough for the sealing skirts.

Until then, I agree, that draft collars are better than hope and completely untested solutions, even if not 100%.

**Knotty** · 03-06-2012, 16:46

HappyCamper - In the picture with the UQ on the hammock, I have the hammock intentionally loose just to show the loft of the draft collar. Gives you an idea of the amount of gap it would be capable of spanning. Actually it could probably span a little more since in the pic the collar is partially compressed (my backpack was in the hammock).

DemostiX - Good point about the Clark hammocks already having stitches in the hammock body.

**The Wolf in a Hammock** · 04-10-2012, 15:58

I am looking at making my own down under quilt,3/4 length. Is the gap only a problem at the foot end or should a draft tube be made for the head end also?

**HappyCamper** · 04-10-2012, 16:33

I put them on both ends of my hammock. I may eventually put a bigger tube like Knotty and StormCrow's at the foot end on my 3/4 underquilt. Seems to gap there more.

**Knotty** · 04-10-2012, 18:19

I just did the foot end. Generally I don't have problems at the head end. It's a pretty easy mod, so you could do the foot first and add the head end later, as needed.