Insulated hammock

[slowhike]

My thoughts are a lot like Bob's. I think one real advantage of the insulated hammock is that there is no seams for warm air to find it's way out of because the shell is fully attached.
But how ever you do it, it's going to be important to avoid compression of the insulation as the hammock is weighted & stretches w/ use.
So I still think having some adjustability that allows you to bring the insulation up against the hammock, or lower it as needed, will help get the very most out of your insulation.

[Just Jeff]

Great answer, Graybeard.

First, you can baffle a down insulated hammock w/o additional sewing directly to the hammock body. Just make a large baffle, lengthwise, down each long side of the undercover. It's sewn into the edges with the undercover, and on the other end it's sewn into the undercover only...effectively making a tube. For a head-to-knees insulated patch, I think that's all you'd need...and it's how I'll probably make my next one. If you're going all the way to your feet with the insulation, you may want another baffle at the feet...do it just the same.

But as Graybeard says, make sure you're designing for your needs...which means you really need to define your needs first.

[slowhike]

Here's another idea that I'm not sure has been talked about.
As I was talking w/ Youngblood not long ago about the insulated hammocks, he brought up the possibility of using some of the C4 tape. I think that's the name. It's used on the spiniker sail material.
I'm thinking if it's a two sided tape, it could be used to create baffles on the hammock body w/o sewing.

[Splinter]

I agree with what has been said (and appreciate the advice!). I'm trying to feel out the next step. I was toying with the idea of a bridge, but decided against it. After deciding to stay with the "normal" diy style I tried to work through the issues of the uq. I didn't like my original design, using an old sleeping bag, so I moved on to the idea of the winter hammock. I am a COLD sleeper, so I wanted to use the baffles to aid in keeping me warm. I can't use down because I'm allergic to the stuff, so I have to use synt. material. I'm going to use the old sleeping bag stuffing for the hammock, but I wanted to make sure it stayed in place. I don't intend to be out when its single didgets, but I would push as low as I can. I am going to the AT in Oct. and possiblely in Dec. (one of the joys of teaching...lots of breaks ) so I will need the added warmth. So that's my need, now I'm trolling for advice.

[slowhike]

Do you know what kind of insulation is in the old sleeping bag? Keeping the insulation in place would be less of a problem if it were a sheet type synthetic, but I have a feeling it may be a loose type of synthetic.

[Graybeard]

Splinter;
Do you know what form the existing sleeping bag insulation is in? You used the term "stuffing" which, to me, suggests loose balls of stuff, presumably kept in place with baffles, as with down. Are you sure it's not batts? Batts would be sewn lightly along the edges to the cover material. Some sleeping bags, at least decades ago, had batts sewn to both the inside fabric layer and the outside fabric layer. They were staggered so stitching on the inside was not lined up with stitching on the outside. These bags used no baffles at all--no need--batts don't "flow." If you don't know for sure what form it's in, step #1 is to find out. Open a seam and look.

If it's small loose pieces of insulation your construction will follow, more or less, the construction used for down. If it's fairly large "sheets" of insulation, somewhere in the neighborhood of an inch thick, you'll probably want to "tack" them to the undercover.

(((Just noticed that Slowhike just posted the same question)))

[Splinter]

Not sure... I think its the loose stuff. I can cut it and see. It'll take a sec.

It's sheet style, but sewed into the sleeping bag.

[Ramblinrev]

Has anyone done testing on a hammock body to see if sewing across the body does indeed weaken it. And if so... why is it weakened? The most likely reason I can see why it should weaken the hammock would be the possibility of nicked threads in the fabric from the needle penetration. I would not think the additional insertion of another thread would have a negative effect. If that is the case... has anyone tried using ball point needles when sewing? These are needles that are used specifically when machine sewing esspecially fine knitted materials. The points are somewhat dull so they do not pierce the fibers of the knit but rather push it aside and penetrate without damaging the fiber. The same theory works on very fine woven fabric like fine china silk. Would the same thing happen with silnyl or ripstop? I don't know the answer to that but I wonder if sewing across the body is the death knell it seems to be considered.

[Graybeard]

IF
1. this is your first whack at this kind of project
2. the sleeping bag is in reasonably good condition
3. it's rectangular or tapered but not formed mummy style
4. I was tackling the project
THEN
1. I'd look into the possibility of cutting it into a top and bottom half, choosing the better half, trimming it to fit nicely around the hammock with me inside, and me having been inside for at least several hours, and then hanging an inch or two below my butt, and sewing it to the hammock along the longitudinal edges with enormous zig-zag stitches that will be very easy to remove.
2. Spending several nights in a row in it and checking that the hammock didn't stretch to the point of compressing the insulation.
3. Adjusting as necessary to not compress the insulation.
4. Repeating 2 & 3 until no more adjustment seemed necessary.
5. Sewing with smaller, but still zig-zag, stitches.

Others may have different advice, and most of them have more experience than I do

[Graybeard]

....... I wonder if sewing across the body is the death knell it seems to be considered.

I await the results of your test.