Ed Speer hasnt any time to help me, but I am thinking about converting my 900 fill Pea Pod into an underquilt. My Pod is custom extra wide and Im thinking of taking off about 30" of width with the idea of being able to velcro the cut off part into a Pea pod when I want to. Then I can have the best of both worlds. Any thots from the peanut gallery about the feasabilty of this idea?
I have been think about modding my Peapod for use as and under quilt also, but what I have in mind would be much, much easier than cutting the quilt up. My completely untested mod would only require that placement of a few grosgrain loops....in theory.
It something that would be very hard to explain in words so I will try and take some pictures this weekend to better illustrate my point.
“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." -Terry Pratchett
that would be awesome man! I kinda dread the idea of tearing my PP up, but I need an underquilt. Let me know.. thanx, bill
Fold it in on itself? ...or fold it out against itself?Originally Posted by headchange4u
Eagerly awaiting pictures!
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Why not just try to make a trade with someone who has an underquilt you like? For instance, trade your PeaPod for a SnugFit, etc.
"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl
I think he still wants to have the option of the peapod for the really cold nights. He wants best of both worlds.
Well, actually, if someone would consider swapping their Snugfit or Mt Washington for my Peapod, I might talk turkey. I just didnt think anyone would be interested. Cant remember if it was Smee or Pan last yr at Trail Days who determined with me that their top and bottom quilt system was similar in weight and warmth ratio to my Peapod. (dont remember which combo he was talking about)
Okay. I'm finally getting around to posting some pics of my theoretical Peapod mod. Sorry for the delay.
I also want to preface the following incoherent ramblings by letting you know that I have almost no experience in using the PP. It was a recent impulse purchase and I have only experimented with it a couple of times and I have never used it for an overnight.
The main problem that I see with the PP is that when attached to a hammock in it's normal configuration, there tends to be a gap between the hammock and the quilt. This is actually a design feature. It allows you to stuff that space with extra clothing, quilts, etc to gain additional insulation. This gap also allows venting in warmer weather. To use the PP as under quilt that gap must be eliminated, bringing the quilt up next to the hammock body while making sure that the down is not compressed.
As I said, if this works it should only require attaching a few grosgrain loops, from which the quilt would be suspended under the hammock. When I first started examining the PP I noticed that there is a fold seam/hem that runs the length of the quilt.
The seam kinda separates the portion that is on top of the hammock from the section that hangs underneath the hammock. When I first saw this seam I thought to myself that this would be a great location of the grosgrain tabs. Here's a pic of the seam:
I initially thought that tabs could be spaced evenly down the side of the quilt, just like the tabs on the Snugfit universal model, and small diameter shock cord could be used to pull the quilt up against the hammock body. I would also put tab's on the ends of the quilt that would act as the main suspension point, very similar to the way JRB quilts are attached.
My first thought was that the ends of the quilt could be closed for about 8-10", forming a sort of a foot box on each end, and then left open in the middle, sorta like this:
I quickly dismissed this idea because this would leave a very narrow under quilt, with a width of about 32". Back to the drawing board...
Knowing that the quilt need to be wider I undid the ends and only folded over one baffle width on each side instead of the 2 baffles per side on my previous attempt. When I did this it opened the quilt up to about 40-42" wide, more than wide enough to use as and under quilt:
I still think that you could add grosgrain tabs to the ends of the quilt and suspend just like a JRB quilts, but you still have to deal with the quilt sagging, creating the air gap under the hammock. As you can see in this picture I thought about adding 2 sets of loops. Loops A would be the suspension point. There are 4 of those in the picture but only 2 would be need, with the other 2 showing alternate locations. The loops labeled B would be used to help pull the center part of the quilt up against the body of the hammock. I had also thought about using something similar to the elastic netting that's located on the ends on a Snugfit.
The folded over baffles also look like they would make nice draft tubes:
One con of using the wide mode is that you could no longer use the side seam to attach grosgrain loops to help support the quilt on the sides. You would have to sew the loops directly to the shell of the fabric. In the picture below I pinched a small area of fabric right at the baffle seam. If you attached a loop here you would be sewing through three layers of material: the shell, the baffle, and the shell.
Clear as mud?
“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." -Terry Pratchett
You? An impulse purchase? And I thought you were like all the rest of us, and carefully planned all your gear buys.
That would make one heck of a UQ. You going to the Arctic Circle sometime soon? I look forward to seeing the results.
That would make sense. Is a No Sniv considered good to 20*F(not sure, is that right?)? And does it weigh about roughly 20 oz? So two No Snivs would weigh about 40 oz and be good theoretically for 20*F, with a conservatively 2.5" rated single layer loft.
My 20*F rated PeaPod weighs 42 oz., and has a very conservatively rated 2.5" loft ( 5" total top plus bottom). But here is where the comparison becomes difficult. With a wider hammock, the air gap above hinders the 20*F rating. For me, it is good to about 40*F or better easy, especially if you close it up. With a more narrow hammock, it is much warmer on top, though probably still not good to 20*F unless you have some really warm clothing.
OTOH, if you add a 40*F top quilt to even the wide hammock, it will probably be fine at 20*F. A summer bag and warm clothing, in a wide hammock, did me fine at 11*.
And it will (for me) do much better than 20*F if you add that 40*F quilt with a narrow hammock. I did fine at 25-35 in a narrow hammock, no top quilt, plus some warm clothing.
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