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  1. #1
    Senior Member
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    Why not an insulated hammock instead of underquilt .

    Was thinking about a massive 6 inch loft UQ for camping in N. Michigan this winter . Why don't people just make the hammock an integral part of the down tubes . I really don't want to screw with fancy suspensions that allow air gaps if not adjusted just perfectly .

    My thought is to sew myself up 12 6 inch wide tubes with differential cut . Sew them together and then just sew some uninsulated end pieces on to make them into a hammock .

    The tubes will be about 6 feet long and the end pieces will make up the other 10 feet for the hammock . This should wrap around me like a nice cozy womb for the expected 0 or below temps . A top quilt will still be used .

    Whats wrong with this plan other then weight , which will not be so important since this will be brought in on a sled whenever it's used .

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by riverjoe View Post
    Was thinking about a massive 6 inch loft UQ for camping in N. Michigan this winter . Why don't people just make the hammock an integral part of the down tubes . I really don't want to screw with fancy suspensions that allow air gaps if not adjusted just perfectly .

    My thought is to sew myself up 12 6 inch wide tubes with differential cut . Sew them together and then just sew some uninsulated end pieces on to make them into a hammock .

    The tubes will be about 6 feet long and the end pieces will make up the other 10 feet for the hammock . This should wrap around me like a nice cozy womb for the expected 0 or below temps . A top quilt will still be used .

    Whats wrong with this plan other then weight , which will not be so important since this will be brought in on a sled whenever it's used .
    Because of what happens if your hammock rips. You are then left without the very expensive insulation that the down provided. It has been tried before and met with minimal success. As has been stated a lot lately, there are no rules to hammocking, just guidelines. If you wanna make an insulated hammock I say go for it! You might like it better than someone else who likes their UQ and it might work better for you. No reason to not try it if it's what you want.

    I think people get hung up too much on reading what other people do and thinking that this is the "correct" way to hammock. The only correct way is what you like best.

  3. #3
    Formerly octothorpesarus mudsocks's Avatar
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    You can actually order an Insulhammock.

  4. #4
    Senior Member old4hats's Avatar
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    There is a few being made, with great results, using the hammock itself for the top part and adding baffles and the outer layer to that. the resulting tubes are then down filled. The ones I have seen are more for warmer temps than you plan for, but could be made warmer.
    If the hammock body itself is pieced together, then comfort issues with the seams could arise, as well as concerns about the seams failing.
    All that being said, installing UQ's is not brain surgery, and is, IMHO, desirable over making it all in one.
    For some insight on the insulated hammock check out some of FIMB's posts on the subject.

  5. #5
    lattie11581's Avatar
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    A good place to start wood be 'justjeff'. He has a few diy ideas on his site: to the woods.net. under the tab self made gear. I was toying with this idea myself for quite a while. Something about the hammock layer stretching while your sleeping and compressing the insulation I think is what changed my mind.
    "It's better to keep your mouth shut and let people THINK your stupid than to open it and PROVE it" - SFC Kagawa, United States Army (my old platoon SGT)
    *Originally -Abraham Lincoln 16th president of US (1809 -1865)

  6. #6
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    There are more people asking the same question, and we're seeing more interesting designs for insulated hammocks emerge. My first one was a supplex hammock bed with longitudinal down-filled tubes of 1.1 oz. ripstop attached. It took a couple of tries to get the baffle heights correct, as the hammock bed stretched and would have compressed the down. I noted that and temporarily insulated it by sliding 6" wide strips of reflectix into the tubes. This was spectacularly successful for warmth and comfort, but quite bulky because the reflectix doesn't compress. Nevertheless I used it for a year before taking it apart and installing taller baffles. Then I stuffed it with down. This is the hammock that I have used for the past four years at the January Mt. Rogers hang and for winter camping here in West Virginia. I now use a pulk, so it's easier to transport it if the conditions call for skis or snowshoes. I've made about a dozen insulated hammocks since then (all different designs ). The one I'm working on this morning is going to be even better than the one that I used last month in Michigan.

  7. #7
    Senior Member darkbyrd's Avatar
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    I had the privilege to see 2 of Fire In My Bones' insulated hammocks, and I must say, they were pretty slick.
    The mountains are calling
    and I must go...

    -John Muir

  8. #8
    Senior Member JaxHiker's Avatar
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    Sounds like an interesting concept but part of the draw for hammocks imho is flexibility. This would give you a hammock with a dedicated purpose: winter camping. Using separate components allows you to add/remove pieces as needed.
    JaxHiker aka Kudzu - WFA
    Florida Trail Association: NE FL Trail Coordinator (Gold Head to Stephen Foster)
    Trail Issues? Please let me know.
    Blazing Trails with Kudzu @ www.idratherbehiking.com
    Follow me @idratherbhiking

  9. #9
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JaxHiker View Post
    Sounds like an interesting concept but part of the draw for hammocks imho is flexibility. This would give you a hammock with a dedicated purpose: winter camping. Using separate components allows you to add/remove pieces as needed.
    Good point, but for those of us living farther north some kind of under insulation is needed even in summer. My current hammocks have a thinner layer of synthetic insulation built in (so the hammock is easily washable) and a means of attaching a second quilt directly to the bottom layer of the hammock so it fits snugly without compressing the synthetic insulation or compromising the comfort of the hammock (which sometimes happens when you strap an underquilt to a ridgeline).

    I think a really good modular system (e.g. - hammock + underquilt) does give flexibility, but if comfort isn't sacrificed a bit, then dollars usually are. Of course, insulated hammock + supplementary UQ suffers from that same trade-off - DIY ain't cheap.

    A hammock with a dedicated, but limited, purpose isn't such a horror when seen in this light. Quite a few of us have more than one hammock.

  10. #10
    Senior Member mbiraman's Avatar
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    Nothing wrong with a dedicated hammock for winter.
    " The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it."

    “The measure of your life will not be in what you accumulate, but in what you give away.” ~Wayne Dyer

    www.birchsidecustomwoodwork.com

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