DIY is a real challenge, one I've avoided for the most part. I just made a silnylon tarp, probably gonna make two more tarps shortly. I sew my own hammocks and splice my own Amsteel and Zing-it, but I take no great joy in it. Some things are just cheaper to do myself.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
When I started to hang I got myself a cheapish TTTM Double with a cobbled up bugnet(worked quitte well) and some cobbled up underquilt like fleece insulation. The fleece insulation was money not spend well I found, it got me through my first two weeks of hanging dough. In the meantime I had decided to get hammocking as my camping system and wanted something like an underquilt.
Knowing my general DIY skills(call me if you want something built that just isn't straight but over engineered), I started looking at stuff available in Europe at a doable price level.
First I thougt to get an Snugpak/DD-hammocks underquilt cheapish at 100 euro delivered and useable, but I was not fully happy with it. So looking further I found UKhammocks and the stuff they offer, at "only" some 50 to 60 more expensive then a synthetic quilt I could get the one I really want. A bespoke down underquilt, knowing myself I would go that route anyway somewhere in the near future so as funds where availlable I got the good stuff at once. No need to upgrade in the forseeable future, that's at least a hundred euro's saved with not making the step inbetween.
Looking back at what I paid for my tenting stuff and comparing to my hammock setup.
Sleeping bag and pad where about 300 to 325 euro together, Exped downmat 7 deluxe and mountain hardware 20F bag.
My tent was about 250 euro, a Marmot limelight 3p.
Hammock I started with was a TTTM Double with rope set for 51 euro, bugnet was about 15 euro.
Set of carabiners to help in the suspension was 18 euro.
Tarp was a DD-hammocks 3X3M at about 40 euro.
TQ 3 season down and bespoke size winter UQ together where about 350 euro I think.
So the first setup was cheaper, more comfartable and more portable for a single person then my tent setup. I only broke the bank know with swapping out some parts...
New suspension stuff was about 25 euro.
Warbonnet BB XLC double 1.7 together with taxes and shipping was about 240!
Warbonnet superfly came to about 120 orso.
Other bits and bobs(dutchware, UQ tri-plates, gear hammock) maybe 50 or 60 euro...
Ok so now I'm more expensive then my tent setup, although my tent was due for replacement and I don't know what the price of that would have been....
But the priceless item in this, I went from restless turning on my pad to sleeping through the night. My pack became lighter at the same time and know I get my gear out more often!
When I first started hanging and saw the cost of an UQ I balked. I said there's no way in hell I'm paying that much. I got through summer time by cocooning myself in a fleece blanket. When it got too cold for that I went back to my tent. I did that the first year, then the second year as cooler weather began approaching I dreaded having to go back to my tent. I realized that I wanted nothing to do with sleeping on the ground ever again. At that point the cost of an UQ started to not seem so outrageous. Now I have 4 different UQ's, haven't slept on the ground in 3 years and I don't regret a dollar of what I spent.
I didn't read all the comments so I don't know if anyone's mentioned it yet but the cost of making a down UQ is high enough that given the prices our vendors charge they aren't laughing all the way to the bank. They actual charge a very fair price. Now ENO on the other hand seems to thing far too highly of their UQ's.
"As a well spent day brings happy sleep, a well spent life brings happy death." -Da Vinci
OK - I'm in...I'm willing to spend $100's on a good UQ, but I'll be d****d if I'll ever spend $12 on a spoon!!Originally Posted by ntxkayakr
Well, maybe...how much do they weigh again?
"...With saddle and pack, by paddle and track, let's go to the land of beyond."
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