Extra Insulation: Am I crazy?

[Knee Jerk]

So I purchased two of those Double Black Diamond Down Throw Blankets at Kohl's for $19.95 each - gray in color. (not "grey" which isn't a color unless you live in England.)

So here's my plan:

I don't wanna sew it or staple it or button it or velcro it or stick chewing gum on it. My plan is to simply rig my ENO Ember 2 underquilt and lay the down throws loosely inside unattached to anything. That way I can have extra insulation only when needed. My hammock snuggles into the underquilt pretty securely on the sides so I don't think they will blow around.

It's too cold to go outside and test this plan (zero tonight and minus 6 tomorrow night) and it's been too cold for the past two weeks with at least another week to go.

But this should work - right?

[rweb82]

You need to check and see how tight the Ember is to your body when you're inside the hammock. The problem with just laying the down throws inside is there's a good chance your Ember will compress all of the down once you lie in the hammock- thus losing almost all of the insulation value.

IMO, the down throws don't add much benefit until you at least rip the seams in one direction. There's a decent amount of down trapped in the stitching that gets released when you do this.

I know you don't want to, but you'd be better off using the throws to make the Gemini system with Kam Snaps, and ditching the Ember altogether.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out!

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[leiavoia]

This will kinda work if the outer quilt is attached gently enough not to squish the Costco blanket.

However it is not likely to stay put and will, like everything in a hammock, fall to the middle.

[Knee Jerk]

Thanks to both of you for the advice. Once it warms up a little, I will give it a go and see what happens.

[Knee Jerk]

Well, I set my hammock up in the garage because it is still too cold outside. Even though the Double Black Diamond blanket weighs less than a pound it causes the ENO underquilt to sag too far away from the hammock.

Back to the drawing board.

[dakotaross]

You may just want to tighten up the Ember suspension. If its sagging, that means you're getting some room for the quilts to loft. Even if you end up crushing the loft of the quilts, they likely will provide some residual insulation, enough so that it might be worth playing with the setup. I do think you might run into issues with getting the quilts to stay in play, but I think you could make this work and then see if they'll stay in place.

[Knee Jerk]

Thanks for the replies.

I did tighten up the suspension about three inches on each side and the Ember2 now holds the Double Black Diamond quilt in place with no sagging. However, I haven't tested it yet for a full 8-hour sleep and I suspect it will move around a little. I went to the local JoAnn's Fabrics to buy a KAMsnap system but they didn't have one. But snapping the underquilt into place may be my next move.

[100 Ton]

I'd be tempted to try a couple of Dutch's Plastic Locking Alligator Clips along each long edge. That ought to keep it in place. I haven't tried them yet, but I have them in my shopping cart on Dutchwaregear for another application, and, I have thought of doing the same thing you're talking about. I think it will add a good deal warmth to an existing underquilt.

[leiavoia]

Duct tape will work. I'm not kidding.

[Knee Jerk]

Thanks!

I will look into the Dutch Alligator clips.

And I have several rolls of duct tape just sitting in the garage and the gray color will match the Costco blanket perfectly!