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  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by leiavoia View Post
    It saddens me that in 2018 i'm still seeing people regularly post about poorly fitting underquilts, cold spots, and "dialing it in" (Examples: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9). This should not be happening. Having been a victim of these issues myself, i'm on a mission to make this kind of nonsense go away forever. We're going to fix this. Here. Now. And we're going to do it with...

    SPANDEX!

    Attachment 162439

    Over the last several months, i've been doing a lot of research and prototyping of underquilts using stretch fabrics. I put together the results and wrote a big article for you. It details how to choose fabrics, how to build an underquilt with stretch fabrics, and the benefits of doing so. It contains example directions on how to make a DIY Costco down throw spandex quilt. I also present a number of theoretical avenues for further research and tinkering.

    Read the exhaustive how-to article at:
    http://leiavoia.net/spandex


    Let's quickly outline the key points:
    • Adding stretch fabric to the ends of a quilt body makes it hug the hammock.
    • Total elimination of cold spots.
    • Eliminates the need for a draft collar, "triangle thingies", secondary suspensions, cinch cords, and other crutches.
    • Basic Wooki-style gathered-end design is easy to build, but more advanced designs available, depending on your needs.
    • "Stretch Mesh" fabric is $6-12 per yard. (You only need one yard.)
    • Tons of fabric options, colors, prints, and yes... CAMO!
    • No advanced sewing skills required.
    • Quilt hangs up with a drawstring through the gathered end using a simple slipknot.
    • You can also hang it with a shoelace-style tie (as pictured). This completely seals it and reduces a quilt's tendency to rotate.
    • Biggest downside is a weight penalty of ~2oz over a conventional side-channel shockcord suspension. This can be reduced or eliminated with advanced designs, but will never compete with the clew suspension for overall weight.
    • Works with both long and short quilts.
    • Works with Wooki-style biased lay designs.
    • You can retrofit existing quilts with spandex. (Consider this if you have a badly behaved quilt and want to ramp it up to it's full potential).
    • You can convert costco blankets, snugpak blankets, comforters, and sleeping bags with spandex using the same technique.


    Of course, this is not a new idea. The old Speer SnugFit used stretch fabrics years ago. But for reasons that are beyond me, neither the commercial market nor hammock hobbyists have continued with this concept. I'm guessing this is because of either cost or lack of knowledge. But i have good news: stretch fabrics are cheap and easy to sew! I don't know why more people are not already doing this.

    Last year, i posted an article on how to make a clew suspension for underquilts. I still recommend that suspension type for backpackers. However, i believe its fiddly nature and bizarre looks have put off a lot of people from even trying it. Hopefully spandex underquilts will be more approachable for DIY folks. And maybe, dare i say, commercial vendors? That would be nice.

    I hope folks benefit from this info. If anyone would like to share their own personal results with spandex underquilts, i would very much like to see what you come up with. If this thread produces any additional innovations, i will update the original article. (I cannot update this post in the future). I'm not going to post the entire article's content here, but i leave you with this delightfully annoying teaser-trailer instead.

    Happy hammocking!



    Pictures of my first prototype Costco quilt:
    Attachment 162439 Attachment 162443 Attachment 162438 Attachment 162437 Attachment 162436 Attachment 162440 Attachment 162441 Attachment 162442

    Attachment 162435
    Do you think I could use kam snaps on the spandex to easily retro fit my Gemini and swap out clews? Or is the spandex too thin for snaps?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  2. #12
    Senior Member GadgetUK437's Avatar
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    What oz/yd is the spandex you are using?
    And thinking of logical progression... is spandex downproof?

    --
    Gadget

  3. #13
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hutzelbein View Post
    I don't want to be a party pooper, but similar to the clew suspension this approach will only work really well if the underquilt is either wide enough (I'd say 57" at least, but 60" is better), or if the spandex is attached so that the underquilt / insulated part ends up suspended diagonally over the needed width. Also, you don't need the carrier fabric to be elastic. The Wooki has shown that it is completely sufficient to have only a short elastic element - in this case a short rubber band on the foot end. This saves quite a bit of weight.

    Just for the record, I have experimented with the clew suspension, but I could never get it to work half as well as the Wooki-design. If I would build an underquilt from scratch, I would definitely copy the Wooki.
    Well, yet another fascinating and promising concept- spandex- before I have even had time to try my first CLEW!

    Re: your comment above about no need for an elastic fabric carrier: I wonder if any of this relates at all to an UQ I have recently been trying out, and one that seems to be working quite well- and after the very 1st attachment and without tensioning enough to raise the unoccupied hammock? It does have a triangle, but not spandex(too bad). They describe it as "the unique stretch tech pattern contours perfectly to your back". There is an elastic strap attached to the tip of the fabric triangle(which I think actually has a small amount of down in it), plus elastics in each side which seems to snug the sides up nicely and keep the quilts long edges straight, and actually cause it too hug the occupant(hugs are nice! ) but I don't know what all is involved with that side part.

    I'm wondering if that triangle and single elastic strap is using any of the principles described here? Or not really?




  4. #14
    Senior Member jellyfish's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jdy98p View Post
    Do you think I could use kam snaps on the spandex to easily retro fit my Gemini and swap out clews? Or is the spandex too thin for snaps?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I would do bias tape on the end. That will hold snaps.
    I sew things on youtube.
    I don’t sew on commission, so please don’t ask. Thanks.

  5. #15
    Senior Member jellyfish's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GadgetUK437 View Post
    And thinking of logical progression... is spandex downproof?

    --
    Gadget
    I doubt any spandex would be downproof.
    I sew things on youtube.
    I don’t sew on commission, so please don’t ask. Thanks.

  6. #16
    Thanks for the time, effort, and thought on this project.
    Some folks think outside the box, while others seem to tear up the box.

  7. #17
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jellyfish View Post
    I doubt any spandex would be downproof.
    It wouldn't need to be for this project, would it?

  8. #18
    Senior Member Lord_Kaos's Avatar
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    I love my clew suspension but this idea is much more what I'm looking for. I could have Jared order the stretchy stuff and modify my UQ to work this way!

    Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by hutzelbein View Post
    I don't want to be a party pooper, but similar to the clew suspension this approach will only work really well if the underquilt is either wide enough (I'd say 57" at least, but 60" is better), or if the spandex is attached so that the underquilt / insulated part ends up suspended diagonally over the needed width. Also, you don't need the carrier fabric to be elastic. The Wooki has shown that it is completely sufficient to have only a short elastic element - in this case a short rubber band on the foot end. This saves quite a bit of weight.

    Just for the record, I have experimented with the clew suspension, but I could never get it to work half as well as the Wooki-design. If I would build an underquilt from scratch, I would definitely copy the Wooki.
    Thanks for the contrary feedback, hutzelbein. I appreciate that more than 100 "good jobs".

    I know the carrier fabric does not need to be elastic. Putting my prototype together that way was done because it is the easiest possible way to make this work for people that want to give it a try (myself included). However, i also document several alternative strategies that use a minimum amount of spandex and more ultralight fabric to fill out the rest of the length. For the pictures prototype, i also wanted something that looked rediculous, thus the tie-dye fabric and gold trim ;-) It's also a 60" costco quilt, so i guess it passes your width test.

    In the case of the Wooki, Warbonnet has the luxury of marketing that specific product for their specific hammocks. That doesn't mean that a Wookie can't be used on other hammocks. However, having full-length elastic, even just a little bit, means that i can take my 9' spandex quilt and put it on my 10' WBBB just as well as my 14' Brazilian without changing the quilt.

    Finally, I'm approaching this entire topic more from the point of view of modifying an existing quilt rather than scratch-building something. If i were doing it from scratch again, i would take a different approach than if i were converting a sleeping bag, for example.

    In the end, all of this just helps populate the intellectual ecosystem which future generations can mine for ideas.

  10. #20
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    Answering a few questions:

    Can I use KAM snaps to attach spandex to quilt?

    Don't. The point of elastic fabric is having 100% full contact stretchiness. If you reduce that to just the points of contact provided by the snaps, you might as well just use the clew suspensions and skip the fabric. It will have the same dynamics and be lighter too. If you are currently building a GEMINI set, stick to the instructions and you will do well.

    What fabric weight am i using?

    Mine is 2.8oz / sq.yd tie dye stretch mesh w/ 15% elastane found here. I also got a yard of "holographic metallic white shattered glass" just because most wilderness explorers don't have enough gaudy metallic fabrics on them and maybe i can help with that.

    What this means is that the entire suspension on my prototype costco blanket weighs ~4.6oz. I don't consider that very light, but on a 50" wide quilt it would be about 3.8oz. You can take it down further by using a triangle fan or using Membrane fabric for part of the length instead of solid stretch fabric (i.e. a double-banded design). That would bring it in line with typical shockcord side-channel suspension weights.

    Is it downproof?

    Solid 4-way spandex... maybe. Stretch Mesh, certainly not:
    IMG_7289.jpg

    Regardless, you don't want to be using spandex for the feather containing part of the quilt.

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