SPANDEX: The Perfect Fit for Underquilts

[leiavoia]

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!

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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:
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