I'm having an idea.
I have a few cheap hammocks. You know the ones - the generic 9-foot 3-panel nylon taffeta ones that sell for about USD10 on eBay and elsewhere. I've paid about AUD14 for these.
I actually find them quite comfortable. I tend to side-sleep in a fetal position and I'm only 5'10", so I'm not really coveting the 11-footers that seem most favoured here.
I got one with an integrated bug net (for all of AUD18), but I don't like it much. Tends to hang bug net on my face. I think I prefer a separate bug net if I need one.
I'm still working on my under-insulation. I have a cheap 3-seasons OneTigris UQ. When I tested it in the yard the other night when it got down to about 5dgC (about 40F), it was marginal (in t-shirt, light pants and bare feet in my TQ). Completely unsurprising, that's exactly what it says on the pack. I shoved a windscreen reflector in between my hammock and UQ at 3am and slept comfortably until dawn. It will work okay on its own when the weather improves.
But it would be nice to have something else that gives me a few more degrees of comfort.
One idea I've been toying with, and reading up on, is to insulate one of my cheap hammocks. Rather than add fabric+insulation+fabric (aka a traditional UQ), and develop a suspension strategy to keep it in the correct place... why not just add insulation+fabric to the hammock fabric I already have, and sew it in place?
Then the idea occurred to me - I already have a perfectly shaped outer shell... a second cheap hammock! Two of my $10 hammocks, one sagging lower than the other, with a layer of insulation lofting between them. In essence it would be an underquilt that's strong enough to sleep in directly without slinging a separate hammock inside!
Would be hard to get a hammock-length of fabric for AUD14. I just bought a bunch of the only ripstop nylon my local fabric shop stocks, on special at A$6.50/m. Probably the same stuff you guys get at Walmart for US$2/yard. Yay for the "Australia tax" again. Anyway, that's about $20 for 9' of pretty basic cloth. Or $14 if it's a 9' hammock.
I was thinking synthetic insulation batting, because it's easy... no need for baffling... but then I scored a down queen-size bed quilt in a thrift shop for AUD8. It's rubbish quality down (even says it's about 20% "small feathers"), but probably warmer per compressed size than any synthetic I'd be able to get my hands on. Very low risk for experimenting. And if it leaks down... no big loss.
Using down, I'll need some baffles to keep it all in place. I was going to head back up to the fabric shop and get some kind of curtain mesh.... then I had the thought... why not chop up my integrated bug net hammock that I don't like? I can use the hammock for the outer layer and the net for baffle material.
I reckon I'll do longitudinal baffles. Maybe "baffle" the edges with ripstop (downproof-ish), so the hammocks will essentially be spaced a constant distance apart. I'll cut the ends off the outer layer hammock because I don't need to insulate the whole gathered length, just the bits I'll be laying on. I'll go full width, so I'm not locked in to laying only on one diagonal.
So there's my plan. Sew some bugnet baffles between two hammocks and stuff it with reclaimed duck from a thrift store quilt.
Anyone done something similar? Tips and hints? Things to look out for?
I'll post results here, successful or otherwise
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