Winter Hammock - Bridge vs Gathered End for warmth...
For 3 season I use bridge for comfort and being able to sleep on side.
For this winter I was hoping to get your opinions - I have a 0-degree UQ for my Ridgerunner (w/ Spindrift) as well as a 0-degree UQ for Blackbird XLC - which would be warmest option? I am thinking that I would be warmer in a gathered-end as it appears that I will be more enveloped in a pod of insulation.
Thanks for your opinions!
I think a gathered end will be warmer, because the underquilt wraps around your sides- whereas the UQ on the bridge stays flat.
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I am a side sleeper also, but I flop around quite a bit before I settle in. I have a partial underquilt (JRB Greylock 4) and what I noticed is the set-up, with a GE, for laying on my back is different than laying on my side. If I start on my back, then go to my side, the foot end of the UQ is flapping in the breeze and letting in cold air. To shift to side sleeping I have to tighten up the foot end. If I start on my side with the foot end tightened up, it is difficult to move to my back due to how tight the foot end has to be. It is so tight I can't get on a good diagonal.
So, I got a bridge hammock (Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock). I can flop around like a fish that went for a walk, and the UQ is always in the right place. I may go back to my GE hammock in warmer weather when cold spots aren't so cold, but for cold temps, I like the bridge.
Very good pint. That quilt is not going anywhere on a bridge, no matter how you move.Originally Posted by Elmer003
@Just Bill. You had me laughing calling the BMBH "the coffin." I had never heard that, but just this weekend I took this picture (below) because it looked, and felt, like a coffin.
the coffin.JPG
Yar... it comes up here and there for those asking about my 'Happy Medium' vs a BMBH.@Just Bill. You had me laughing calling the BMBH "the coffin." I had never heard that, but just this weekend I took this picture (below) because it looked, and felt, like a coffin.
the coffin.JPG
While many appreciate and enjoy the 'wide open' aspect of a bridge... for those who miss that feeling of being enveloped in their hammock the BMBH is the better option.
As a fella who enjoys cowboy camping I feel a bit claustrophobic in some hammocks... but some feel too exposed in something else and really enjoy that aspect of the BMBH.
I can't recall exactly who coined the term but it's one I've heard over the years and pretty accurate.
It's a bonus for anyone concerned about feeling 'tippy' as you're well below the suspensions center of gravity as well.
There was a thread a bit back about 'no love for the BMBH' I didn't chime in on- but the coffin is one of those 'love it or hate it' features that I think peels folks away.
I think it's also simply a matter of timing... a bit before my time as far as being focused on hammocks but it appears to me that the BMBH was out and fairly established before the hammock 'boom'.
As interest in hammocks and forum traffic increased the RR was introduced and prospective buyers likely saw more buzz going on with the RR and were drawn there to start.
So as a result I think that you had a wave of folks get involved and gave the RR a shot and stayed with it... so as the topic came up the referrals were more likely to mention the RR.
I tend to direct most folks curious about bridges to one of those before my stuff simply on the basis of cost and completeness of system available.
From my perspective...
Both are solid bridges for those that fit in them with a fairly clean list of pros/cons to discuss.
The biggest difference is sleep position with the BMBH offering a pretty straightforward flat and stable bedspace, though it's the most prone to shoulder squeeze it can be easier for side sleepers to avoid. As a result though you don't have to deal with any cold shoulders or concern with wriggling out or spilling your top quilt off the edge.
The RR does a very low fabric to bar ratio at the head end to offer a bit of a wedge shaped bedspace for your torso. (The effect is like one of those wedge pillows for sleep apnea). This results in less shoulder squeeze for a given design but a slightly more limited range of sleep positions.
Both are slightly polarizing in that you like them or you don't... but I don't see that as a bad thing... just 'is what it is'.
Both bridges benefit from pads being used in terms of comfort... but that can be a good thing really.
They both offer alot of bang for your buck and a solid system of established components to flush them out into a field ready kit.
Although they can be a bit more money on the face... I still think bridges are an excellent starting point for those interested in hammocks.
Most folks are coming from the ground and used to simply; laying down and going to sleep.
UQ's are 'better'... but sometimes using the pad you already own comfortably is a pretty nice feature to have when switching over. And being covered when you want to go to ground is always a new user concern.
Without the need to find an angle or sweet spot... you are less prone to getting all tangled up and frustrated in a standard mummy bag or fighting to stay on your sleeping pad.
You're also less prone to tinkering and fiddling as overall bridges are more forgiving in terms of pitching them in the field. You can 'blow' a setup a pretty decent amount and still get a decent nights sleep.
So overall they tend to be a better 'plug and play' option with the gear you already own IMO with a much lower learning curve to get hanging for your average camper as you need little if any specialty gear or tricks.
At the end of the day you pretty much do what you're used to doing... laydown on your pad and go to sleep.
I have done it both ways, probably more often just flop it over. In fact, I have sometimes wondered if the Jacks got that idea from me, since before I ever saw that on one of their videos, I had been posting here about my techinique- with a short UQ- of crisscrossing the left corner suspension shock cord across the top and over to the left spreader bar ring. Like this pic from 2013 with my JRB convertible MW3 short section on a WBRR:
That seemed to do a better job- usually- of dealing with the side gap. Quite a bit later I saw it on the Jacks site, but who knows, they may have already been suggesting that long before I did.
Usually, I am not using a perimeter suspension like the Greylock has, my JRB suspensions connect to the corners of the UQ. So usually no need for a secondary suspension, no accordion effect. But, if I use my old Climashield WB Yeti, I put the suspension over the bars.
Ha! Definitely a coffin, especially with the deeper Deluxe or the original BMBH like I have. But, for some reason, I always feel like the TQ works better with that deep, narrow design.@Just Bill. You had me laughing calling the BMBH "the coffin." I had never heard that, but just this weekend I took this picture (below) because it looked, and felt, like a coffin.
the coffin.JPG
Also, I forgot to say in previous post: the bridge hammocks, especially with a pad pocket, have one more potential huge benefit in deep winter: they are- except for a 90* Hammock style, by far the most comfy and easiest to us with a pad, especially a CCF pad that doesn't raise the center of gravity much. So if I find myself coming up short in insulation power with the UQ, just slipping a torso sized section of CCF into the pad pocket buys me a lot more insulation, with little to no loss in comfort.
Last edited by BillyBob58; 01-21-2019 at 15:33.
I use a bridge most of the time (towns end medium). I've had plenty of colder nights in it, but honestly feel like I'm usually a little warmer in a gathered end. I think it's because the UQ wraps around you more.
Hammock Tourist / Hammock Fiend / Hammock Therapist
Agreed!
I'm sure you will get many different opinions, as always. And, it probably varies with which bridge and which quilt is being used with which bridge. As always, there are variables.
I personally have always found my JRB bridges, used with the JRB quilts, among the easiest of all hammocks to insulate. And just as important, very consistent. No surprise gaps or cold spots.
On the bottom, the JRB quilts always fit snugly around the bottom and sides of the hammock. With the possible exception of near the top edge of the hammocks, near the top center of the hammocks where the quilt tends to gap away(insulation not much needed there anyway, but I always wondered about cold air sinking in), the quilt is always in solid contact with all surfaces of the hammock that the body will contact. I have never really figured out if that top, side gap really contributes to decreasing performance. But I often take a thin piece of shock cord attached to a loop on the quilt and run it to a loop on the other side and pull that gap in, and that solves that issue anyway. There is nothing really to adjust, assuming the quilt is meant for the hammock and is not too long. If too long, it might be tricky to get it snug enough. But most of the time, there is nothing to adjust, or to go wrong in adjustment, it just hooks to the rings or some loops as designed.
Also, do you ever notice those folds or pleats or creases(searching for right word) in a GE hammock? Except when I was using a pod that surrounded the entire hammock, I always wondered if cold air could travel down those creases. Like these:
I have never been sure if that could serve as a path for cold air to get under me, but it does make me wonder. A bridge has no such creases, as can be seen with this short JRB UQ(MW3 convertible) on a JRB bridge UL:
These quilts come well up the sides of these hammocks. I like to get on my side and lean back into the hammock sides, and insulation is always there, and anywhere else I can place a body part.
I have a full length (Climashield) UQ built by AHE for the WB RR. It does not come as far up the sides like the JRBs quilts do- but, the hammock sides are not as high anyway. I have not yet really put it to the test. But it is VERY custom fit. You just clip it on, and that is the end of any problems, it is a snug, gap free fit 100%. If there is a part of the hammock that you can lay a body part on, it is going to be insulated, guaranteed.
As for the TQs, I have always thought they worked a little better in the relatively narrow bridge hammocks. The steep sides of the JRBs tend to funnel the quilt down on top of me, seeming to have less tendency for the quilt to spread out towards the sides or lift an edge. Seems like it anyway, seems very snug, top and bottom.
With the possible exception of a Speer Pea Pod,, I personally have not been able to be any warmer in a GE hammock vs my bridge hammocks. In fact, except for that pod, the bridges seem easier to get warm(at least a little) and more consistent. I have never, ever had a gap underneath, or a cold spot. ( a Pea Pod might equal or maybe even beat the bridges, but good luck finding one)
Last edited by BillyBob58; 01-20-2019 at 22:48.
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