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  1. #1
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    Question 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!

  2. #2
    Senior Member rweb82's Avatar
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    I think a gathered end will be warmer, because the underquilt wraps around your sides- whereas the UQ on the bridge stays flat.

    Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    Senior Member Groundskeeper's Avatar
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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.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Peppy's Avatar
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    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

  5. #5
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Schmen View Post
    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'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.

  6. #6
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    I think it depends a lot on the top quilt. A feature or a bug, depending on what you are dealing with - that the sides need to be tucked in on a TQ allows more cooling or looses more warmth. But what if you used a sleeping bag in your Bridge? You need the UQ because you won't have insulation from the compressed fill under you, but your "sides" will always be tucked in. So it is sort of like the wrap of the UQ in a GE.

    My concern would be wind. In the GE, I'm deeper "in the pocket" but not so much with a bridge. Again, a feature and a bug. Feature is more visibility; bug is more exposure. If you have the wind issue handled, I'm thinking a sleeping bag with a bridge and UQ might be very close to a GE with TQ and UQ.

  7. #7
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elmer003 View Post
    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.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Schmen View Post
    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!
    Several good points made by others...

    Probably the most overriding point is what system fits you best and works best.

    Generally- if all else is equal a bridge will sleep colder.
    The warmest bridge is the BMBH as it's the deepest and is often affectionately known as 'the coffin' among those who like it. With a properly fitting quilt this is as warm or warmer than a GE.


    The coldest bridge's are mine. They are very flat and cot like, with the center inverting slightly.
    This can make it easy for a gathered end quilt to form a small scoop at the center and trap a pool of cool air around your low back.
    On the larger models... your quilt is more like a mattress and it can allow the warm air you are trying to trap in the quilt to rise up wherever your top quilt is not covering it.
    Since the underquilt doesn't wrap around you... rising hot air rises directly through the bedspace rather than the heat loss getting slowed as it turns from flat to vertical.
    Because the space is so flat- your Top quilt has to perform much like it would on the ground and fully insulate your sides.

    A custom fit quilt on the Ridgerunner roughly splits the difference in these two extremes... so it is safe to say that a perfectly set up Gathered end system is probably warmer than a perfectly set up RR.

    That said... as pointed out; if you are not sealing up well in your gathered end due to your sleep position and sleep habits... then the bridge may be better.
    In this case all things are not equal and like Elmer mentioned- the bridge becomes the warmer system by simple dint of the fact that you fight with the hammock and as a result the insulation can't do it's job.

    Some models of hammock do get those tension channels or calf ridge scoops as BillyBob pointed out as well. Not a big deal in decent temps... but they can be quite noticeable when the temps are very low.
    In those cases again... just a matter of the gathered end design or fabric not being perfectly matched to your sleep style, position or weight.

    I'm not generally a fan of overcovers (I'd rather put a few more ounces of down in my system than another piece of gear)... but since you own one... the spindrift may be one extra bit of fruit that leaves you finding the bridge is no longer apples to apples with your XLC.

    Most of us have tried a bivy sack or a tent. It's surprising how much a thin layer of nylon can do for us in the winter so that extra 5-10* may prove to be the difference for you. While some GE proponents will make the arguement that the 'wall' of fabric on a GE cuts wind loss... it only really helps your top quilt. It also doesn't have 'a roof' like a true sock does. Heat rises... in a GE it just rises right out the top but the sock does slow it down enough that it can cause a minor bump in temp within the sock itself.


    Overall if the XLC fits you well you're probably still pretty apples to apples in the two systems you have and would be fine with either.
    End of the day though... you need to use it and see what works for you.

    Winter is unique in that all the little things or tiny details that we 'get away with' in warmer weather really do pop out in the cold.
    That tiny finger of icy air creeping down your neck or along your calf is unnoticed in 3 seasons... but can ruin your night in winter.
    Unfortunately all the warm weather practice in the world won't locate that chink in your armor.

    For what it's worth...
    Gathered ends are about the pinnacle of simplicity in design... but there are so many nuances and subtleties that affect your experience they can be anything but simple in use.

    I think one thing bridges have going for them is simplicity of use.
    The design is a massive headache to sort out and get right... but that's my problem
    For the most part though once you have it in the field they tend to be one of, if not the most consistent experiences night to night you can get.

    Some feel that way about their gathered ends... so to each their own. But in true cold it may simply boil down to what gear you trust to go up simply and do it's job.
    I still like a pad in the snow with a mummy bag for deep cold simply because that's a system I've used for 30+ years and I know it will work everytime.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Groundskeeper's Avatar
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    @BillyBob58. "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."

    I have been eyeballing this gap myself, but it has not been a perceptible issue yet, but I have only been down to 19 degrees so far. I think I will work up a little shock cord adjuster like you described and give it a whirl. What did you use to clip onto the UQ?

    Also: Do you run the side suspension cord into the slots at the end of the spreader bars, or do you just flop them over the top of the spreader bars? In one of the JRB videos, they showed the "flop over the bars" thing and it seems to be effective in bringing the UQ in tighter at the ends. It still has a small gap in the top center though.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Groundskeeper's Avatar
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    @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

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