Loving this Hammock Sleeve

[Dublinlin]

I haven't heard of this "sleeve" before. I'm new and currently putting together my first complete system. So, do I understand this right...the sleeve is like a huge snakeskin that wraps around your hammock AND UQ? This is what it's used for? Couldn't you skip the sleeve and just stuff it all in the stuff sack? Would the stuff sack still fit if you had a TQ in there as well? I'm doing the AT in 2028 and this looks too good to be true, to have my bed set up as soon as I get there by a removing of a stuff sack and sleeve-my UQ already attached (just needing fluffed and aligned) and my TQ dry and inside ready to go with a little fluffing up. No way. Does down just fluff up on its own btw? I've ordered my first down TQ and haven't ever tried one before so I don't know the care instructions yet.
This is an awesome set up you have btw! I'm jealous!

I’m a lazy packer(!) and the on winter hiking trips once I’ve set my hammock up the first night, on subsequent mornings I just leave the top quilt zipped inside the hammock and the underquilt attached and stuff it all into the trash compactor sack that I use to line my backpack. Then pull it out at the next campsite and string it up. The PROBLEM is it is challenging getting it’s bulky, unwieldy mass stuffed into the sack without any of it touching the ground and getting it back out and hung again without any of it touching the ground or becoming misaligned. When my hammock is tucked away in a double ended stuff sack it’s simple to string it up and take it down without any part of the hammock touching the ground but if the hammock is filled with a topquilt and still attached to an underquilt it is way too big to fit in the stuff sack. And just making a LARGER stuff sack would not completely solve the problem since the process of STUFFING it in would tend to misalign the underquilt from the hammock. Using a hammock skin helps me begin compressing it all before I even unhook one end from the tree AND it KEEPS everything ALIGNED nicely when I stuff it into the new oversized double ended stuff sack...but most of all, it keeps it all covered so that if I accidentally drag the ground during the take down or set up process, my underquilt and hammock don’t get dusty or muddy. Like I said, the hammock sleeve certainly isn’t a must have item, but it’s a mighty handy to have item! It just makes things quicker and simpler and cleaner...especially on a multi-day hike. I like it, a lot. Though when I first saw one years ago, I thought it was ridiculous and pointless.

My current double ended stuff sack (15”x7”) is not large enough to accommodate my top quilt...only my Trail Lair hammock with the 20 degree Wooki underquilt attached. If I have time before my next trip I’ll DIY a larger double ended stuff sack or custom order one from Jared at Simply Light Designs. Otherwise, I’ll just use what I have and pack my topquilt up separately each day...OR skip using my double ended stuff sack altogether and just cram everything into my backpack sealed up in just the hammock sleeve.

As to fluffing...I’ve never had to shake out my Wooki underquilt before using it. I just let it fluff out on its own an hour or so before I head to bed. Same with my top quilt. Which is why I’ve been able to get away with cheating by leaving everything connected when I tear it down to move to the next site. It’d be pointless leaving it all assembled if I had to take the UQ off and shake it out before using it again.

(ATGirl, one really important thing about down gear is not to STORE it compressed. Having it in your pack compressed from one site to the next is fine but you won’t ever want to leave it compressed days on end. Good luck with your new gear! You will LOVE down quilts!)