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  1. #1
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    Planning my DIY Ridgerunner Underquilt

    So I think I've read every single thread and watched every single YouTube video on DIY bridge hammock underquilts and I still have some questions before I cut any fabric.

    The most helpful thread has been this one, but as the OP doesn't appear to come to the forum anymore, I can't ask him for clarification. First thing I notice is that there aren't specific measurements on where the cat cuts finish in the middle of the quilt. Another thing I notice is that the Ridgerunner itself isn't "flat" at the ends as there's a cat cut that bows out a little bit so the hammock fabric itself isn't 78" long, but rather 83.5" in the middle according to this thread. So I guess my first question is: is it better for me to have my wife lay in the hammock and then I take what will be my inner layer fabric, hug it up against the bottom of the Ridgerunner, clip it to the edges, and then mark it so it's an exact match? Or am I over complicating things and I should just do straight head and foot ends and then on the sides, do one cat cut about 33% of the length, and then do the other about 45% of the length? That's what I'm estimating from the picture in the first thread that I linked to.

    My second set of questions is about the outer layer. Is there any reason why the simple rectangular design isn't the best method? And if I do cat cut ends, does that dramatically affect the calculations of fabric length and whatnot from the spreadsheet calculator?

    And, in case any of the following changes any of the advice (potentially) given, I'm making the quilt from Argon 67 that I bought from Dutch with 3.5" baffle material. Just "traditional" vertical baffles.

    Thanks in advance for any advice. The whole reason I'm going the DIY route for the quilt is to save money, and the last thing I want to do is either screw up the fabric cuts or create a quilt that isn't fit correctly and has gaps.

    Chris

  2. #2
    LooseGooseDownSupply's Avatar
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    I have not personally attempted a UQ for bridge hammocks but what I can say is that if you are entering the DIY world in an attempt to save money, you are likely mistaken. Sewing is a learning curve (and ridiculously addicting). It took myself and many others a ton of fails to get where we are today. However, I do not mean to discourage you by any means. If i were you, I would try to do a trial run of this build with cheap fabric before putting the "big bucks" down on the real deal.
    Last edited by LooseGooseDownSupply; 12-06-2019 at 10:16.

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    I have the same idea. What I did was hang in the hammock/place some stuff in it and measured the width at the head, foot, and middle. I plan to use these point as fixed points and make a rough estimate as to what a catenary should be. I may be mistaken but I think you just need to be good enough and not millimeter accurate. Don't forget that the inner and outer fabric width will be different to account for the puffyness of the down.

    Argon 67 is nice stuff and really lightweight so it may be more difficult than normal fabric so just go slow and you should be OK.

    As for just using a rectangular quilt, I would think that would be fine for a normal bridge but with the RR saddlebags if you put it outside the bags they will tend to pull the UQ downward. If you put the bags outside you'll probably have problems getting the UQ to snug up against the hammock or you'll find it lacking on the head and foot end. That's why I was going to try to fit the dimensions of the hammock.

    I also agree that you may not save as much as you think unless you're experienced at sewing this type of thing. Also, if you were to actually factor in your time it's way more expensive. That being said, I like DIY and have made tarps, hammocks, top quilts, bottom quilts, bags, etc. I think it's fun and I can get exactly what I want. I have more experience at this but even a beginner can do it if you just sew slow and pin/clip the fabric. Be in a calm frame of mind and understand this may take many hours to work so don't force it. He is right, it's fairly addictive.

  4. #4
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    Thanks for the replies. As far as the saving money thing, I know especially if you include time you're not going to save much, but all the 0 degree UQs I've seen have been around $350-$400. I can do the whole project for about $160 out of pocket, so to me that's pretty significant savings. Scrope, when you're talking about the rectangular UQ and the saddlebags, I want to make sure we're on the same page. If you look at the first thread I linked to, his inner layer is cat cut, but the outer is just a rectangle. I'm assuming you didn't do that and you made the outer layer just a larger version essentially of the inner? And if so, how did you calculate how much differential to use? It seems the UQ spreadsheet we all use, those calculations only seem to work for rectangular.

    Chris

  5. #5
    Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by chrislwillers View Post
    Scrope, when you're talking about the rectangular UQ and the saddlebags, I want to make sure we're on the same page. If you look at the first thread I linked to, his inner layer is cat cut, but the outer is just a rectangle. I'm assuming you didn't do that and you made the outer layer just a larger version essentially of the inner? And if so, how did you calculate how much differential to use? It seems the UQ spreadsheet we all use, those calculations only seem to work for rectangular.
    Chris
    I did a rectangular quilt for the UQ that is the width of the cat cut and just extrapolated the rest. So, in my mind, I was making a rectangular quilt that would cover the entire bottom of the quilt but only as wide as the narrowest part. I then looked at the differential and just continued those measurements for the rest of the quilt. This means that there are filled areas that are only reachable from either the top or the bottom but don't extend from the top to the bottom.

    If this seems like too much work, you could just leave the rectangular quilt alone and extend the fabric to the edge of the hammock if you want it to match the hammock exactly. You won't have any insulation there but I don't need that for my feet (so that seems to be less complicated than filling more baffles) but I would like the insulation to extend out at the head end because my shoulders are wider than my feet. I hope this makes sense.

    Also, I overstuffed my quilt and noticed the semi-rectangular baffles turned into cylinders. This wasn't a problem but it did make my quilt less wide than I anticipated.

  6. #6
    New Member
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    I cat cut my RR UQ. Next time I would just make it rectangular. The center is where most of your weight is and when the hammock stretches out it will come out about the same. I really over thought it. These best advice that I can give is when you think you know how wide to make it add a few more inches.

    I carefully measured the hammock and traced it and then added extra for the seam allowance. I came out exactly what I had anticipated, but when I lay in it the sides are exposed. I really need it about 6" wider. It should have ended up about 32". I was thinking about adding a couple of extra baffle tubes on the sides to help. In the end I fixed it by order a nice Ridge Reaper from Loco Libre. I am sure that I can use my DIY to stack them when it gets cold.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by scouter68 View Post
    I cat cut my RR UQ. Next time I would just make it rectangular. The center is where most of your weight is and when the hammock stretches out it will come out about the same. I really over thought it. These best advice that I can give is when you think you know how wide to make it add a few more inches.

    I carefully measured the hammock and traced it and then added extra for the seam allowance. I came out exactly what I had anticipated, but when I lay in it the sides are exposed. I really need it about 6" wider. It should have ended up about 32". I was thinking about adding a couple of extra baffle tubes on the sides to help. In the end I fixed it by order a nice Ridge Reaper from Loco Libre. I am sure that I can use my DIY to stack them when it gets cold.
    So you're saying just make a 32x78 rectangular quilt and then have some kind of suspensions rigged onto each corner?

    Chris

  8. #8
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    So obviously have had some extra time at home here recently, so I finally got around to doing this. I decided on a Karo Step 30" x 80" rectangular underquilt. After having had my first night out the other night and being completely content in my XTherm Max (25" wide), I figured I didn't need to reinvent the wheel and just made enough to cover the portion of the hammock I'd be laying on. I haven't hung it quite yet since I'm waiting on some more shock cord in the mail, but I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

    Instead of using down, I used Up insulation. It's definitely lofty and other than maybe not migrating quite as easily right out of the bag (a good thing later on once I have it where I want it; a PITA now when I'm trying to even it all out), you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The shell is .67 Argon.

    I decided to do a double differential which is nice for the inside baffles, but a little bit more of a pain closing up the edges where I had to do pleats for every baffle. The inside layer was 30" x 80" and the outside was 40" x 96".

    I'll get weight, compressed size, and pictures of the fit in the next couple of days (ideally), but for now, I'm pretty excited about how it came out minus some less-than-straight stitching which is to be expected since I haven't sewn in 25 years. About 4" of loft, so I'm expecting I could go pretty deep.

    Quicker Pic 2.jpg
    Quicker Pic 3.jpg
    Quicker Pic 1.jpg

    Chris

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