Townsend Bridge UQ

[bendback]

Looking for some suggestions for a good UQ fit for a Townsend Big Boy Bridge. What do you like?
Thanks

[BananaHammock]

Although it looks funny, most gathered end quilts work well. Using a piece of shock cord to hook up your quilt closer to the body helps or use prussics on the suspension and hook on at two points instead of one helps keep the spread right. The foot end I just leave down the center. It only covers the center of the hammock but it keeps the body warm. I tried bridge quilts and I don’t see any major improvements. You lose a lot of space with pads but the MassDrop Klymit X Double is a decent fit and pretty comfortable but you get close to the bars.

[Slugger]

I just use a Hammock Gear Incubator 20 I had purchased for a gathered end hammock....fits the BGBH great! All I do is hook one of the suspension lines over the spreader bar ends at each corner. Great fit.

[Dvankirk]

Bill put out a 3 video series a couple weeks ago about attaching quilts to his bridges that might help. I've rigged mine with shock cord loops and work just fine. His setup is a little more elaborate, but he is the expert.

[bendback]

[QUOTE=Dvankirk;2011339]Bill put out a 3 video series a couple weeks ago about attaching quilts to his bridges that might help. I've rigged mine with shock cord loops and work just fine. His setup is a little more elaborate, but he is the expert.

Thanks for sharing

[Cruiser51]

An oft overlooked solution for bridge hammock is the Clew suspension. I made UQs for my new bridge and initially set it up using the traditional shock cord method, as Bill points out there will be an issue, getting it to snug up in the cat curve area.

I am in the process of swapping it to a Clew suspension, which I used on my gathered ends and it works a treat. I believe it will also work perfectly on the bridge.


Brian

[Just Bill]

Missed this the first time around- so thanks all for chiming in and sharing the video.
Hopefully I can make a better video when my wife isn't sick and the boy isn't quietly turning redfaced and struggling in vain not to cough through the videos.

Videos are easier than reading but for those who like to read:

Biggest thing to remember- THIS IS NOT A RIDGERUNNER
I realize that Brandon has done so well that his bridge has become the Kleenex of the segment. But unlike facial tissue, bridges truly can be vastly different.
End bar bridges generally have a decent bit in common. Recessed bar bridges though function much differently. Mine are also much flatter or even inverted at the center. On the plus side- a standard UQ adapts much more easily on this style of bridge than end bars.

The other point here... the RR is a one size fits most design. There is really only a few sleep positions you can get into and even though it is a bridge you are still hanging off fixed points that are outside the bedspace (the bar is past your body). My premium models with recessed bars and amsteel in channel suspensions mean there are dozens of ways to sleep in the bridge. So while it may seem like an UQ with a cat cut side would work fine- there are lots of positions where it would be much worse. If you tend to sleep in any position but back or semi-side then you actually create lumps and bumps with your hips, elbows, or shoulders that would push that type of UQ off you. So for those that ask... that's the main reason I don't do a custom quilt. The secondary reason is that my stuff is expensive enough and off the shelf Underquilts from quality vendors like HG, UGQ, and Loco Libre fit them well already. James at Little Shop of Hammocks built a few custom quilts for a few folks but I personally never got to see one. Not that I think his name doesn't belong on the list of quality vendors by any means... but it's not a readily available solution to suggest.

Second thing to remember- THIS IS NOT A GATHERED END
There are reasons folks like bridges... those reasons are magnified in my bridges. With the ability to belly sleep in these... you can literally find your waist picked up to level or even a hair above your arms in that position. Even on your back you may like the bridge firmly supporting your lumbar area. Even in the sweetest of sweet spots on a GE hammock your butt is generally a good bit lower than your shoulders and/or feet. Point being; UQ's do a great job sealing up to that slight curve. Without that curve... you will often find it hard (even with a pick me up) to get the UQ to magically invert and seal perfectly.

SO- the trick here if you are struggling is to SHORTEN the adjustable RL. While this may make belly sleeping harder, it will soften the center of the bridge a little. I find this can solve that odd night when it's just a hair chillier than I'd like. Yes you need to back or side sleep but even an inch on the RL will soften it just that little bit where you will sag into the quilt a little better.

Third thing to remember is that- HEAT RISES
DUH. Bridges sleep colder, my bridges sleep coldest. But unlike a gathered end where the UQ wraps all the way up your side- my big wide flat bridge hammocks prevent that from happening. So your UQ is below you. Any heat you drive down is trying hard to rise straight up and through the bridge body. So... back to the lesson of your ground dwelling days where top insulation matters way more than your pad and lets look at your top quilt instead. The general trick with a hammock is to keep stacking up the UQs- but in a bridge I have found more success stacking TOP quilts first. Heat rises, and in order to heat up your UQ we need to find a way to not only drive some heat down... but also to trap that heat better. This doesn't really mean we should switch to a Mummy bag since that leaves most of the bridge body open/uninsulated from the top. So rather than shoving that Costco blanket into the UQ to fill the gap- use it up top. Stack top quilts up and consider using the tabs along the sides to spread and secure that outer most quilt to the bridge as well.



To Slugger's point: For the bigger, broader fill the whole width of the bridge at the shoulder folks- slipping the suspension over the head bar can do the trick by itself. Though I would caution you to be extra careful with the spreader bars, especially when the bridge is new and the amsteel hasn't taken a set. Of the few folks who have shot a bar through the bridge; most of them were related to the UQ somehow. What a few folks did was undo the spreader and slip the suspension over the hammock body (or wrap the Primary around the bar) then put the spreader bar back in. While that works fine when fully loaded; as you get into the bridge the UQ suspension stretches first which can then grab or push the spreader out of the amsteel leading to tragic unhappiness.

One trick that the first tester Mark came up with is to make a small section of shock cord with a loop on each end. After the bridge gets set up you just loop each end over the tip of the spreader bars and over the amsteel to prevent it from popping off. I think it's overkill and/or might develop a bad habit of not checking the spreader bar tips so that's why I don't include a set of 'training wheels' but they do work.

What I have found is that your shoulders simply act as the 'spreader' in just the same way as they do on the gathered end- so there is really no need to force the quilt open across your shoulders in any way.
By shaking the quilt a little you can easily get it to pop over you if you're pushing it downwards. Simply shimmy the quilt head to toe and then side to side and it will wrap you and suck up tight.

In fact- for those like me who tend to flop around from side to side or even to belly you will find that letting the quilt float this way allows it to drift along with you a bit better as you use more of the width of the bridge.

If it's been a few years or winters- primary shock cords on UQ's don't last forever. Several experienced hangers who switched over found that was the issue. Since you sit so much lower relative to the RL than your gathered end.. the stretch out isn't as apparent in your GE. So if your bright and shiny new Bridge arrives and you're wondering why the UQ seems to sag more... it's worth considering swapping or upgrading the diameter of the primary suspension shock cord.

So... try it the way I show in the video first. Check your shock cord second. Even if it is not worn out, a bump up in shock cord diameter to 1/8" may go a long way to helping get some lift. If the UQ isn't coming up and hitting the spreader bars then it's not snug enough from head to toe. The pick me up in the center covers you from side to side.

To Cruisers point-
Squidmark was a big proponent of the CLEW system and did a few quilts for these bridges. He moved on before he convinced me it was a winner... but what I would say to you as I said to him:
Back to points one and two. The biggest challenge is to get the center to pick up since the bedspace inverts. WV does some very interesting things with side to side tricks to get that to seal. I have a trick or two reserved myself if I ever do take up quilts again.

I didn't feel that the CLEW offered anything special (for my bridges at least) as getting the end to end tension balanced is not as big of a concern as side to side. On an end bar bridge I could buy into it more... but again you're more or less good head to toe being inline with your connection points. As you find a hang angle in the GE I totally get the concept and I appreciated it's SUL potential vs something like a wookie style solution.
Eventually Squidmark more or less agreed, though he remained a big proponent of the CLEW for a gathered end. Again, not my thing personally but I do understand the concept and tend to agree it has some serious potential. I think that's why Squidmark was pushing so hard on the bridge version initially. Also- it's simply not that friendly of a system for commercial use (in modern light materials) so I think that's why it remains a mainly DIY/MYOG concept.

[Slugger]

To Slugger's point: For the bigger, broader fill the whole width of the bridge at the shoulder folks- slipping the suspension over the head bar can do the trick by itself. Though I would caution you to be extra careful with the spreader bars, especially when the bridge is new and the amsteel hasn't taken a set. Of the few folks who have shot a bar through the bridge; most of them were related to the UQ somehow. What a few folks did was undo the spreader and slip the suspension over the hammock body (or wrap the Primary around the bar) then put the spreader bar back in. While that works fine when fully loaded; as you get into the bridge the UQ suspension stretches first which can then grab or push the spreader out of the amsteel leading to tragic unhappiness.

I don't actually "hook" or attach the UQ to the end of the spreader's themselves, but the line coming down from the Triangle Thingie on the ridge line kinda "hooks" around the fabric that is pushed out by the spreaders. I'll see if I can get some better pictures of the set up this week for everyone. With my set up I have no cold spots under me. BUT...with that being said, I also follow Bill's advice and have a heavier-than-needed top quilt or sleeping bag opened up like a top quilt that I use every time also. Snug as a bug in a rug!

[Just Bill]

I don't actually "hook" or attach the UQ to the end of the spreader's themselves, but the line coming down from the Triangle Thingie on the ridge line kinda "hooks" around the fabric that is pushed out by the spreaders. I'll see if I can get some better pictures of the set up this week for everyone. With my set up I have no cold spots under me. BUT...with that being said, I also follow Bill's advice and have a heavier-than-needed top quilt or sleeping bag opened up like a top quilt that I use every time also. Snug as a bug in a rug!

I follow you... I think I mixed your rig up with someone else's in my mind. Many of the early adopters were trying out something similar and I lumped you in with them in my mind. Mark (the first tester) did hook on but he uses the prussic shock cord trick and the quilt literally wraps over the bars... several folks followed suit with variations on that theme. Several folks also have seen RR rigs and think that clipping the quilt to the bar is the 'proper' way to hang a quilt so they keep trying their best to tie into the bar in some way.

That said, If you do get a chance to snap some pictures next time it's convenient I'm sure it would help others see. I am a Large/XL shirt size but not quite a Big Guy by my current bridge standards ... so having a fella your size modeling for others would help better show off how it looks with broader shoulders. Even at my size the quilt still wraps me a little more into a slight 'C' shape at the end. On the very broad shouldered users the quilt is much more fully D shaped and rides a little higher up... creating that 'kinda hooks' look you describe. As much as I like talking and typing away- it's easier just to see it.

One of these days I should take some pictures of that myself but the few times I do get to a group hang demoing one I find myself yapping away with a glass of Kentucky sterilization fluid in my hand rather than a camera.

[Peppy]

I have used almost every quilt made on a Towns-End Luxury hammock. My favorites, and easiest to use are the Jacks R Better multifunction quilts or the Mount Washington series. I hang them as normal, but use a mini-Biner at each corner of the quilt and clip it on the Amsteel. It will move and flex with you but never leaves a gap. Beyond those, a rectangular built UQ seemed to work best. A custom AHE with the same dimensions of the JRB listed above work well too.
Good luck, let us know what you decide.