In an effort to reduce weight can I simply have a line loc attached to the corners of my UQ to attach and suspend it? It seems that I could adjust the positioning and the accordion effect (secondary suspensions job I believe) and the loft with one adjustment and reduce a bunch of shockcord. I could very well be missing the key reason for why the shock cord runs the full length and that is why I am asking.
Channel shockcord is for adjusting the UQ back and forth easier to get it in the proper position. The four corner totally works. Just that you have to get in and out of the hammock to adjust to proper place for no gaps and optimal warmth.
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Many of the original UQs - and some current ones, like the Jarbidge or I think some of the JRB stuff - use exactly the system you're describing, with a length of shock cord fixed to each corner.Originally Posted by m00ch
Many UQ makers transitioned to a single primary shock cord suspension (one large loop) running through channels on the long sides of the UQ. That allowed the quilt to slide towards the head or foot of the hammock, in order to better adjust it and line it up with the users body position in the hammock. That meant you didn't have to set it up perfectly aligned (especially for shorter or non-full-length quilts), but could adjust its position after the fact - from in the hammock.
The negative effect of that was/is that especially on heavier quilts (or when it gets cold and the shock cord loses a bit of elasticity) there is a tendency for the ends of the quilt to sag inward, causing the channels to bunch up (like an accordion) creating gaps. I can't remember if it was Hammock Gear or someone else, but the secondary suspension was added to help mitigate that. The primary suspension is what actually holds the quilt up, and the secondary suspension effectively stretches the material of the quilt out along that primary suspension, and keeps it taut and prevents the sagging effect.
Most quilts on the market use a heavier shock cord for the primary, and a lighter shock cord for the secondary. If you were to look to remove the primary and just use the line lock attachment points of the secondary suspension to run cords from each corner as your main form of suspension, I'd recommend you replace that cord with thicker shock cord, otherwise it may not be up to the task of adequately holding up the weight of the quilt, especially if it's a colder weather model.
Then again, if you're looking to reduce weight, the quilt you seem to have has a bunch of stuff built in designed to accommodate that 2 stage suspension (channels, line locks, etc.) that all add weight to the quilt - though arguably not much. So I'm not sure the weight savings vs reduced functionality would be a fair trade off. You might be better off looking at buying one of the quilts that are designed to work with the type of suspension you're looking to transition to, instead of downgrading your current quilt and potentially compromising its efficiency in the hopes of saving a few grams.
YMMV.
Thanks for the responses. I will try it on my Yeti first. The minor inconvenience of it not being able to slide on the primary is well worth the approximately .6oz of shock cord not in the channel in my opinion.
You know, one if the introductions to hammock hanging is the inevitable, sitting in the UQ instead of the hammock. As is said, “It’s not a matter of IF, it’s a matter of WHEN.” If you’ve already been … initiated, then it might be one of your friends. For that reason, you may want a lot of give in the primary suspension. Or, make sure the point-of-fail will not be the UQ material but some cheap, easy to replace part instead.
Long, long ago, my instructor advised, “Anyone can write a computer program that works. I want yours to run even if someone puts the cards (yes, that long ago) in upside down.” Of course they wouldn’t read upside down but his point was, “Don’t assume everything will run, be used, the way it was designed. That philosophy carries through a lot of situations. So if everyone, every time, sat in the hammock body itself, you wouldn’t need any play in the suspension - cinch it up high and tight with little give.
But I’d make sure it could also handle a … mistake.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
What I have done with my Yeti is to run 1/2" nylon webbing through the channels and attach linelocs to the four corners, securing the ends of the UQ at the same time (a box stitch through the end of the channel that captures the doubled back end of the webbing.) The webbing is there to insure that there is no stress on the rest of the UQ. Instead of webbing, grosgrain would probably be more than enough. I went for overkill. NO permanent damage is done to the UQ: the box stitches can be removed with a seam ripper in a manner of minutes.
I use static cord on the head end. Once that is set for a particular hammock, there is no need to change it. The only reason to make it adjustable is to be able to set it for different hammocks. The shock cord on the foot end adjusts the needed tension. Like you, I can't see any reason to run shock cord from end to end.
Yes, it necessary to guarantee that the time(s) you sit in the UQ, having missed the hammock edge, that nothing catastrophic happens to the UQ. There needs to be an intentional weak point in the UQ suspension. I solve that with a weak hook where the shock cord hangs from the foot end CL.
I went through several set-ups in wanting to add secondary suspension to my Yeti and this seems to me to be the simplest and easiest to use.
And, yes, the shock cord has to be robust enough to get the job done for both the primary and secondary suspension functions.
Last edited by TominMN; 03-14-2020 at 19:09.
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