Big fan here. I can't say for sure, but I might be one of the very first folks here to use an UQP, or a kind of/sort of UQP. It was wind proof, water proof sil-nylon just like my small, asym tarp. I always kind of thought that that tarp was so small and asym/diamond shaped, the the UQP actually functioned as a tarp for the bottom half.
Of course, technically it was not an uQp, because there was no quilt. It was the under cover of the HH Super Shelter, which though it did not protect an UQ, it still protected the sponge like insulation I had down below me, which at that time consisted of the open cell foam HHSS pad. I did not know enough back then to add any unworn clothing under or over the pad for an even toastier experience, so that early Sept week in the northern Rockies camping at a minimum of 10,600 ft (low temp 22F) was accomplished with nothing but the HH pad. And of course the 3 oz space blanket on top of the pad. Many people are concerned about possible condensation in that sil-nylon UC which is exposed to the cold and wind, but I never had any using the 2nd VB of the space blanket which was kept warm by the insulation and my body heat, and kept my body vapor from contacting the cold sil-nylon UC and condensing on it.
(alert: this is the 110th telling of this tale
)But on the last night of that trip, using the only 2 trees available to me if I was going to camp near my tenting buddies, I was totally exposed to high wind all night long, coming right in the foot end of that tarp. It was actually bouncing me around most of the night. My buds were laughing because they knew I was going to freeze and end up on the ground near their tent, just as I did first night a week earlier, having to abandon the hammock due to major user error. I simplydid not know what I was doing. But I learned a lot during that week.
But, I never felt the wind and slept like baby. Truly one of the best sleeps I have ever had anywhere. Since then I have often used down Pea Pods and under quilts. And they have done a fine job. However, I have also used them in wind with small or wide pitched tarps enough to know that if I had a 20F UQ perfectly pitched that night, even though it might not have been under 40F, I would have froze my butt off. And my back. Unless I had also had a good UQP to go with that UQ. Or of course a much larger tarp with doors. But I still think the UQP blocks wind(and wind blown rain and splashup) from all directions better than even a large tarp. And I don't have to worry so much about a perfect storm pitch, rubbing on the condensation covered low pitched tarp as I get in and out, and shifting wind. Now, unless I am using my HHSS which automatically includes an under cover, I actually rarely use an UQP. But if I am really concerned with wind, or I want to use a smaller tarp or use a higher tarp pitch(which I love to do), I know an UQP can be very valuable to me.
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