Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 36
  1. #11
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Pace, Fl
    Hammock
    11' SLD Trail Lair
    Tarp
    BCUSA 10x12
    Insulation
    LocoLibre DWR Down
    Suspension
    Cin-Bkle Dyn-Str
    Posts
    168
    On a trip last January my buddy had a new cottage UG that was rated below the expected temps. He got into his hammock and I adjusted it for him. He was snug as a bug when he went to sleep. In the morning while he was still in the hammock I asked him how things went and he informed me that he nearly froze to death. I looked everything over and his cinch lines at both ends had slipped during the night. His movement had caused them to loosen. I tied slip knots into the lines to hold the position and on the next night he faired much better. Is it possible that your lines slip at night if you toss and turn and allow warm air to escape ?

    Another possibility is body fuel. Are you eating a meal that is high enough in fats or calories to last you through the night ? Without fuel your body can't stay warm.

  2. #12
    Senior Member rweb82's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    NW Indiana
    Hammock
    DH Raven/Darien
    Tarp
    WB Mountainfly
    Insulation
    Loco Libre/HG/SLD
    Suspension
    Myerstech/Becket
    Posts
    1,578
    I've found that my Trail Winder UQ performs best when it's barely touching the hammock when I'm not in it. This allows the climashield to not compress as much when I lay in the hammock. And my the weight of my body does create good contact with the insulation.

    This differs from a traditional UQ- where you want the UQ to actually lift the hammock upwards when it's empty. I will say that while I love my Trail Winder, Climashield definitely does not perform as well as down, in terms of heat retention. Down gives you that "instant on" effect- whereas Climashield kinda needs to "warm up" first.

  3. #13
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    Montreal, Canada
    Hammock
    WBBB XLC
    Tarp
    WB Superfly
    Insulation
    Incu+SLD TW+DIY TQ
    Suspension
    WB webbing
    Posts
    97
    Thanks guys. So yesterday night it was 33F and the cars had frozen over windshields and roofs. With the adjustments that I had made based on the previous replies, I was very very comfortable at the beginning of the night. My feet were also very warm during the whole night, even in the morning. Made sure the sitpad was where it's needed and that the blanket was tucked in all around.

    When I woke up maybe around 5 I was pretty chilly, but my feet were actually nice and warm. It was mainly the legs, arms and some other spots. I did notice something that goes in the direction of what rweb82 is saying there. Though I use the sleeping bag more like a top quilt, i.e. don't zip up any more, I kinda do push it all around myself and even under me. I noticed that I had slipped off it with my butt and it felt cold. I have also noticed this in the evenings, though after a little while it usually gets warm then. I couldn't stand it long enough this morning to get warm though and I pushed the sleeping bag fabric back under myself.

    The shock cord definitely didn't slip, even on the sides, where I would kinda expect that to be possible as getting into the hammock pushes the UQ down quite a bit given I followed the advice to have it 'lift' the hammock. Now I read that maybe I shouldn't actually do that, so I guess I gotta try that.

    I'm not sure what to make of the answer about not forming a U at the ends. Can you elaborate? It seems to me like cinching up the ends actually caused the UQ to hug the hammock better at the ends.

    Another chilly (frost advisory) night coming up, so another night to try something. Blanket will be switched out with the old 40F sleeping bag for layering and I'll try to make sure not to lift the hammock up.

  4. #14
    gunner76's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Murphy NC
    Hammock
    Blackbird 1.7 double
    Tarp
    HG Cuben
    Insulation
    UGQs ZEPPELIN
    Suspension
    Dutch Clips
    Posts
    10,860
    Images
    39
    If my feet and socks are damp/sweaty when I first get in my hammock I keep my feet outside the TQ for a few minutes until the sweat/dampness has had a chance to evaporate and my feet feel dry. Then I stick my in the TQ.
    I am still 18 but with 52 years of experience !

  5. #15
    Senior Member TrailSlug's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Huntsville, AL
    Hammock
    Warbonnet RR / BlackbirdXLC
    Tarp
    SimplyLightDesigns
    Insulation
    Lynx / LocoLibre
    Suspension
    webbing/buckles
    Posts
    7,730
    Images
    1
    As my wife says, your doing something wrong I fought this battle for years and finally gave up and got a Warbonnet Ridgerunner where the under quilt has 4 connections and your done. Keep at it and you'll finally get it right.

  6. #16
    Senior Member MikekiM's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    East of Montauk, NY
    Hammock
    DIY
    Tarp
    HG DCF-All of them
    Insulation
    HammockGear
    Suspension
    Kevlar + Beckett
    Posts
    4,330
    Images
    21
    Quote Originally Posted by arutha View Post
    I'm not sure what to make of the answer about not forming a U at the ends. Can you elaborate? It seems to me like cinching up the ends actually caused the UQ to hug the hammock better at the ends.
    .
    Many folks tend to overtighten the cinch cords or set them when the hammock/quilt are unloaded. It looks right, with no load in the hammock, but once you get it, and the ends are prevented from stretching open due to the tight shock cord, you're left with a very narrow quilt at the head and foot, which dramatically limits your coverage. My cinch cords are almost fully open. When I am in the hammock the head and foot of the quilt cover nearly the entire width of the hammock.. Not sure how else to explain it. If I can, I'll take some pictures.
    Yes, my pack weighs 70lbs, but it's all light weight gear....
    Bob's brother-in-law

  7. #17
    Datahiker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    WNY
    Hammock
    Dream Hammock Thunderbird 11'
    Tarp
    Superfly
    Insulation
    HG Incubator Econ
    Suspension
    Python straps
    Posts
    240
    All the advice above is worth trying. Sometimes you just have cold feet. It doesn't matter what I do, I'll be toasty all night but somewhere around 5-6 a.m. my feet start getting cold. This happens even at home under a down comforter. As counter-intuitive as it sounds wearing no socks at all has helped the most. I'm an early riser anyway so normally I just get up and start moving around. Keep fiddling - eventually you'll figure it out.

    Good luck!

  8. #18
    cougarmeat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Bend, OR
    Hammock
    WBBB, WBRR, WL LiteOwl
    Tarp
    OES, WL BullFro
    Insulation
    HG UQ, TQ, WB UQ
    Suspension
    Python Straps
    Posts
    3,758
    Also consider “body signals”. For example, when it’s time to pee at night, my body stops making heat. It’s saying, “Cougarmeat, if you don’t get up and relieve me, you are going to have a case of CBS until you do.” Once I take care of that chore, it’s back to toasty warm sleep.

    As far as those loose/tight at the ends videos - the idea was, though tight ends look good/sealed with an empty hammock, when you are in with a diagonal lay, your feet/head push out to the side and if the ends are not loose enough to form fit, it can create a gap. So that adjustment was more concerned with the cinching on the ends more that the suspension length of the UQ.

    Design matters. For example, Hammock Gear’s quilts have a differential cut - meaning the bottom of the UQ is fuller than the top of the UQ. That allows you to pull the UQ up snug without compressing the loft. That is not the case with all UQ’s. So you want it snug, but not so tight it compresses the loft.

    It was difficult for me to adjust the UQ alone. I can’t be in the hammock and outside to see how it fits at the same time; I’ve tried. If the UQ is really loose, I can feel the gap by sticking my hand between it and the hammock when I’m in it - but that has to be pretty loose.

    Because I have a variety of hammocks and UQ’s - mix and match - I can’t spend time getting it “just right” and keeping it there. I use an underquilt protector (UQP) and that allows me to be a little sloppy with the UQ suspension.

    Another surprise is a ¾ length UQ seems to work better for me. With a full length - as mentioned above - the diagonal lie can push the sides out and create a gap. With the ¾ length, the bulk of the UQ is around the bulk of the cougarmeat and only a short lower part of my legs - which are warm enough in the TQ - are outside the UQ.
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  9. #19
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    Montreal, Canada
    Hammock
    WBBB XLC
    Tarp
    WB Superfly
    Insulation
    Incu+SLD TW+DIY TQ
    Suspension
    WB webbing
    Posts
    97
    Haha I definitely know what you mean about the signals. Sometimes you really just don't want to get out to pee and you fight it and try to go back to sleep until you just give up and go

    I can report that my feet again were toasty warm all night long and I was barefoot. I only put on the wool socks at maybe 6 and had warm feet very soon. Overall I wasn't as cold last night but it was a bit warmer outside though not much. Today I won't really be able to try as it's supposed to not go below 50F. Fall officially started and we got a warm spell both day and night

    Coverage wise I think I'm good as I have the symmetrical version. I was getting cold from underneath last night actually, mostly under my butt/back area where I was sleeping inside that 40F bag (zipped up) with the 0F bag as a top quilt but not tucked fully under myself.

    I was actually cinching up the ends there to try and pull it closer to the hammock and I wanted to use that little knot in the suspension there. I can probably put the mini carabiner into the webbing part of the suspension (those triangle hardware thingies) directly instead which pulls the UQ higher while loosening that shock cord giving it more play like you said.

  10. #20
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Tupelo, MS
    Posts
    11,108
    Images
    489
    Quote Originally Posted by TrailSlug View Post
    As my wife says, your doing something wrong I fought this battle for years and finally gave up and got a Warbonnet Ridgerunner where the under quilt has 4 connections and your done. Keep at it and you'll finally get it right.
    I have found bridge hammocks in general very easy to insulate, and to remain warm even as I move around in the night. The same applies to 90º hammocks. I have always suspected it has something to do with the shape of my quilts(JRB) fitting the shape of the bridge hammocks more naturally, as well as not lying across the diagonal of either the hammock or UQ.
    Quote Originally Posted by arutha View Post
    Haha I definitely know what you mean about the signals. Sometimes you really just don't want to get out to pee and you fight it and try to go back to sleep until you just give up and go

    I can report that my feet again were toasty warm all night long and I was barefoot. I only put on the wool socks at maybe 6 and had warm feet very soon. Overall I wasn't as cold last night but it was a bit warmer outside though not much. Today I won't really be able to try as it's supposed to not go below 50F. Fall officially started and we got a warm spell both day and night

    Coverage wise I think I'm good as I have the symmetrical version. I was getting cold from underneath last night actually, mostly under my butt/back area where I was sleeping inside that 40F bag (zipped up) with the 0F bag as a top quilt but not tucked fully under myself.

    I was actually cinching up the ends there to try and pull it closer to the hammock and I wanted to use that little knot in the suspension there. I can probably put the mini carabiner into the webbing part of the suspension (those triangle hardware thingies) directly instead which pulls the UQ higher while loosening that shock cord giving it more play like you said.
    I think earlier opinions that the problem is most likely with your UQ are probably correct. Once again this thread proves that the world of insulating gathered end hammocks with UQs can be a tricky one indeed. One little gap or draft, and it's game over. The natural tendency is to tighten way up to avoid gaps, but even that can lead to problems of it's own. Tricky business.

    Not that I have ever had much trouble, but I sure have read about them here, lots and lots of threads over the years. I am almost always warm. But then again, amazingly, I have seldom used full length UQs on GE hammocks. Rather I have MOSTLY used UQs(full length or short) on bridge hammocks, or pads in bridge or 90º hammocks, or a Speer Pea pod or HH Super Shelter on GE hammocks. And I have almost always been warm, and never gotten cold feet. So again, I mostly know of this problem by reading of many, many problems by others.

    What really is a bummer about this thread is you are using zero to 20F gear, sometimes with additional layers, and are still having problems at 40+ºF. Of course, some of that could be related to how cold of a sleeper your are: people vary a lot. However, if the UQ is a poor fit(with gaps/drafts) and or wind is not blocked, no amount of TQ is going to get the job done. I have been much luckier, generally being able to be comfy using my gear at or a bot below the rated temps and remain comfy.

    I want to thank you for confirming something I used to claim here 10 or 12 years ago, and about which I got plenty of contrary opinion. Based on my experience, I always thought that being inside a synthetic bag provided noticeable additional back warmth compared to either a down bag or an open back TQ. Which you seem to confirm when you say "Though I use the sleeping bag more like a top quilt, i.e. don't zip up any more, I kinda do push it all around myself and even under me. I noticed that I had slipped off it with my butt and it felt cold. I have also noticed this in the evenings, though after a little while it usually gets warm then. I couldn't stand it long enough this morning to get warm though and I pushed the sleeping bag fabric back under myself.".

    Others have given plenty of good advice for what to try. I will just add a couple of less often used approaches. Two things when it comes to those cold feet(though it seems you are already better in regards to that):
    1: make sure your head is at least as well insulated as your torso. Think of the thick hoods that normally come on mummy bags. Removing that hood can potentially reduce the warmth by 20 degrees. More importantly for many people, I think that increases foot warmth. There is a reflex, where if the brain is a few degrees colder than it normally is, it will send signals to the blood vessels of the extremities to constrict down, to become a smaller hose. This increases resistance to flow, while the vessels in the brain open wide. Warm blood is shunted away from the feet(which are being sacrificed) and to the brain(which the body favors for survival over all other body parts. A very disproportionate amount of blood flow goes to the brain, and even more if the brain is slightly cold. Conversely, over heat that brain just slightly, and it signals all of the arteries in the extremities to open wide and shunts warm blood towards them as an attempt is made to cool the brain down a bit. It is amazing what a 2 or 3" thick hood can do to warm up feet.

    2: Get some vapor barrier(VB) socks(and/or VB clothing), and wear them next to your skin, or at most with a very thin layer of socks beneath the VB socks(or clothing, for that matter). Have all other insulation outside of the VB. It can easily add 20º of warmth to your feet, with the huge bonus that it will keep all body moisture from leaving your feet ( or body) either by sweat, or by vapor which later condenses in your cold bag. And the feet are great for pumping out sweat and vapor, which ends up in your bag/quilt, just keeps building up all night. (which may say something about going to sleep warm at first, but waking up cold) Keeping your insulation dry from the inside while ending evaporative cooling 100%, greatly increases it's warmth, and keeps it from losing loft on longer trips from condensation inside the insulation night after night.

    Good luck on solving your problem. Keep at it and I'm sure you will.


    Last edited by BillyBob58; 09-23-2020 at 20:58.

  • + New Posts
  • Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

    Similar Threads

    1. IX-IQ ??? Maybe we've had this all wrong
      By Klaussinator in forum Bottom Insulation
      Replies: 12
      Last Post: 04-09-2015, 12:34
    2. what iam doing wrong ?
      By paulw in forum Weather Protection
      Replies: 18
      Last Post: 10-24-2014, 08:11
    3. Please Tell Me Why I'm Wrong
      By 4evrplan in forum Suspension Systems, Ridgelines, & Bug Nets
      Replies: 30
      Last Post: 09-29-2014, 13:31
    4. Am i doing it wrong?
      By Wittsertuck in forum Hennessy Hammocks
      Replies: 11
      Last Post: 11-06-2012, 12:28
    5. What am I doing wrong?
      By Poor Richard in forum Do-It-Yourself (DIY)
      Replies: 12
      Last Post: 10-08-2011, 20:37

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •