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  1. #1
    New Member
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    Heartbreak hotel over here HELP

    Hello All, grateful to be here and hopeful for all of your collective knowledge! Over the last several months I have been slowly saving my pence and building up my hammock set up. The most recent, and unfortunately heartbreaking purchase was probably the nicest piece of insulating equipment I’ve ever owned in the Hammock Gear incubator 0°. The quality and warming ability was (obviously, no surprise to anybody here) incredible and I fell in love immediately. A long day and a half or so later I was finally able to take it out to the woods and get to tinkering with it! Now here’s my issue: I am 6’1” and a dense 290 pounds- rather broad at the shoulders (not trying to talk up my sweet massive shoulders (they’re not) just trying to be descriptive!) and the underquilt, even when lying in line with the hammock BARELY covers 3/4 of the way up each shoulder, and when I get in to a proper diagonal lay there is no way for me to have both shoulders safe from un-insulated hammmock. Feet were for sure an issue as well but not the most prominent one here. I don’t really always sleep in one direction so there’s no good way to fudge it any more by adjusting opposite side tensioners either, I understand the hammock life involves plenty of fidget factor but this seems well out of those bounds as I believe a stiff belch could cause the UQ to slip off of me, and as I said: I literally can’t get all of me inside of it.

    I feel incredibly defeated. I live in Alaska which as you can imagine is not the hammock hot spot of the world so unfortunately for you poor people this is pretty much my only resource it would seem. I have been saving and studying and researching for months and months and I haven’t found any quilts that are any wider than the standard 44” nor any that have all the same features that in my opinion makes the incubator so special. Now, I am aware of the Dutch/Jacks
    zip on UQ, and I do have a WIDE chameleon, but I just cannot possibly wrap my head around how an UQ zips all the way on to a hammock that is 15 inches wider doesn’t end up ripping as soon as you sit in to it? It doesn’t make any sense to me and I don’t trust it (lol) not to mention I have seen just SO few reviews of it and that sketches me out too. I also honestly just much prefer the idea of a universal clip on UQ. gosh Hammock Gear just really killed it with their quilts, and as much as I understand, it breaks my little heart that they don’t take custom orders anymore, nor make anything for the big fella hangers out there. In any case, reading this back I see now that I’m being very dramatic and childish about all this but what can I say? I’m passionate and this was a big blow! So if anybody has any intel on either the zip on offering from Dutch, or ideally and mostly just where and how to get a much WIDER UQ I would be eternally grateful for the info. Thanks in advance, a sad sad man with a skinny fancy quilt.

  2. #2
    cmc4free's Avatar
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    Any possibility to get some photos showing how you set the UQ up, and how it looks with you inside?

    I don't want you to give up on that Incubator, but there is at least one wider 0° option I know. The JRB Old Rag Mountain.

    https://www.jacksrbetter.com/product...hammock-quilt/

  3. #3
    Senior Member goobie's Avatar
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    Did you get a short by mistake?? Assuming your have the correct length, your butt should be at the transition of the leg shelf ensuring your shoulders are covered. On the diagonal you'll have much wider coverage than inline. Remember, your TQ adds to the coverage as well. While you're a large individual a properly sized incubator should provide ample coverage, and plenty of warmth!

  4. #4
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Maybe this will give some set-up insight. Hope you get it all sorted out.
    Shug

    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  5. #5
    New Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmc4free View Post
    Any possibility to get some photos showing how you set the UQ up, and how it looks with you inside?

    I don't want you to give up on that Incubator, but there is at least one wider 0° option I know. The JRB Old Rag Mountain.

    https://www.jacksrbetter.com/product...hammock-quilt/
    Yes, tomorrow evening when I have some time to fiddle around again I’ll do my best to whip up a few example pictures!

  6. #6
    HangingOut's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear about your issues. HG does make good well designed stuff. I am 5'9" and come in under 140 pounds and have the same problem with the shaped and well designed Warbonnet Wookie. If I am hanging at the proper angle and laying still at the proper angle I have full coverage. But I always wiggle around at night and get cold spots in the foot end.

    I am now convinced that the best bottom coverage that is wiggle proof is with a integrated superior hammock. Their coverage is long enough and goes well up the sides on both ends. Just say'n.

  7. #7
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    AlaskanHanger Welcome to the forum.

    Your thinking might be off just a bit, or not. Your size certainly moves you out of the norm - not that there is anything wrong with that. Just that you will have size challenges to solve. For example, it sounds like you are expecting the UQ to come up on the sides, and admittedly many designs do that for many hammockers. But my WB Wookies don't hug up the sides of the hammock yet they function very well. The trick is to compensate with your Top Quilt. And given your shoulders and such, I'd recommend something like the HG TQ in your required length but importantly, with the WIDE option.

    The Wide option was conceived for people who might need to go-to-ground so it provides more tuck-in-ability. When I use it in a hammock I am swimming in down comfort. Because I am small. In your case, the extra width may be just the ticket to cover your sides from above rather than below.

    The other issue is UQ Fit. In days of old, we were told to cinch the ends tight (I'm talking about end cinch, not lift). But photos showed that a tight end cinch could possibly create a gap when lying diagonally - because of the feet push out. In other words, a tight cinch looked good if lying parallel to the hammock, but not at an angle. So it was advised to keep the end cinch a bit loose so the ends of the UQ could better conform to body position (which the Wookie does on the BlackBird by design).

    It is difficult to be in the hammock and at the same time being outside of it checking the setup. Shug has a video showing the UQ suspension should be tight enough to lift the hammock when nothing is in it. That's a start. Note that because of the differential cut - the bottom of the UQ cut fuller than the top - you can snug the UQ firmly up the bottom of the hammock without compressing the down loft.

    It's not hard to find a volunteer to lie in the hammock while you adjust the lift - secondary suspension (not end cinch) - and primary suspension for a snug fit. Usually, the hammock occupant feels the difference right away. Because I use different hammocks and UQ's, I almost always also add an UnderQuilt Protector (UQP). It's like a lightweight, breathable, mini-hammock that hangs under your UQ and provides an additional barrier to convection heat loss. There are other benefits listed in other posts but for me, the most benefit is I don't have to get the UQ fit as precise as I would would out the UQP.

    The short of it is - get the UQ fit as good as can be, then handle the side coverage with your Top Quilt - or use a sleeping bag in the hammock because it will cover the sides by design. If you try a sleeping bag, get in it - standing - next to your hammock, then sit in your hammock and bring your legs in. If you try to get into the sleeping bag while in your hammock, have friends stand by with a video camera so they can submit the footage to AFHV.

    Or you could just open the sleeping bag - unzip it down to about 2 feet from the end to keep a foot box - and use it like an extra wide top quilt.
    Last edited by cougarmeat; 10-19-2023 at 13:18.
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  8. #8
    FLTurtle's Avatar
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    For your hammock, do you have these pack hooks sewn on? You mentioned a Chameleon, so it should have them. If so, run your Incubator suspension cords on your outside shoulder through these. I think there's like 2 on each side, at each end (8 in total). This should help keep the uq on your outside shoulder. Now, if you flip flop back and forth in a symmetrical hammock (I do), you might not be able to use them on both sides. For me, I hook on the left shoulder and for the most part sleep that way...I tuck in the sides of my top quilt to help keep drafts out, but I find the uq wide enough for coverage. However, if flip over to the right side, I'm barely on the uq and either move back, or just unhook the shock cord from the pack hook and do the underquilt tug from left to right. I'm 6'1" and 270, regular shoulder width.


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  9. #9
    cmc4free's Avatar
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    Aside from the problem at hand, I think AlaskanHanger also brought up a good point about the JRB zip-on quilt for the Chameleon. I also don't understand how it'd work on a wide Chameleon without damage ensuing when a person gets in. Argon 90 isn't very stretchy, and neither are zippers. Seems like those would be what's supporting the person inside, rather than the hammock fabric.

    Wide Chameleon = 68" wide
    Zip-on UQ = 53" wide

    At the very least, seems like this combo would essentially convert that Wide Chameleon into a regular, with a bunch of loose hammock fabric sitting on top of the inner shell of the UQ.
    Last edited by cmc4free; 10-19-2023 at 14:34.

  10. #10
    FLTurtle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmc4free View Post
    Aside from the problem at hand, I think AlaskanHanger also brought up a good point about the JRB zip-on quilt for the Chameleon. I also don't understand how it'd work on a wide Chameleon without damage ensuing when a person gets in. Argon 90 isn't very stretchy, and neither are zippers. Seems like those would be what's supporting the person inside, rather than the hammock fabric.

    Wide Chameleon = 68" wide
    Zip-on UQ = 53" wide

    At the very least, seems like this combo would essentially convert that Wide Chameleon into a regular, with a bunch of loose hammock fabric sitting on top of the inner shell of the UQ.
    Yeah, now that you mention it...how? From DW site:

    The Chameleon Zip-on Underquilt works in conjunction with ALL of our Chameleon accessories as well as our Wide and 12-foot Chameleons.

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