DIY Weekend

[RockIsland]

It has been a full weekend for me, I finally got around to making my "Monster Kmart Quilt" and my new tarp. I worked most of Friday and Saturday behind the Thread injector. If I added it all up correctly it was around 15 hrs total for both projects. My boss would be beside himself if he could get half that out of me at work.

First off the Monster Kmart Underquilt:
It is 67 inches long and 45 inches wide. I used two Kmart down pillows for stuffing. The baffles are 2.5 inches tall and I spaced them 5 inches apart. I don't know how much it ways yet, I've got to pick up a good scale. The shell material is 1.1 oz ripstop from Backwoods daydreamer (DIY Gear Supply). The cost for the Monstrosity is somewhere around $35, $12 for material, $20 for down plus tax and thread and baffles. The photo is a little out of focus (I think the lens was dirty). I have to change up my suspension, when I tried it out, it didn't fit just right.

The Tarp:
The tarp is 132 inches long and each side is 58 inches. I used the Hex tarp plans from Backwoods Daydreamer and purchased all materials from them. The tarp is made from 70d Black nylon and the reinforcements are 200d. I chose the orange reflective pullouts because.... well I wanted to. I don't do any stealth camping so I figured the orange would look good against the black and the reflective will help with finding in the dark. I used 3/4 D rings at all corners and side pull outs plus ridgeline.

Anyway thought I'd share my new kit, up until now I had only used silver tarps from Walmart. They worked good but man are they heavy. Granted the tarp I made is not the lightest but I sure beets WW tarp.

I also tried a double hang yesterday afternoon. My daughter wanted to put up her hammock and read. The only problem was the wind was blowing. I raised the tarp higher on the tree and hung her hammock just above mine. Now I just need to add two more underquilts and one more tarp (if we use the above system of hanging) to outfit the hole family. I included a photo of the tarp at night to show off the shinny.

[lubbockhammockguy]

nice job, all looks good

[Aardvark]

Good looking kit amigo. What is the deal with the hang on the underquilt, give us the rundown and we may be able to talk you thru it. Loving the "shinny"!

[Mountnman]

Looks great, a great sense of pride when you get to stand back and look at your work isnt it

[Hototo]

Nicely done. I'm in the planning stage now for making my own UQ.

[RockIsland]

Aardvark, the hang on the underquilt is bunching up around my shoulders but at the same time it is hanging really low below my back. As a temp I had mason line in the channels and shock cord tied on to that which was then connected with a "S" biner to my hammock suspension. I think I'm going to have to go with all shock cord. I was trying to save $$ with the mason line. I have channels on the head and foot plus down both sides. I think I will add shock cord to the end channels with a lock and a section of shock cord with tech line on both ends for the side channels. What do y'all think?

[A.Bottoms]

good work every thing looks grate

[Aardvark]

Aardvark, the hang on the underquilt is bunching up around my shoulders but at the same time it is hanging really low below my back. As a temp I had mason line in the channels and shock cord tied on to that which was then connected with a "S" biner to my hammock suspension. I think I'm going to have to go with all shock cord. I was trying to save $$ with the mason line. I have channels on the head and foot plus down both sides. I think I will add shock cord to the end channels with a lock and a section of shock cord with tech line on both ends for the side channels. What do y'all think?

Run shock cord thru side and end channels, you can get it cheapo at Harbor Freight, get the elastic truck net and unweave it, it will give you about 70 feet, $7 maybe cost. Triangle thingies to get it hanging closer to edges of hammock.

[Les Rust]

www.supplycaptain.com has 1/8" shock cord for $7.00/100' -- easier than undoing a cargo net and more cord to boot.

[Silverback7]

impressive , planning to start an uq myself,
haven't yet worked out a plan on how to transfer the down from an old down bag to the new project.