Diagonal Differential Decreasing Loft baffles

[bubba74]

Heya folks

Still playing with UQ ideas here.

One thing I was thinking about, were Diagonal Differential Decreasing Loft (DDDL) baffles for an Underquilt

My basic premise is that UQs are straight-line affairs - but hangers want to lay diagonally across their hammocks. Add to this that the sides up against the hammock's sides won't add anything to the user's warmth (imho) - after all, there's nobody laying on all that downy goodness up there. So why have it (and lug it with you)?

If you folks will excuse my (abysmal) drawing skills, here's a sketch of the idea:


The baffles would be

• more or less diagonal to the quilt.
• There would be a few fully- (or over-) stuffed baffles in the areas that will always be under the hanger. To optimize even further, this area would be wider in the shoulder area than in the footbox area (I AM assuming that our shouldes are wider than our feet... )
• The zones to the left and right of this would be filled with gradually less loft.
• The area where the underquilt basically acts as a glorifies suspension system for itself would not have any fill.

Makes sense? Idotic? Has been tried and failed - or succeeded?

Let me know what you guys and gals think!

[Mumbles]

Interesting idea. Can't wait to hear how the prototype works out. May want some fill on the sides, heat retention is more important as it gets colder. May not need as much or the highest quality, but some insulation on the wings may be needed.

[bubba74]

Can't wait to hear how the prototype works out

Yup - prototype is the next step. First I want to know what the experts out there think. If the general idea is that it would make sense then the prototype is not far off

[FLRider]

Olddog made a synthetic UQ a ways back that had the same idea. If memory serves, he had to go from a straight parallelogram to a rhomboid that was resembled a trapezoid, with the wider side towards the head end. It worked, though.

Expect to do a bit of prototyping before getting a usable quilt out of this. On the other hand, you will save weight with it...

[e_2]

HA! This is a great idea. Personally, I'd make the angles a bit less extreme.

This is also limited to people who sleep with their head left-of-center. If you try to make it reversible (flip upside-down), the baffles will not loft correctly.

Still, I love the concept... might have to steal a bit of the idea for my next UQ project.

[WV]

Definitely worth a try; go for it. I'm planning a down UQ with baffles in two directions (at right angles to each other, depending on where they are with respect to an asym axis (like yours). Think like contour plowing of farm land; lie in a hammock and look around. Try to make all the baffle lines horizontal so the down will be less likely to shift. I think your overstuff plan is a much more reasonable way to accomplish that.

[bubba74]

HA! This is a great idea. Personally, I'd make the angles a bit less extreme.

This is also limited to people who sleep with their head left-of-center. If you try to make it reversible (flip upside-down), the baffles will not loft correctly.

Still, I love the concept... might have to steal a bit of the idea for my next UQ project.

yes, it would only work with "head to the left, feet to the right". However, I'm using a WBBB XLC, so the way I lay in the hammock is already pre-defined by the hammock's construction (fixed foodbox to one side).

But for straight-up hammocks that would be a concern indeed. Hmmm...