Budget Quilt

[bdpalace]

OK...I've jumped into this hammock lifestyle with both feet and now I find myself constantly thinking about my next hang.

So, without going broke or getting on the bad side of my wife, where's the cutoff point from "nice to have" vs. "need to have" when considering an underquilt?

I've used my hammock in upper 60 degree weather with a slip-slidin' self inflating pad under parts of me for most of the night. I slept great, but don't know if the pad or the inverted sleeping bag (used like a quilt with a foot pocket) kept me warm. I'm heading out on a 4 day section hike on the Sheltowee Trace and was thinking about rigging my poncho liner under my hammock as a light-weight quilt and leaving the pad at home.

Short of dropping a couple of bills for a true UQ, what should I do?

Thanks...

[Ramblinrev]

Rig up an expendable sleeping bag for a DIY jobber. There's a vid on underquilts on the cheap.

[Fig]

I was able to make my own underquilt, and it really only cost me $6.00. I found this water resistant material in the $1.50/yard bin at Walmart, and found some poly loft for $2.99/lb at my local JoAnnes. I went with 2 yards of material, and basically folded it over so I have a quilt about 30" wide and 72" long. I sewed up the outside edges and left the one long side opened. I then sewed in baffles down the short side. It didn't even take the full pound of loft, and when I was done stuffing, I sewed up the long end that was opened. I quickly made up some straps out of spare material, and sewed the straps to the four corners.

I used it this weekend and was extremely happy with the results. I was not happy with my improvised attach to the hammock as I just used cord I had, no bungie. So when I later adjusted the hammock, I ended up snapping off one of the loops on the quilt. Easy fix, and it actually allowed me to realize how well the quilt was working since once it hit the ground, it didn't take long for me to get a chill. I got up, put my hammock back where it was, and just tied the end back up. I will be adding a length of bungie to ensure that it will ride up and down/stretch with the hammock as I make adjustments.

That's about as budget as you can get.

[bdpalace]

Thanks, Fig...looks like it's Wal-Mart time!!

I'm assuming that once you get a quilt, you don't need a pad???

[RTR]

Thanks, Fig...looks like it's Wal-Mart time!!

I'm assuming that once you get a quilt, you don't need a pad???

Ha......! Now you did it, opening up a "Can of Worms" with that question. LOL Honestly that just depends on how warm of a sleeper ya are. After I went to a UQ and TQ I no longer had a need for a pad. However I have deff come close a night or two wondering if maybe I should have brought it along. But then I fell asleep and woke up in the morning no worse for wear.......sooooo that's my 2 cents if it helps.

[Peter_pan]

Ha......! Now you did it, opening up a "Can of Worms" with that question. LOL Honestly that just depends on how warm of a sleeper ya are. After I went to a UQ and TQ I no longer had a need for a pad. However I have deff come close a night or two wondering if maybe I should have brought it along. But then I fell asleep and woke up in the morning no worse for wear.......sooooo that's my 2 cents if it helps.

Reaching a little deeper into the "can of worms".....One really needs to qualify that issue as a "proper under quilt for the season".....Taking a 30 degree quilt into the winter will require supplemental pad or something else or be darn uncomfortable....

Same is true on the ground...a 30 degree bag on a 3/4 length 1/4 inch pad on a 10 degree night = you will be darn cold.

Likewise use a zero degree capable under quilt and you will not need a pad supplement until below zero.

Again, the devil is in the details....

Pan

[Cannibal]

Ha......! Now you did it, opening up a "Can of Worms" with that question. LOL Honestly that just depends on how warm of a sleeper ya are. After I went to a UQ and TQ I no longer had a need for a pad. However I have deff come close a night or two wondering if maybe I should have brought it along. But then I fell asleep and woke up in the morning no worse for wear.......sooooo that's my 2 cents if it helps.

Reaching a little deeper into the "can of worms".....One really needs to qualify that issue as a "proper under quilt for the season".....Taking a 30 degree quilt into the winter will require supplemental pad or something else or be darn uncomfortable....

Same is true on the ground...a 30 degree bag on a 3/4 length 1/4 inch pad on a 10 degree night = you will be darn cold.

Likewise use a zero degree capable under quilt and you will not need a pad supplement until below zero.

Again, the devil is in the details....

Pan

Listen to these people; they smart!

Put it to you this way, I'm a very warm sleeper and I've got more than a couple of underquilts and topquilts; to the point I can customize for about 6 seasons. I still carry a pad when it's cold. It's not because I like it, that's for sure! There have been two (2) occassions that I remember that I had to unroll my pad and use it traditionally in addition to my quilts.

2 times out of a couple hundred isn't much, but I'd much prefer to carry the weight of one of my pads than spend an evening shivering. The Devil is indeed in the details and the details involve pads. Told ya'll they are evil!

[bdpalace]

Well, I think I have a workable solution. Feedback would be appreciated.

I used an old Coleman Xponent 35* bag and some shock cord and ended up with this:


At the foot end, the bag had two loops for storage and I doubled shock cord from one loop, through the cinch buckle anchor and tied it off at the other end:


At the head end, I did a three point attachment from the zipper pull, through the cinch buckle, to the hood drawstring loop, back throgh the cinch buckle and tied off on the center of the hood:


I also threaded the tie-out on the foot end through the zipper pull to help align it for a diagonal lay:


I still need to add a loop of some sort near the head end for the other tie out and I should be good to go.

Even without the additional tie out (and thanks for the #2 zipper mod from ZQ) it was fairly easy to get the bag to snug up around my shoulders.

It's not fancy or sexy, but it was free and I think it will work well when I add my stock tarp as an undershield.

[Trout]

bdpalace - what was the weather temp's at night when you did your test?

[bdpalace]

69* in my bedroom...I still haven't tested it yet. My goal was to create a UQ that didn't cost any money, used equipment that I already had and required minimal modifications.