Sold my Hennessey SS which left me with only a WL SSUQ to warm my backside in my hammocks. Looked around and found the size of and weight of the Greylock to be to my liking, the details of construction meet what I was looking for and the reviews of the posted convinced me that the Greylock was worth ordering. So Thursday afternoon I ordered on and a Dutch goody or two, I received confirmation the order was process and shipped the same day. Jacks are definitely good at communication and turn around, better than most vendors and what our strong cottage vendors have spoiled us to expect.

Unboxing, that's what I was looking forward to this afternoon, and when I got the package I whipped out my longest sharpest knife and stabbed the box to...... OK not really but I like to threaten quilt guys with knives around their boxed goodies. That's just me. What a light box! Upon gaining access to the stuff inside my initial reaction is that material looks nice thru the clear vented bedding bag the Jacks package their downy goodness in. Indeed the fabric DOES have a great feel to it, not that that matters much, it lives out of contact under the hammock, but nice nonetheless. Yes the ends had grosgrain loops sewn in each corner. You gotta see these channels folks they are sewn so well they appear as one continuous piece of material with 6 openings. The 4 at the corners are laid out and stitched very well, there are 2 equally nicely done at the center points of the head and foot end channels. My guess is that one could arrange the suspension so that the ends are tied to the corner loops and save the weight of 2 cord locks and tidy up the appearance of the corners. With a few shakes the quilt with 1 oz. over stuff lofts up well. I didn't measure, my detail orientation only goes so far when I'm ready to try out a new piece of gear.

Set-up, I LOVE those little Jacks biners included on each end!, I put short loops of zingit on the continuous loops on each end of the hammock, and stuck them thru the bottom entry bugnet ridgeline collars, tossed the Greylock in the bottom of the bugnet and quickly clipped the biners in place. No sooner than I release the last biner I was grabbing the hammock and making for a comfortable recline with purposeful haste. Immediately the Greylock was radiating warmth as I eased in to the sweetspot of my 10' SLD Streamliner. A few tugs on the end channel flat cords thru the sizable cordlocks and to little sliding of the Greylock into position and all was well in my downy abode.

Modifications, what are you DOING my wife asked as I sat down with brand new quilt, knife, lighter, cutting board and generous length of shock cord in hand sitting down with my girls watching the Golf Channel's Arnie special. "Didn't they make it like you wanted it?" "Yes dear it's wonderfully made just like you are but everyone has room for improvements my love". Anyways, I remove the flat cord from the end channels and replace with a minimum length of shock cord and tied short lengths of shock cord to the corner loops and tied each with a prussic knot to the suspension line. After carefully dressing those knots and melting the shock cord ends I moved my attention to the loose ends of the channels pushed out by the shock cord install. I cut and quickly passed the lighter passed those on all 4 corners and moved on the tidying up a few spots where loose strands of the fabric had slipped past the Jacks QC. Nothing much just a few spots. So then I just sat there listening to Arnie and admiring the Greylock and thinking this is the longest UQ I've acquired up to this point, thinking that I could curl up on that thing if I was so inclined. So off to the office to try just than
that.

Second test lay, after clipping it in and tugging the newly installed shock cord to snug up the ends I clipped the foot side suspension into my zingit dogbone that holds the suspension off my feet all felt right as I melted into downy comfort thinking I wish this wasn't Easter weekend and I didn't have a family gathering to go to tomorrow and the following weekend. But I am comforted thinking that next weekend I will be hanging by the lake at my folks home. Still I NEED to get this out on the trail soon.

I really like the Greylock from the VA Jacks, the design is well thought out and the execution was almost perfect, the more I think about it the flat cord on the ends was probably just fine as the quilt would move well with the suspension being made of shock cord. The channel layout is executed with excellence and attention to detail, the material is luxurious to the touch and just looks great, much better than expected for something to hang between two trees off the trail. And the fact that the Jacks are really better when it comes to turnaround time leads me to believe I'll be a repeat customer. However it won't be too soon as I am a newbie and am enjoying sampling the fine offerings from the large pool of fine craftsmen and women we as hammock forum members are apparently spoiled with. So grab you a Greylock, if you're looking for a compact lightweight quilt to warm your bones at camp or on the trail, you'll be glad you did.