Cheapie UQ Idea...

[Theosus]

I made my first underquilt from about $150 worth of materials and my wife's sewing machine. I found the instructions on here, from kickass quilts. You can try and invent on the cheap, but the more you try and do it yourself from scratch, the more time and money you're going to waste on material. I'm not saying you might not find out the next best new thing, but if your goal is to save money, you might consider following some instructions that are already out there. I wasted a bunch of effort and money on a few projects before figuring this out...

[Detman101]

Perhaps I misunderstood your description or intentions but if you want to experiment with a "radiant barrier" between the bottom of the hammock and the top of a rectangular sleeping bag suspended by shock cord then just try a $2 mylar emergency blanket not the car window screen. There are several more effective methods of laminating this shinning mylar to the quilt or sleep bag but as others mentioned I also would highly recommend NOT doing that. Several great ways to add shock cord to a re-purposed bed quilt, poncho liner, or sleep bag, whatever you got, can find cheap from a friend, relative or at the local thrift store. You never know how often people you know throw out great stuff like old goose down quilts. A few years ago my mom gave away a Singer sewing machine her sister bought in the 1930's she never told me. Dang nab it. A ton of goose down probably goes into landfills every year, people need closet space.

Oh wow, I forgot about those mylar emergency blankets. I've got about 3 around here somewhere...
Thanks!!

[Detman101]

I think I found the link that was alluded to earlier.
This guy combined the mylar sheet inside the underquilt he built!

[Floridahanger]

Also, check out FLRider.

He uses a poncho liner with a space blanket as a garlington-like UQ. This may also help.

[Detman101]

UPDATE:

Thanks for the advice everyone.
I have purchased a used White Stag Down Sleeping Bag from a person on craigslist for $25.00
I will take it to the laundromat this saturday and wash it as it smells kinda old and funky.
I would have bought one of the smaller packable ones from off of amazon for the same amount of money, but I don't think that one of those would have been warm enough. Given the size of this one that I bought, I can just strap it to the outside of the pack as it weighs next to nothing for it's bulk...amazing!
I'm going to take it to a tailor to have the straps and shock-cord channels installed on the edges before I take it out in the field.

[PatT]

I think I'm going to take a regular rectangular sleeping bag like the Snugpak Jungle Pack and unfold it to it's open position, then use adhesive to bond the reflective layer of two Auto-windshield-Sunscreen onto it and stitch them down to the jungle-bag around the edges of the reflective part. I'm thinking that this will create a reflective, insulative underquilt/tacoshell around my hammock by using shock-cord and cord-locks to bind it around the hammock outside. That way I'll only have to use an inflatable mat and my sleeping bag inside the hammock.

Critique?
Advice?

I have been in your situation before and decided I did not want to scrap a good sleeping bag and tried an alternative.

I ended up using safety pins (lots of them) around the open sleeping bag, pinned through the zipper's grosgrain edge. I ran shock cord through the safety pins around the feet and head ends that attached to my ridge line. I then used more safety cord along the sides up to the hammock's attachment points (carabiner).

This solution was good enough for me to sleep well at -15 degrees Celsius with a thin self-inflatable pad and a good sleeping bag zipped up to the knees used as a top quilt.

Cheap, safe, no need to damage a sleeping bag, no sewing required, easy to undo.

[SirMarkos]

Nice find! Wonder what the fill power is on the down....

[PointPastor]

Please post pics when you get this done, I am going to try something similar.

[ntxkayakr]

Those cheap used down sleep bags you found look great. I wish I could find a deal like that. Remember that shock cord comes in many different thicknesses from 1/16" up to 1/4" and you could always use bungee cord sold by the foot which would be a crazy over kill solution like if you were suspending an army surplus MSS from below for arctic exploration or something. LOL Check out Quest outfitters and your local boat supply shops they should carry this stuff, also camping supply and Army/Navy stores, Thera bands, exercise bands etc. Cool that you are being creative to find cheap simple UQ solutions. More people should do this and stop all the grippy posts about expensive UQ. Just my pet peave. I'll shut up now.

[Detman101]

I have been in your situation before and decided I did not want to scrap a good sleeping bag and tried an alternative.

I ended up using safety pins (lots of them) around the open sleeping bag, pinned through the zipper's grosgrain edge. I ran shock cord through the safety pins around the feet and head ends that attached to my ridge line. I then used more safety cord along the sides up to the hammock's attachment points (carabiner).

This solution was good enough for me to sleep well at -15 degrees Celsius with a thin self-inflatable pad and a good sleeping bag zipped up to the knees used as a top quilt.

Cheap, safe, no need to damage a sleeping bag, no sewing required, easy to undo.

O wow, that idea sounds great...but it kinda scares me.
I'm no weenie, but the idea of that many safety pins in the underquilt when rolling it up gives me the shivers.
Too many opportunities to get poked...lol.

I think I'm going to save some money and just hand-sew on little loops of 1-inch webbing along the bottom of the short sides for cinching with beefy shock cord.
For the long sides I'll just put webbing loops on the corners (4 so I can still use this as a sleeping bag) and then use bungee hooks on beefy shock cord with a Taut-line Hitch for adjustment.

Nice find! Wonder what the fill power is on the down....

Thanks! I've been wondering that too! I can't even get inside this thing until I wash it. It smells like old person badly. Not that all old people smell bad...but this thing just reeks of it.

Please post pics when you get this done, I am going to try something similar.

Will do!

Those cheap used down sleep bags you found look great. I wish I could find a deal like that. Remember that shock cord comes in many different thicknesses from 1/16" up to 1/4" and you could always use bungee cord sold by the foot which would be a crazy over kill solution like if you were suspending an army surplus MSS from below for arctic exploration or something. LOL Check out Quest outfitters and your local boat supply shops they should carry this stuff, also camping supply and Army/Navy stores, Thera bands, exercise bands etc. Cool that you are being creative to find cheap simple UQ solutions. More people should do this and stop all the grippy posts about expensive UQ. Just my pet peave. I'll shut up now.

Oh man, I understand. I'm not rich, but I'm not poor either...Just a working man with a family to look out for.
Usually it's people with disposable income that can purchase all the high quality stuff and down anything else..but that's their life. God bless em to go their way as I go mine.

Awesome! I didn't think about the fact that Shock-cord comes in different sizes and that bungee cords are just huge Shock Cords!!
*mind blown*
I will keep those sources in mind! Thanks!!