Another DIY Underquilt thread!

[Ferrell freddy]

Hi all,

Popped into the clothing store today and had a rummage in the "knackered stuff to be burned" bin, first thing i grabbed, an issue arctic sleeping bag, this is to be used to create my next project.. An underquilt!

Just wondering if theres anyone with a lot of experience with underwuilt that can tell me if the best method is the oval/diagonal cut or just a square quilt synched at the ends? Also if anyone has some decent diagrams of how they have done theirs? a little lazy but i dont have time to go through all the UQ posts to find the best ones..

Cheers in advance all!

[Ferrell freddy]

Forgot to add, its for a DD Frontline Hammock!

[Stevie B]

Looking forward to seeing it mate.
Good luck!

[Rasputin]

I made mine full length and coffin shaped so its largest at the shoulders and tapers to the head and feet. saves a bit of weight by tapering

[jus_young]

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2777

This is the one I did. Still going strong and used it at the weekend for the RV. Only thing that needs a bit of attention is the shock cord running round the edge. It has weakened and requires replacing and I will probably go for something a little thicker.

[Ferrell freddy]

Cheers Jus! Saw yours a while back, does the shape work out well? This bag I've got is HUGE so may be able to get a small top quilt out of it too!

[Chubbs]

Here is the one I did after following the post from Jus-youngs original one.

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?6259-My-New-Homemade-Hammock-Underquilt&highlight=homemade+underquilt

[jus_young]

The shape is pretty good although I would have liked the bag to be a little longer so that I could have got the wider ends as Neil managed to get on his.

[Ferrell freddy]

The process has begun! I shall post pics as I go T^

[Ferrell freddy]

whats the general consensus for width? Obviously big enough to wrap around you but is there an approximation on 4-5ft? I've chopped the bottom off and it now near enough lays flat, keeping the hood on as it almost lay flat but had the synch already sewn in.. the bag is now probably 5ish ft long x the same wide, I shall post a pic when I get home of it flattened out.

[Ferrell freddy]

Pics not uploading for some reason, i think i'll try again at some point later.. thinking of the runners down the side to house the shock cord, is ribbon proving to be man enough for the job or would people advise using something a bit stronger? i have a few bits of almost webbing straps which would work? do people prefer it to run the whole length of the quilt or like your Jus, small tabs at intervals along the quilt?

[jus_young]

If it runs the entire length then you will get a better seal between the UQ and hammock to keep the heat in. The tabs on mine were placed so that I could add some cord onto the ridge line for extra support. I used 4mm shock cord that seems to be too weak for the weight of the UQ and use the extra support every time. Next job is to get some 5mm and try that out.

The ribbon I used has proven to be an excellent choice so far, and it was cheaper and lighter than going for webbing which did cross my mind once or twice.

[Ferrell freddy]

Thats pretty much what i thought about the seal.. what kind of ribbon did you use? Ribbon that you'd wrap a present with just doesnt seem like it will be strong enough! Forgive the questions but i'd want to get it right 1st time!

[Chubbs]

If its any good to you mate I have a reel of 1.5 inch thick green ribbon if you want it. This might be a bit fiddly when it comes to sewing it up but I also have about four metres of 3 inch brown ribbon if its any better.

[Ferrell freddy]

TBH mate i think we have some ribbon from when we got married, does it need to be specific stuff ie stronger or will jut normal ribbon do the trick?

[Chubbs]

I just used the shiny silk looking material stuff from a local needlecraft shop.

[jus_young]

Same here, mine was 2 inch wide shiney stuff from the local sewing shop. Wider might have been a little easier to sew but it worked just fine.

[Ferrell freddy]

awesome thank you! i shall look for some 2 1/2" or 3 " wide ribbon!

[Ferrell freddy]

It's almost finished! Started with a big square like this:

12091

Sewn two full length runners down the sides, apparently there's a lack of sewing shops nearby so for this I ended up using the webbing tape I had. My thoughts on this are that this UQ will never be a lightweight option so the weight of the webbing will make minimal difference to the over all weight.

For the bottom or foot end I used some of the actual sleeping bag fabric instead of ribbon, I also put a large dart in the foot end so it now naturally cups around me.

Unfortunately I have no shock cord, being stingey I have some bungy cord from work, a bit of overkill but I can replace eventually.

All that's left to do is the cinch cord for the foot end and adjust the bungy for the correct size and tension of my hammock!

More pics to follow, hopefully one of it used in anger!

[Ferrell freddy]

Ok so it's kind of finished, seems a little short and a bit too wide :( however, I've seen half and 3/4 quilts so the length is not an issue. Here it is hanging without a hammock:

12094

Here it is laid out:

12095

The fabric instead of ribbon for the foot end cinch:

12096

[Chubbs]

Looking good mate.

Don't worry about the width, mine is the same.It wraps me nearly all the way around when its not hung. If you get cold you can clip it together with a couple of pegs, cocooning yourself in.

[ian c]

For shock cord why not take the elastic shock cord out of the issued combat jacket.

[Ferrell freddy]

Cheers Niel, think I need to get it out in the wild to see how it performs!

The elastic in the jackets is a bit thin, as i say this is by no means a lightweight job!

[Stevie B]

Could whoopie slings be an answer?

[Ferrell freddy]

I think it needs to be elastic as whoopie slings would have no "give" in essence I'd have another hammock but made of a sleeping bag, unless I spent ages adjusting every time the hammock was up! Have you used them before?