Hammock Insulation Idea

[Matthew Campbell]

I’ve got an idea for an hammock insulation – am about to make the prototype but since I’ve no experience sewing I’d like to hear your ideas how to improve the design.

There have been a few designs for underquilts on the web, but I think they are too heavy. They cover the entire underside of the hammock, and are removable.

My idea is to fix insulation directly to the hammock (decreases material and the need to attach an underquilt). I also plan to insulate only one corner of the hammock – since I sleep diagonally and it’s only my torso and hips that need the insulation.

I’ll only need an area about 36×20 inches covered. If it’s a hot night, I can just switch the sleeping axis and the insulation won’t be underneath me at all. Is this a crazy idea? Wait, it gets crazier-

I’m planning to use fur I’ve combed from my siberian husky for the insulation. It’s supposed to have an R value better than down, dries quickly, has no odor, is very light and compressible, and it’s free and very abundant in my house.

I’m using 1.1 DWR treated nylon for the bottom matieral, with sewn through construction, aiming for about 1 inch of loft. I’m going to attach it to a hammock made of ripstop silnylon.

Will this work? Any ideas to make it better? Thanks for any suggestions.

[Benjamin Smith]

Matthew,

I think that from a design standpoint, you’ve got a great idea – an insulated hammock that only has insulation where needed. As far as the dog hair insulation, check out this discussion:

backpacking.NET thread on dog hair insulation

I personally have no experience with “alternate” insulations. I do have a caution on the hammock material – if you use silnylon you’re likely to get a lot of condensation on the interior. Typically a breathable material is used for the hammock body.

Ben

[Jeff Jackson]

Have you prototyped this yet? I’m interested in how it turned out for you. Unless you’re REALLY small, I bet 20″ is too narrow because, unlike a pad, the hammock wraps around your shoulders and compresses the sleeping bag insulation.

There are a few projects like this on the web.

– Risk has one…He posted pics of his synthetic WarmHammock on his site, http://www.imrisk.com, but he also made a down-insulated one that isn’t on there yet.
– I made two synthetic and two down ones – read about them at http://www.tothewoods.net.
– Look for “slowhike’s homemade hammock” in the Hammock Forums gallery.
– And there are a few pics in the Yahoo HammockCamping Group’s photo gallery of some other projects.

And several other folks have talked about their projects in the various forums. They don’t all have pics, but they all have some good experience to add. Search around and you’ll find some good info.

Good luck with your project (assuming you haven’t made it yet)…I’m looking forward to some pics if you can post them!

Edit – be sure to use zig-zag stitches, and be very careful to keep back-stitching to a minimum. It creates a stress point that can cause failure…which isn’t good when you’re IN the hammock. (At least I’m not the only one who’s found that out… :p )

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