Home made Costco blanket underquilt for my hammock 

Hope it helps with the project. They're great value and make the perfect base for a lightweight summer underquilt. You'd struggle to buy the fabric and down for less.

I did slide a little quicker than expected! ;D

Thank you.

Some nice tips. The quilts are really hard to find here and rarely in Costco. I'll get a couple more if and when I see them again and make another taking in some of the things I've learnt making this one and the feedback from others. It's certainly a great feeling making and using your own kit.

Did you also take off two “squares” worth of width to fit your hennessey? I’m making one now and wondering how wide I need it to be.

Matt Phinney Yes, to fit the Hennesy and most single hammocks you will need to remove two squares from the width. I did this by making side baffles. See 6:30 in the video.

Matt Phinney Yes, to fit the Hennessy and most other single hammocks you will need to remove two squares from the width. I did this by making side baffles for added protection. See 6:30 in the video.

@@CartmansXbox I didn't remove and resew any of the rows. It fits just fine. Having the nylon "sleeves" to run the shock cord through seems to give enough elasticity around the edges that the quilt conforms pretty nicely. Now, I'm only 5'8" tall. Lying on the 30° bias, the long side of the quilt comes up even with the zipper of the mosquito netting in my Hennessy, when I'm lying in it. When the hammock is empty, it comes up really high on the sides, but the shock cord gives it enough play that it's no problem "getting over" the quilt and into the hammock. I also have the short ends sleeved and shock corded with mitten hooks. Those just clipped together over the ridge line. Over all, I like my design. Recently, I went hiking on Pine Mt. in GA. Temp at night was low 70s. Just used the under quilt and a silk bag liner that I cut and hemmed like a top quilt. Didn't need the bag liner until around 4am when dew started to form. I just slept in a pair of running shorts for most of the night. I'm currently looking for a light weight, soft, reflective material to use as a radiant barrier to up the insulation for really cold temps. If it works, having a 4 season, under 5 lb sleep system would be awesome. Fingers crossed.

Thanks, let me know how you get on!

You're welcome, glad you found it helpful. I've not tried a Dutchware Chameleon, but I've looked at them enough and read enough reviews about them to know it's a fine choice! If I was buying another hammock the Chameleon would definitely be in my top 3.

Glad it was helpful. They do make for a great value underquilt. I just priced one up for a mate and based on the price of the quilts on Amazon, plus all the webbing, bungee and thread worked out to about £50. Not bad for a light weight spring / summer down underquilt. Adding another quilt for a warmer winter weight build works out to about £85. Roughly £100 saving over anything commercially available of similar performance. If you can find them in Costco, then the quilts are about £10 less, but I've not seen them for ages.

Thank you. It has proven to be a great spring / summer weight underquilt.

Yeah they work really well and a great base for a lot of outdoor projects. I use one as a top quilt in the summer too.

Good luck with the project Noah. I was really pleased with the way this quilt turned out. You'll have to let me know how you get on.

Ha! I’m in the same boat and planning on using the binder clips too! Maybe I’ll dust off my sewing machine and make this happen. Thanks for the simple solution!

So I made mine by just sewing some grow grain channels on and running shock cord through. Don't make the mistake I made and run something that isn't stretchy through. I used some amsteel at first and I couldn't get into or especially out of my hammock because it didn't move. I switched to an elastic cord and it works PERFECT. I took a nap in it out at my local pond last weekend and it was maybe around 20 - 30 and it worked perfectly. I was almost too hot with my down jacket and top quilt. My next project is making a foot box for my topquilt.

Hi, sorry I've only just seen this message. The squares are 5"x5". Hope that helps.

You should be able to pretty much follow the same steps I did once you've opened up the sleeping bag.

Can I keep the zipper like that?

@@emilypaulsen3819 I guess it depends whether it's a 'mummy' type sleeping bag with a box section foot or a traditional square sleeping bag that zips open flat. If it does zip open flat then you should be able to sew tubular grosgrain or webbing along the top and bottom ends for the shock cord and still be able to zip it up and use it as a sleeping bag if needed.

Hi Paolo. If I was doing it again I'd certainly consider saving a bit of length and adding some ripstop to the ends, however you would effectively lose the baffle with helps keep cold air out, so if I can get some more blankets I'll give it a try and see which works best. I'm just over 6 foot and it's just long enough as it is, but an extra few inches would allow for a bit more versatility in the setup. The position of the side tabs works well for me. I set my Hennessey up and marked where the tabs needed to be before sewing them, so I'd suggest you try doing the same if possible. You really do need to create the side baffles, without them the quilt is far too wide and will sag a lot.

Great tip Сергей. Yes, stitching a ripstop tube onto the gathered ends of the quilt is a great idea. This was my first attempt at using a sewing machine, but now I've had a bit more experience I could probably do that. The extra 2-3 inches would be welcome for taller people.

Yeah, it really does make a big difference. Well done for making your own though, I'm all for home made kit. This is my spring / summer under quilt which I'll pair with a summer sleeping bag. For colder temperatures I've got a really warm quilt and bag.

Yes, you need to do this to remove sag that would otherwise cause a cold channel to run through the middle of the quilt. I found that folding over one whole square each side was sufficient for my hammocks.

You may be fine with 1.5" grosgrain, i've not tried that myself, but it's only takin the weight of the blanket, so I would think it would work. Yes, the edge that is folded over each side becomes a baffle essentially.

People have tried using sleeping bags as under quilts, but the shape doesn't really work well. You're better off using an under quilt as a quilt when ground camping if it's warm enough.

this is genius.

The only problem with that is no hammock hang is the same in the backcountry, the quilt needs to sit up toward the hammock no matter the hang, if it's velcro, you may not have the adjustment to have the quilt where it needs to be, it could end up too tight and disconnect from the velcro, or too loose and be useless

The quilt used was 60"x70" and it's my spring / summer setup which helps keep me lovely and snug combined with my summer down sleeping bag. I have a much thicker underquilt for winter use, but I have loaned this to a friend who was without an underquilt in winter and he was sufficiently insulated combined with his winter weight (-15C) down sleeping bag. It was around freezing that night (0C / 32F).

Thanks, these quilts work so well for this, I just wish they were easier to get hold of over here. The song in the intro is a mix based on 'Me and You' by Alok.

Are you referring to the webbing tabs in the corners that are used for the suspension, or the little tabs used for to create the shape and baffle? The suspension webbing tabs are simply loops folded and stitched at each end of the long run of webbing that runs along each side. The baffle tabs are stitched on each corner before the bungee cord is added. I'll see if I can make a short follow up video with more detail and post the link here.

I've added a new video that will hopefully make it a little clearer for you. Let me know if you're still unsure and I'll see if I can upload some step by step pictures.

They're one of those things that just appear in Costco every now and again. One of the down sides of Costco is that they don't always have stock of things, especially seasonal items.

There's someone selling them on Amazon for £35 www.amazon.co.uk/Double-Black-Diamond-Packable-Throw/dp/B018FBBS9W. I've no affiliation with them in any way and I have never purchased from them so cannot vouch for them.

That will depend massively on your sleeping bag / top quilt and the amount of wind, but this has been used at temps around 0 deg Celsius. I would say that this is really a Spring to Autumn under quilt though. I have a much thicker under quilt that I use in Winter normally.

Hi Brett, what country are you in? They're hard to get hold of in Europe at the moment, but they seem more readily available in the US. UK Amazon link: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07R9TF1GS/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07R9TF1GS US Amazon link: www.amazon.com/Black-Diamond-Double-Packable-Peacock/dp/B079YX2W79

It weighs just 550g including the stuff sack. (19.4oz)

Wish I could make more of them!

as long as I could choose the personality traits I wanted and didn't want. oh heck yah i would have a whole flock of women... groups of women are called flocks right?

Another hammock could help reduce the amount of cooling if it's windy, but it wouldn't offer much in the way of insulation.

What if you did use another hammock underneath and place a down quilt in the lower one? I think that may work. I'm gonna give it a try.

I'm no expert, but I'm quite sure these rely on having some airspace. If you put a quilt inside a hammock, under another hammock, the airspace will be compressed. Thus pointless.

It's not something I've tried. There's no reason why it couldn't be done though.

@@AJSpinDrift I'm around 76" in height, if the final dimensions could be closer to 50x80 that may be what I need. Do you think 50" wide would be good enough width to not make that V shape you were referring to?

I might be as young and handsome, but sadly my audio skills are not a patch on Pogo's!

Using the quilt at a diagonal doesn't work. You need to be able to gather the ends up close to the profile of your hammock to stop cold air from making you cold. This is also not an asymmetric hammock like the Hennessy for example.

Isabel Gil Longer would be nice, but for a spring / summer underquilt it’s fine. I’m 6’1” and it just fits around my shoulders and feet. I don’t need it behind my head.

Sure.

@@AJSpinDrift I have noticed it mainly in the UK that people refer to the ground as the floor, why is that?

@@leonardmcdermott7703 I blame Rage Against the Machine. In all seriousness, it's not inexcusable in the UK to refer to the ground as the floor in some instances. One could also argue that because I have a covering of sand and bark over the ground that it has indeed now become a floor. Or perhaps I'm just wishing I was in the woods and imagining the forest floor beneath me.

@@AJSpinDrift I spent 15 years as a child in London before we moved 'home' to Ireland. While i was there inside was referred to as the floor outside the ground. I think what you described is another example of the dilution of the English language.

What would you like to know? There is also a follow up video that may help you further: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tPQr3RlprfA.html

Some people enjoy making their own kit.