DIY weave a clew suspension for an underquilt

I was intrigued to make a clew suspension for a box-style underquilt that I was already planning to sew after seeing Derek Hansen's post about it on his facebook page.

The clew design is the conception of Leiavoia, who provided a detailed description (along with some of the physics) on his blog and on hammockforums.  For more information about a clew suspension, see Derek Hansen's youtube video and his blog post.

The suspension is beautifully complex, but not difficult to execute.  Note that because I used a box-style underquilt, the suspension is not compressing the 6 oz climashield apex insulation.

The final weight is 2 1/8 ounces.

Testing of the suspension is proceeding, so stay tuned for updates.   We'll have to see if this is all Leiavoia has touted it to be.

Troubleshooting Update:  after a two nights of sleeping with the quilt, I have removed the "extender" from the foot end that you see in the video.  Without the extender, the quilt + suspension is 87.5% the total length of my hammock, and that is giving me a snug fit.   At a longer length, I was getting gaping at the foot end and along the sides (cold butt syndrome), but at 87.5%, it seems really nice and cozy.  To determine this underquilt length, multiply the length of your hammock (in inches or cm) by 0.875 for the length of your quilt plus suspension.  Adjust the length of your nettles accordingly.

Materials:

• Approximately 65 feet of 1/16" shock cord
• 2 aluminum descending rings
• Method to attach suspension to your underquilt (I used snaps).
• Jig for weaving a clew (I used a few campaign yard signs, a piece of brown paper, a funny-looking pin and 8 large headed short nails).
• Pencil (or two).
• Optional:  4 short pieces of shock cord and 4 mini cord-locks (for preventing the clew nettles from tangling in the stuff sack).

Refer to these links for more information:

• Leiavoia's blog post:  http://www.leiavoia.net/pages/hammock/levquilt.html
• Leiavoia's hammockforums post:  https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php/132651-You-re-Doing-Underquilts-All-Wrong-Get-A-Clew-)?highlight=clew+underquilt
• Derek Hansen's blog post on the clew suspension:  http://theultimatehang.com/2013/01/world-war-ii-us-navy-hammock-and-clew-tutorial/
• Derek Hansen's youtube video on the clew suspension:  https://youtu.be/L5M-1M6WsvM
• Derek Hansen's facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/TheUltimateHang/