HH Supershelter thru-hike concerns

[BirchBark]

Hello all.

I'm debating whether or not it is wise to use and rely on an HH SuperShelter (no body pads) / sleeping bag combo for a mid-March Springer departure. I already own the SS.

My only real experience with the SS was gained on a 10 day section hike last summer northward from NYC. Temps some nights were dipping into the high-40's to the mid-50's. My setup included the SS itself, a mummy bag rated to 25 degrees and a fleece blanket.

I got the impression over those ten nights that the SS is not fully comfortable in temps much colder than fifty degrees. Also, the foam underpad is far from durable (mine is already torn a bit from 10 days of use). Each morning I had to "bake" or squeeze all the condensation out of the pad as well, I now remember.

I would love to use this same setup in March, and was contemplating inserting a disposable mummy bag (which would be sent home somewhere up the trail) into my primary bag as extra insulation. I also may carry along a Therma-a-Rest CCF pad.

But the weather in Georgia may turn or stay nasty, and I fear I might really regret not dropping the all that coin on a JRB Nest or KAQ.

Please, someone reassure me. Tell me I can trust in the HH Supershelter to keep me thaw!

[hammock engineer]

I have not tried the super shelter. What I have been reading from other people pretty much mirrors what you said. I only seen one in person. I wasn't too impressed with it.

I have the JRB nest and really like it. I hear a lot of good things about the KAQ. The nest will get me down to 35-40 degrees. Lower than that and I add a walmart 1/2 inch CC pad. I add a hammock sock and I have made it down to 15.

If you drop the cash on either one, I don't think you will be disapointed.

[n2o2diver]

I uses the HH SS and have no problems with it in the low 30's. But I may be a freak, as it seems most people get cold at much warmer temps than I do. I use a cheapo Synthetic 40 degree bag and wear light weight polypro long underwear and a knit cap. I stick the space blanket on top of the pad. I haven't been cold yet. I do sleep warm.

[peter_pan]

Both 2005 and 2006.... JRB Three Season Quilt Sets went Springer to Katadin on HHs....read Realality Checks 2005 account here... http://http://216.83.168.206/JRBs%20got%20GAME.htm... Cheezewiz was 2006... Both March Starts, I believe....Proven performance.

Pan

[peter_pan]

Both 2005 and 2006.... JRB Three Season Quilt Sets went Springer to Katadin on HHs....read Realality Checks 2005 account here... http://http://216.83.168.206/JRBs%20got%20GAME.htm... Cheezewiz was 2006... Both March Starts, I believe....Proven performance.

Pan

Try this link http://216.83.168.206/JRBs%20got%20GAME.htm

Pan

[Kerosene]

You need an underquilt, or at least a lot of extra-wide pads to provide sufficient insulation down to 25F.

[1azarus]

i just section hiked from unicoi gap to fontana dam and had a ten degree and a fifteen degree night in my super shelter. i use a mountain hardware 15 degree bag. i think it all works like this:
i wear everything i carry when it is below thirty.
this includes my frogg toggs, long john top and bottom
stevenson vapor barrier shirt
hiking pants
hat
socks
down vest

i use a space blanket over the HH pad and it keeps the pad from getting wet. when it is getting colder, i also use a 1/4 inch thick extremely light foam pad over the HH pad and under the space blanket. i carry this pad, too, so that if i need to spend a night in a shelter i have something to use -- along with the space blanket -- under my bag.

if the HH pad gets wet and the day is below freezing you're in trouble because the pad will freeze to itself....

i also suggest that you don't compress the HH pad as much as they do -- i use a nylon bag left over from a now unused inflatable pad for the HH pad, the foam pad and my space blanket. it still fits inside my pack, and gets a little more compressed from loading the pack, instead of manhandling the thing into a tiny bag...

you might try to modify the top cover with a fastener so that you can just cover the windward side of your bug screen at temperatures up to 50 or so...

good luck

[rpettit]

i just section hiked from unicoi gap to fontana dam and had a ten degree and a fifteen degree night in my super shelter. i use a mountain hardware 15 degree bag. i think it all works like this:
i wear everything i carry when it is below thirty.
this includes my frogg toggs, long john top and bottom
stevenson vapor barrier shirt
hiking pants
hat
socks
down vest

i use a space blanket over the HH pad and it keeps the pad from getting wet. when it is getting colder, i also use a 1/4 inch thick extremely light foam pad over the HH pad and under the space blanket. i carry this pad, too, so that if i need to spend a night in a shelter i have something to use -- along with the space blanket -- under my bag.

if the HH pad gets wet and the day is below freezing you're in trouble because the pad will freeze to itself....

i also suggest that you don't compress the HH pad as much as they do -- i use a nylon bag left over from a now unused inflatable pad for the HH pad, the foam pad and my space blanket. it still fits inside my pack, and gets a little more compressed from loading the pack, instead of manhandling the thing into a tiny bag...

you might try to modify the top cover with a fastener so that you can just cover the windward side of your bug screen at temperatures up to 50 or so...

good luck

Is the 1/4 inch thick extremely light pad open cell or closed cell?

[1azarus]

i was afraid you were going to ask... it was used as packing material for a shade that was delivered to my house. it appears to be closed cell (not sponge-like) and does not absorb water at all... unfortunately, i don't have any other info. by the way, i do also carry a fleece jacket -- and wear that at night, too, when it is below 30 degrees... oh, and the space blanket gets some condensation, but it doesn't seem to be an issue, and it is easily wiped off. most of the time i put my feet in the bag pocket and use the bag as a quilt -- till about 35 degrees, anyway. i do actually like the HH 4 season approach -- it just weighs so little you have to like it! again, good luck.

[BillyBob58]

Hi birchbark,
I just responded to your other thread on the HHSS. I don't blame you for being a little anxious. Hopefully, you will be able to experiment a little bit in your backyard during some cold winter weather. I think that would be very important. You mentioned the under pad becoming soaked with condensation. Did you use a space blanket? During my one-week trip in Wyoming's Wind Rivers this September, I didn't have any trouble with the pad being even damp. I always had the space blanket on top of it and slightly wrapped around it. Hennessey emphasizes that the space blanket is a major part of the system.
It looks like Steven Lee Lazarus is one of the best sources of information for practical use of the super shelter, so far anyway. Steven, you obviously have a good bit of experience in using it in cold weather. A 10° night with only the addition of a quarter inch pad?! But did you stay warm? Did you have any trouble keeping the Hennessee pad dry during heavy rain?
I would say the main problem with the HHSS is the learning curve. When I got back from Wyoming, I spent some time on the phone with Tom Hennessy about the HHSS. (Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to play with an experiment and learn the system before my Wyoming trip.). But one thing he seemed to think I might have had better luck with: I also tended to wear everything I had to bed in the hammock. I might have been better off (Hennessy thought) just wearing my longjohns into the sleeping bag, and tucking some of my fleece -- especially the lighter fleece -- either on top of the foam pad or beneath it or both. Now like I said on the other thread, the trick with adding insulation beneath the pad is avoiding pulling the undercover downward away from the pad. Interestingly,StevenLee's extra pad was apparently light enough that it could be added on top of the Hennessee pad without any problem.

I hope you can manage to experiment under safe conditions!! If so, don't forget the very cheap and very light Garlington insulator addition. Or the possibility of a spear SPE with a relatively light weight and thin pad to extend the range of the HHSS. And don't forget the space blanket ON TOP OF the hennessy pad.
Bill