gg 1/4 thinlite?

[bustedchucks]

What temp range do you think you could get out of 1/4 GG thinlite wide, with a 20 degree down bag, clothes carried and available for use would be polypro top and bottom, 100 wt fleece, OR jacket (i wear it to about 30, warm, innactive) and hat.

Thanks

[Reid]

If you ask me, that thing is just to keep you off the dirt and that's it. I wouldn't put a temp range on it but I don't know really.

[white_russian]

If you ask me, that thing is just to keep you off the dirt and that's it. I wouldn't put a temp range on it but I don't know really.
I can easily take my 1/4 inch CCF pad down in the 20s by itself on a shelter floor. CCF is a very good insulator.


To the OP, I have a very similar setup and use a 1/4 inch pad in my hammock. It is not the one that Gossamer Gear sells so it is not the exact same foam. For me probably 35, but I have a cheap bag so it could go a small bit lower.

[Raul Perez]

I got it down to 50* and took a nap in my hammock. No cold back at all

[1azarus]

I know 50 would be fine, 40 would probably be just ok, and I think I'd want thicker foam at 30 or below. That pad comes really wide, right? I've used it UNDER a narrower 3/8" pad for better coverage and have been happy at around 30 degrees that way.

[redmarbleshoe]

I use a piece of GG 1/4" pad for under my legs, and a 3/4 winter UQ down to 30 degrees. I also have a Montbell SS #2 which is rated to 25 degrees. I supplement with a reflector liner inside my bag and I start to sweat. I wear my 3oz down booties and just my mid-wgt base layer. Legs and feet start out cold, then roast about 20 minutes in.

If I want to eliminate my UQ, then I would use my Jacks R Better SPE with the GG pad and my neo air regular (letting air out, so it is not hard). I also use the inserts for the SPE. That Neo Air makes it TOASTY immediately. Just crunchy sounding. If you're a heavy sleeper, then you wouldn't even notice.

I'm a COLD sleeper. My hubby says rule of thumb, above 70 degrees no need to supplement bottom side. So just a GG pad for me, would take me to the 60, and that is pushing it, then I would need to use my Yeti UQ with GG Pad (for legs) down to 40, and then my Te-Wa Winter UQ with GG for anything below (probably down to 20 degrees).

Good luck and have fun!

[Fiddleback]

For me, a ¼" pad is good to the mid-20s:eek:...read on.

Soooo much depends on the 'system', not just one or two parts of it. I strongly believe that every part affects the performance of each of the others...change one part and you quite likely have to change others to maintain the same temperature range of the sleep system. When you add the additional variables such as the sleeper him/herself, the multiple weather factors (temp, wind, humidity...), etc., these questions can't really be answered with anything other than personal experience. Here's mine.:D

I have never used any under insulation other than a ¼" pad (from Oware, similar to GG, I think). Other than one time when it was used as a quilt, I've never had a sleeping bag in the hammock. And that one time was my only time using a top quilt. I do wear medium weight Smartwool long underwear, wool socks and booties, a balaclava and fleece glove liners. Over that I wear insulated pants and a jacket with hood. All that gets me to the mid-20s at which point I can feel cold coming through the ¼" pad. If I were to add my sit pad to that cold spot my temp range would probably drop to the mid-teens or lower. During the warmer parts of summer (a two week period around here:rolleyes:) the jacket or the pants may be left behind.

I fell into using this system because any night in my home range, summer included, can feature freezing temps...summer is always hot days with cool to cold nights So I feel I must carry the cold weather clothes 'just in case' even though I have yet to use them in the day time. I get dual use by incorporating those clothes into the sleep system and I save the 3lbs and bulk of the sleeping bag. The savings won't be realized by everyone everywhere but the system does me nicely for 3-season hammocking in the mid-elevation ranges of western Montana.

So the definitive answer to the OP, I believe, is; "It depends.":-?

FB

[Kerosene]

I'm closest to agreement with 1azarus...you should be able to get to the low 40's with that setup. I've used a quarter-inch Oware pad in a Hennessey Hammock down to that range and was just warm enough. I found that I was very sensitive to temperature differential on my body when I sleep, and any part of me that compresses against the uninsulated side of a hammock (temp below 60) keeps me from going to sleep or wakes me up, even wearing 100-weight fleece. In that scenario, a 20-degree bag won't decrease the temperature threshold much if at all.

I love the comfort of a hammock, but with all of the shoulder season hiking I do I will need to convert to an underquilt before I go back to hammocking. With the NeoAir, the ground isn't nearly as hard as it once was, and I can carry a lot less weight, especially if I can work out a Cuben tarp arrangement.

[Just Jeff]

Kerosene - have you tried the neoair in the hammock? I can use the Exped Downmat 7 in my hammocks without a SPE b/c it holds me up high enough that the sides don't compress my quilts. Might work with the neoair as well.

[1azarus]

Kerosene - have you tried the neoair in the hammock? I can use the Exped Downmat 7 in my hammocks without a SPE b/c it holds me up high enough that the sides don't compress my quilts. Might work with the neoair as well.
i was going to suggest that, too, but saw that he used a Hennessey Hammock, and had trouble imagining getting that to work. i've had good luck with the neoair, too...but in a simple gathered end hammock... the neoair and that thin pad would actually work really well together.

[Kerosene]

i was going to suggest that, too, but saw that he used a Hennessey Hammock, and had trouble imagining getting that to work. i've had good luck with the neoair, too...but in a simple gathered end hammock... the neoair and that thin pad would actually work really well together.Thanks for the suggestion. I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't work in the Hennessey, but I'm looking at others types of hammocks where it might not be as much of an issue.

[Just Jeff]

I've used the Exped (2.8" thick vs the neoair's 2.5" thick) in the HH Backpacker. It wasn't all that bad getting on it b/c the pad is so stiff...at least mine is b/c I like to inflate it all the way. But it made me feel very close to the ridgeline and bug net. Not that I'm claustrophobic or anything, but it did take away the roomy feeling of the HH BULA. It worked, but not something I'd want to do long term. The neoair might be just enough thinner to make it workable? Not sure...and not gonna replace my Blackbird to find out!

[Connie]

I have heard hammock-people like volara closed cell foam.

Others like Minicel CCF.

I have ordered my Exped short. I will try it all and have a report soon.

At least, the volara stuff is inexpensive. The people who like it report it goes up the sides of the hammock some, and doesn't take up much volume in the backpack.

I am glad to hear something good about the NeoAir for hammock camping. The ground-sleepers complain the NeoAir has to be fully inflated rock hard or they bottom-out on the ground. Didn't say, if they are big-and-heavy size themselves.

[MedicineMan]

Kerosene brings up a good point.....temperature differential.
I never noticed it in a tent, but in a hammock I really do....the funny thing is I know that particular part is warm but if at a different warm than another part I keep noticing. I remember in the tarp days as a ground sleeper waking up with my feet outside the quilt on the ground cloth but having slept solid all night...funny.

[wisenber]

What temp range do you think you could get out of 1/4 GG thinlite wide, with a 20 degree down bag, clothes carried and available for use would be polypro top and bottom, 100 wt fleece, OR jacket (i wear it to about 30, warm, innactive) and hat.

Thanks
The beauty of the 60 X 40 X .25 pad is that it can be used completely open providing and R value of 1 which will get you down to about 57° with no sleeping bag under you. If it gets colder, fold in half to make a 30 X 40 x .5 torso length pad. That makes for an R2 for warmth down to about 43°. If you get in your sleeping bag, most of the insulation will be compressed, but it should add at least 10° more warmth. So, your max insulation with a folded GG pad and a sleeping bag should take you down to freezing easy. If you have any extra clothes, you can throw those under or over the pad to yield even more.