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Land_Shark
10-14-2010, 10:04
Has anyone had luck with down wind proof bags to help stay warm?
Raul Perez
10-14-2010, 10:05
are you insulating the bottom of your hammock
Land_Shark
10-14-2010, 10:47
I am ultra lite and do not want any extra weight. Do not mind spending the money on a high end bag, just would like to hear from the R&D departmen(hikers) as to wich one will do. 30 lbs. and less this is with water.
Raul Perez
10-14-2010, 11:01
Well if you are not insulating your back you're gonna freeze period.
I'm at 9.5lbs base weight with a warbonnet yeti for summer, 10.8lbs for early spring/late fall, and 14.5lbs deep winter.
Kerosene
10-14-2010, 11:10
You'll definitely want to go with an underbag and forego a windproof bag. If your hammock tarp is angled low enough then I doubt that it's the wind robbing you of warmth as much as wherever the down compresses between your body and the hammock.
bigcranky
10-14-2010, 11:25
No, a windproof outer shell on a down bag won't help. Not enough, anyway. A hammock requires some sort of insulation under the user in temps below about 70-F. Your body weight crushes the down, so no insulation.
Two choices -- closed cell foam pad, or underquilt. If you want to spend money to solve this problem, go to Jacks R Better and get a down top quilt and a down under quilt. Problem solved.
wirerat123
10-15-2010, 12:14
I would consider carrying the extra pound and a half for a really great UQ for winter if I were you. You'll sleep better than you ever have winter camping. You are not going to stay warm without under insulation in any temps below 60s.
A pound and a half isn't going to kill you. Plus how well you can sleep in a hammock with an UQ in winters in comparison to a ground setup. Well, I'd certainly take the minimal weight penalty for the increased rest throughout the night.
Land_Shark
10-15-2010, 15:05
Low body fat is the reason I freez. I will try the uq, I use the Hennesy UL w/ a little mods I am sure I will get it to fit. And, the extra weight is nothing for I WILL NOT SLEEP ON THE GROUND. Nothing good happens on the ground. Thanx all for the advice.
Has anyone had luck with down wind proof bags to help stay warm?
Any fabric tightly woven enough to keep down plumules from poking through is likely as windproof as anything that isn't waterproof.
Warbonnet makes a variation of their bugnet out of breathable nylon if you need to cut the wind around your sleeping bag (and bare skin).
Fiddleback
10-17-2010, 11:00
If the wind is robbing heat much of that may be stopped with an extra wide pad. The Gossamer and Oware pads, weighing a mere 6-7oz, are wide enough at 40" to cup around the sleeper when he/she is laying down. This 'wrap' provides both extra insulation around the shoulders and wind block.
Once temps drop below 60°, or even 70°, a hammock user must have underinsulation. Either of the two thin pads above will do the job in chilly weather...with a properly tweaked sleep system, a 3/8" thick pad should get you into the mid-20's and help with whatever wind slips under the tarp.
Or, so I have experienced...;)
FB
i was going to second fiddleback. a pad will be a lighter option for sure (even lighter than a 900 filll down UQ) since you said you are UL
gunner76
10-18-2010, 20:18
WalMart has a waffle patterned blue pad that is about 24" wide vrs their standard 20" wide. Weights in at 15oz. Cost about $10. My wife use it on camping trip last week when temps were in the low 40's
Low body fat is the reason I freez.
BS. I've been incredibly lean and quite fat. Neither did much to change how cold I'd get, although being fat does make it hard to cool off when it's hot outside. Same goes for swimming. If you do things right, you'll do okay. You're not insulating half your body. That is why you're cold. You might as well chuck the hammock and sleeping bag and just sleep bare to the sky on a down air mat.
no. it is a scientific fact that fat provides insulation
Of course it does, but being skinny is a BS excuse for why it's cold. He's cold because he doesn't know how to stay warm.
no. it is a scientific fact that fat provides insulation
yes but that is only a small part of the equation. When I was a competitive swimmer I was super lean. But I was always hot. always. my body was continuously burning energy. Competitive swimmers are supposed to have the highest metabolism of any athlete. Several girls I spent the night with commented how I heated the bed better then normal guys. I also spent the night with a swimmer girl once and she heated up my bed more then any other girl I had ever been with.
being fat and having a slow metabolism is like have a well isolated house and turning the heater off.
having a high metabolism and being skinny is like turning the heat up in a old drafty house. you are still going to be warmer.
beakerman
10-19-2010, 14:40
i remember the first time i slept in a hammock overnight. It was in houston, after a hurricane we had no power. I was so cold thought I was sick. I had nothing under me. It was warm, not hot just warm but without something under me I was very cold. The next night I put a sleeping bag on top of the hammock and slept on top of that and I wasn't cold at all.
Now I when I hammock in the winter (keep in mind this is houston so its not a real cold winter) I use CCF and a regular sleeping bag and I'm pretty much ok. I can see that when I start real cold weather camping again I'll need an under quilt to stay warm.
I'll take that small weight penalty for the comfort of a hammock anyday...cold...hot it doesn't matter to me I prefer the hammock now.
paradoxb3
10-20-2010, 11:51
if money is an issue in the underquilt decision, and you're at all handy at sewing, or know someone that is and would be willing to help you, they're not that hard to make. I made my own last year and took it on my thru-hike this year and it worked perfect in all weather conditions and kept me toasty warm on the coldest windy nights, and the final cost was less than half that of a JRB underquilt.
i bought my materials from http://www.thru-hiker.com (http://www.thru-hiker.com/)
i used 6oz of 800+ down, 2 yards of momentum 0.9oz ripstop for the inside (facing me), 2 yards of 1.1oz silnylon for the outer shell, and 1 yard of nanoseeum netting for the baffles. i also used some elastic i got at walmart around the sides to hold it tight to my hammock, and plain buttons to attach it.
overall weight was a dead even 16oz (1lb) and well worth carrying. it compressed down to less than the size of a football. its overall construction quality and functionality might have been less than that of a JRB, but it kept me warm just the same and for alot less money.
check the website, they have a projects section with an underquilt guide that helped me design mine.
TheYoungOne
10-23-2010, 19:28
You need to watch some Shug videos.
Shug is a guy on Youtube that is a Hammock hanger that camps way up north in bitter cold.
He is a hammock Guru, and his videos are informative and pretty enteraining to boot.
http://www.youtube.com/user/shugemery
You need some under insulation.
Your low body fat has little to do with not staying warm with no under insul.
Would you sleep on the frozen ground with no pad underneath you ??
At least get a 7oz bluepad from walmart.
If you really want to stay warm and comfortable then balance out the rest of your setup to make it lighter.
Sounds like you are skinny so get a nano hammock 8 oz, the old style golite ultra 20 at 20 oz, a warbonnet "the edge" spin tarp at 9 oz or a zpacks cuben tarp and a decent UQ like a warbonnet 3 season yeti at 12 oz and carry a blue pad at 7oz for additional insul in winter and to sit on.
So a a big 4 as above with a miraposa pack would weigh 5# including the blue pad.
If you use a poncho you could carry a driducks that breaths and use it as a garlington taco for some additional warmth and fill it with whatever.
I have an ultra 20, and slept on a 2 cut down crossed CCF pads with a normal garlington taco under a 10x12 tarp pitched in tent mode at 14dF last winter and was very warm.
I agree with above also look at what shug carries.
He just reviewed the big mama jamba tarp and that will probably be my next tarp.
Hitting 30# is not a big deal with an UQ.
Link. They are all funny videos anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/user/shugemery
rip waverly
11-23-2010, 11:41
i'll join the masses and say that yes, under insulation is necessary.
all suggestions have been great.
ccf or uq
30 lbs with water? How many hammocks and gallons of water are you carrying? LOL. Since I'm cheap, I went with the Thermorest Ridgerest (8oz), ALPS Razor (26 oz) and GoLite 3 season Ultralite Sleeping bag (24 oz). I'm very comfortable down to 0' F.
gunner76
11-28-2010, 12:58
Fat may insulate but you still need some insulation under you if you are sleeping on the ground or in hammock ( I weight 275 and I need a pad under me in my hammock once the temps hit the 60's.
Also, test your gear before heading to the woods. It is finally getting into the 30's here so I am testing different combinations of pads, sleeping bags (down and synthetic used as top quilts), my trusty poncho liner ect to see what works and what doesn't at different temps. Normally I like it cold when I sleep but since I am on blood thinners right now I am more susceptible to the cold than normal. Remember, its easier to cool off than it is to get warm and with a good night's sleep you can put up with just about anything.
mweinstone
11-28-2010, 23:37
the ground is where you get layed. duh. hammoks. what the heck?duh!
Hokiehikergirl
12-15-2010, 16:38
i also freeze at night! Never thought of an underquilt.. awesome idea!
kayak karl
12-15-2010, 17:56
Rocky Mountain Sniveller top quilt 28 oz
Te-Wa Winter Coat under quilt overstuffed 22 oz
Warbonnet Traveler with whoopies, dutch clips and biners, 5 ft tree straps 19 oz
Z-pack 9-11 cuben tarp w/lines and stakes 8 oz
Pad for feet 3 oz
total 5.0 lbs good down to -5 degrees (that's the lowest i've hung)
compared to a tent, bag and pad for 0 degrees not too shabby:D