Thru Hiking with a Hammock

[Secondmouse]

Okay, this is good..... I own a classic Hennessey Asym and hate it. Thinking about converting to a Warbonnet XLC with a 20° TQ and UC with a Hammock Gear Cuban Fiber tarp with doors. My confusion is on the TQ and UC. I've read so many threads about sleeping cold, sleeping hot, full or 3/4 length.

I just need someone to give me some good info on a Hammock setup knowing the temps on the AT doing a mid-March start at Springer.

Thoughts?

in hot/warm weather I sleep in just shorts/t-shirt and I use a 45* 3/4 length synthetic UQ.

down to about freezing, I wear longsleeve top and bottom baselayer and maybe fleece at night, and use a shorty (48") 20* Down UQ.

below that I still do the baselayer and maybe fleece but use a full length Down UQ.

this is what I do, not saying it's what anyone else recommends...

[msupple]

The exception is the Smoky Mountains where you are required to stay in the shelters.

Be sure to learn how to set up and use the hammock properly before you start. I just read a Trail Journals by a young woman who didn't do that and had one heck of a rough night the first day out. She got soaking wet as a result. Not a good thing to do on March 2nd.

Ha ha! That reminds of a hanger that started the same day as me in 2012. Apparently he bought a hammock and never tried it out prior to his hike. I met him the second night out and he complained that he was finding it difficult to find trees the correct distance apart and that he was very cold.. I wasn't having the same problem so I asked him if I could see his gear. Seems that he had purchased tree huggers but no straps to connect from the huggers to the hammock. This allowed him almost zero ability to compensate for distance of the trees. he also failed to bring an underquilt or even a pad. I was shocked to see someone so ill prepared. They helped him quite a bit at Neels Gap but he only made it about fifty miles.