Temperature Rating for Hammock.

[Green Bean]

Say I buy a ULB A-SYM. Could you use it in the cold season?
If you can... What is the coldest the temperature dropped down to and you could still keep warm?

I am really interested in hammock camping and I do some hikes in the cold season. Is it a good idea to buy a hammock if I am going to be sleeping in coldness??? .THanks. ~GB

[Just Jeff]

What do you consider cold? Several have hammocked comfortably below zero, so it can be done if you're willing to learn how it's different from ground sleeping. Not hard, just different...just depends on what you're up for. Doesn't have to be expensive, either.

I've been to mid-20s in the HH and about -10 in my homemade one.

[MedicineMan]

in the archive over how much weight to get to how much low temps...other than the fact that humans are eternally variable in what they call cold you should decide now if the comfort of the hammock is worth maintaining as the mercury drops....when you look at what we as boy scouts carried for a tent 35 years ago its all a joke (the canvas pup tent without a floor) weight wise...if i look at what I carried from age 18-30 its still silly compared to what i can carry now...2 underquilts+2 tops quilts+HH lite racer+McCatDeluxe and i'm good to 15F all for less than 6 pounds, a 1.5 pound pack, 1 pound of head to toe rain gear, one once alcohol stove, 7 ounces of fuel, etc and i'm laboring a 12-14 pound load until i add food and water.
For me its a no brainer knowing i'm carrying another pound and a half to be able to sleep in the hammock, for me it was revolutionary....but its not for everyone, again look to the debates on the weight of a closed call pad, a tarp and a 10degree bag. Some of us as getting older, we creek more, and for me there was something medicinal about the hammock, something blissful, and then the factiods about being off the ground away from the snakes and the bugs, not having to seek out the nice flat root and rock free space.
I'm soon to get a Doube Rainbow by Shires...it will find use in the northern part of Norway and on deck of a transport up the inside passage, hammocks wont solve every sleeping need, but at 1lb 6oz the HH lite racer will always be there just in case I can hang.

[MedicineMan]

look at this pic:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=2999&c=665&userid=163

does that look like fun to you?

on that hike i was up to 28 pounds including food for 3 days....usually what it takes to stay warm doesnt way too much, but is bulky.

[hammock engineer]

I'm with everyone else, it has a lot to do with how you sleep. I made it down to about 15 degrees in mine. All you need is a pad and a nice sleeping bag. Underquilts are a lot more comfortable, but at the lower temps, I think you need a pad.

Go for it and get one, just be patient. There is a big learning curve with hammocks. Just little things that you need to learn to make it easy.

[MedicineMan]

some tenters say we have to fiddle too much time away getting the hammock rig/underquilt setup.....yes you will have to experiment a few times with the underquilt but soon enough you'll know where to snug it to, and what's ten minutes when you might spend 10 hours in it?
one of my favorite positions in the HH is sitting in it, not sitting on it-i know you can, but i'm talking about crossing my legs and sitting in the HH sideways, leaning back on the netting (well most of my but and back are on the hammock itself) and relaxing...it is so comfortable and nothing close in a tent. And yes I've repositioned the underquilt in the middle of the night, had to get out and pee anyway, went to bed and it was hot but had a rapid and deep cooling over several hours...took 10 seconds to snug up the quilt after peeing.....