My summer thru hike dilema

[RITBlake]

Mike and I are leaving June 1st for our NOBO thruhike. I sleep very warm and would much rather be a little cold then a little hot. Anyway, I'll be using a hennesy hammock as a shelter and I was wondering if it's unheard of not to hike w/ a sleeping bag. I would bring a military issue poncho liner instead. Any military guys here will recognize it. It is a very strong, light, and comfortable material. For nights inside the shelter I would just lay down my pad and wrap myself up in the liner. It is wide enough to fold over my entire body.

Sometime in early September I would probably start using a bag for chillier nights.

Heres a link to what poncho liner I'm refering to
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:iYHpEo8FyvkJ:www.fatiguesarmynavy.c om/store/item/US2006+army+navy+poncho+liner&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[DMA, 2000]

I bought a fleece sleeping bag liner from REI for about $30, and started using it in VA in May. I had some pretty cool nights, even into September, (some really quite uncomfortable), but I liked the light weight and small size.

[Pencil Pusher]

So long as you and Mike are cool with the idea of sharing as a means to going light, you could skimp on the sleeping bag. Ask Mountain Dew about the proper technique for spooning with another man.

[SGT Rock]

I advise against it. Your sleeping bag is your last line of defense against hypothermia which is one of the biggest dangers for people on the trail if they don't take proper precautions. A poncho liner (depending on the year made) weighs between 21 ounces and 24 ounces. In my experience the poncho liner with warm clothing has a comfort limit of about 40 degrees for comfort inside a hammock if you also use a pad. Of course you may sleep warm, but anyway...

I have experienced some 30 degree temperatures in the southern Appalachians even as late into the season as July 4 when I once woke up to 36 degrees near Standing Indian. Hypothermia can happen in temperatures as high as the 50s, especially if you get wet, and the ability to get warm and sort of dry up a little is needed for such contingencies.

So my point is you could do it, but it wouldn't be very comfortable. Considering the weight savings that you get from such a choice compared to say a good bag like the REI Sub Kilo or something similar which only weigh around 34 ounces which will make you warmer by far than a poncho liner, it just seems a little extreme IMHO. Sure a bag will be more than you need a lot of the time with that late of a start date, but there will be some nights you were glad you didn't skimp. There are a lot of other places to save weight.

[orangebug]

Not that there's anything wrong with that.... :rolleyes:

The problem with fleece bags is the bulk, in my opinion, from using the $20 Target bag a few times. I've got my eyes on a 40F down bag as an option next year for warm weather sections.

[Tim Rich]

As Sgt. Rock said, going bagless is a risk. Unless you plan to compensate by taking extra clothes, I wouldn't recommend it.

There are cheap, lightweight bags available in the 40 degree range. I bought a Slumberjack 40 degree long bag with synthetic fill at Galyan's last year on sale for $59. It weighs about 1 lb. 10 oz. and came with a compression sack that is only about 5 x 10 inches compressed. It worked well on my Rangeley to Monson section this year and I've used it several other times, including on the Pinhoti on an overnighter with a couple of my sons the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was in the upper 30s and I slept fine with it using a 3/4 Thermarest.

Take Care,

Tim

[minnesotasmith]

A July date to begin a NOBO through-hike seems rather on the late side, unless your trail name is Flyin' Brian or Pony Express. It sounds to me as if you are inclined to go ultralight in order to be able to make mega-miles and get to Katahdin ASAP. You can still run into major weather problems well before them, too (i.e., the White Mtns.). Why not go SOBO instead? You wouldn't have nearly as much of a reason to hurry due to calendar issues, presuming you don't have a hard end date to your planned hike due to a school/work/personal commitment you have yet to mention on this thread. Too, you could then carry enough gear to be both safer and more comfortable, with any subsequent slowing down not a catastrophe to your hike plan.

[peter_pan]

Sgt Rock says it well....Personally I find the poncho liner limit at 50 degress and I need clothes with it below 55-60. And at 21.5-24 oz it really is not light... Plus the real ones ( as opposed to the Nock-offs) are longer than necessary and wider than necessary. I have couple trimmed to 78x48 with draw strings and omni tape added so that I can for foot sacks... these are 15.5 and 15 oz respectively for bottom and top. Personally I have 1.5 " thick down quilts that work well to high thirties that are this light...much better flexibility.

Look into quilts if you are sereous about Hammocking....Light, luxury, 3 & 4 season capable ( yes they work on the ground also).

[chris]

I saw a lot of people without sleeping bags in mid-late May in Virginia. Most were sleeping in military ponchos, some in fleece liners (heavier, by the way, than the 40 degree bag I was hauling). Most would go to sleep in alll their clothes and sleep rather poorly, waking up cold. Wild Horse sent back his 5.5 lb sleeping bag in mid PA (Boiling Springs) and subsequently had some cold, wet nights in his liner. Few people seemed happy, at the time, with their choice.

Now, all that being said, if I was leaving from Springer on June 1, I'd be carrying my 40 degree bag (probably about as light as the poncho) with the idea of putting it into my bounce box as soon as I cleared Roan, maybe earlier, and instead just hauling my 5 oz liner. I'd feel comfortable doing it and could do it safely. However, since your asking, you might have to depend on a lot of luck to stay safe.

[Bluebearee]

Spring/summer of 2002 found most of us downsizing to only fleece bags or the Marmot Trails bag (I picked one up in Waynesboro, about 600 miles too late). I was only cold a few nights in the Shenandoahs and for that set up my tent. Otherwise most of us carried those to MA/VT. I got my "summer" synthetic back in Cheshire, others went into Brattleboro or waited to Hanover. It definitely depends on the weather pattern for your year, which you won't know til you start out. It was just bloody hot that entire hike, from Day One (April 18th) through Oct 1st coming out of Stratton. For some time references, I went through Harper's Ferry July 19th, hit Killington day after Labor Day. A summer like the past two (03 and 04) would make this a completely different story. Tough call.

btw, I had two guys pass me - one in PA and the other in NH who had started in June. It's certainly possible, yet not terribly social.

[JoeHiker]

Couldn't you just bring the sleeping bag but sleep on top of it if it's too warm?

[Moose2001]

How comfortable you would be in a poncho liner also would depend on the weather that year. 2001 was a warm Spring and Summer. 2003 was cold and rainy. I saw a number of hikers in 2003 with fleece bags that were VERY uncomfortable. For roughly the same weight as the poncho, you can have a good, lightweight bag. I use a Kelty Lightyear 45 degree down bag. Compresses down to almost nothing, has a hood for those "cold" nights, and is nice and warm. If it's warm, I use it as a blanket. You will run into "cold" nights in the mountains. It's worth carrying a good bag so you can sleep and be comfortable.

[The Will]

I did go without a sleeping bag for 4-6 weeks on my southbound hike. But I kept long-johns and my bivy sleeping in...you know you're pushing things when you wear your pack cover to stay warm at night. So yes, it is possible, but some of the inherit dangers in going bagless have been spelled out succinctly.

MS had a good suggestion. Since June 1 is your earliest start date, have you considered a SOBO hike?

[Lion King]

An extra pound or two for the bag is a lot lighter then your dead hiking mate.

Take it, keep it, and expect the unexpected...cuz it does, and will happen.

[rocket04]

I ditched my sleeping bag in Pearisburg a bit too early during my hike this year and it was a mistake. Granted, I got rid of it on May 23rd, but I was cold all the way into June. I have entries in my journal relating how I froze my ass off June 2nd and 3rd before Waynesboro. I would sleep with my long johns, fleece sweather, and fleece bag, and I was still cold. I even wrapped myself in my tarp sometimes and still felt cold. Granted, I'm a cold sleeper, but like everybody said, just be careful not to downgrade your bag at the wrong time.