Hennessy Hammock Insulation System - What kind?

[zombiegrad]

I was blessed to be gifted a Hennessy Hammock Ultralite Backpacker by a trail angel. She said I needed to figure out an insulation system, and she also gave me a Jacks R Better shell/undercover and a down sleeping bag that she said I could cut up and sew to create an underquilt.

I have no sewing skills, so would this be as easy as having a friend who does sew the sleeping bag (measured for fit) to the shell/undercover?

Right now HH is offering an insulation system (#1 SUPERSHELTER 4 SEASON INSULATION SYSTEM w/over cover) for $99. Any thoughts on that? Would it be better for me to create my own underquilt than to purchase something like this? It seems that I already have the major components to create a super shelter-like system, including undercover, space blanket, and some kind of underpad. Would that be a good route to go?

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated!

[PapaSmurf]

I had the chance to test the limits of the HH Supershelter at this weekend's Ohio Hang at Wildcat Hollow.

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/2/7/9/6/9/papasmurf_hhss_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=45481&c=member&orderby=dateline&direction=DESC&imageuser=27969&cutoffdate=-1)

Temps from my phone: 31 degrees @ 10:30pm, 25 degrees @ 6:30am
Low temp according to wunderground.com was 20 degrees.

Hammock: HH Explorer Deluxe
Supershelter: undercover, overcover, foam pad, mylar emergency blanket
Sleeping Bag: 20 degree synthetic bag (el cheapo from a yard sale)
Clothing: wool base layer, my regular hiking clothes, fleece jacket, balaclava, rain shell
Extras: 2 Hot Hands hand warmers

Results: While I wasn't especially toasty or even comfortably warm, I stayed warm enough to sleep through the night. No cold spots that I could detect. When I got up to water the bushes early this morning, I could tell a big difference between the temperature inside the hammock and the outside temperature.

Conclusion: I'll definitely use this system for temperatures down to, say 30-35ish and it should do the job quite well. It's also comforting to know that I can take down as low as 20-25 if I need to.

[Red Hat]

the jrb undercover you have is not that different from the HH one, imo

[Monkeywrench]

I used a HH with the undercover and underpad for my thru-hike. I used a space blanket with the underpad (as HH recommends) during the cold spring and fall weather, and skipped it during the summer. (If I thought the temp wouldn't dip below ~65 overnight, I wouls skip using the underpad entirely.) I had a number of below freezing nights and I kept comfortably warm with this system. On especially cold nights I did add my down jacket under the underpad in the area underneath my torso. I would hold it in place by simply winding the sleeves around the elastic that holds the head end of the underpad in place.

The underpad looks rather fragile, but it survived the entire hike with one tear from when I caught it on a branch in Maine.