Pad Modification

[Deerleg]

Hi all! I just spent the last hour reading through a lot of great information. This is all just fantastic stuff! I used an a-sym this past fall for the 1st time and really like it! My son and I will be section hiking from Hot Springs to Erwin in about 2 weeks and we will both use hammocks. I did struggle to keep a closed cell pad positioned under me on the last trip so I played around with the pad this winter by cutting several darts to give it more of a tub shape. It seems like it will work much better than before. Any other ideas on modifying a pad?

My son and I hiked a section between Hot Springs and Erwin in early April. It ended up being very cold. Our 1st, and as it turned out only night in hammocks, the temp dropped to the mid 30’s. I also used a Wal-Mart silver backed windshield shade modified in a similar fashion. They worked well for me and I stayed mostly warm. The wind picked up pretty good just before dawn and whatever heat I was trapping was lost. I was using a very lightweight 30-degree bag which I am sure made it a bit more of a challenge to stay warm. My 14-year-old son had the same set up with a 20-degree bag, ended up with the pad and reflector on top of him in the morning, but said he stayed warm. We ended up staying in shelters after that as the wind really picked up, we were above 5000 feet and the temp dropped into the low 20’s. The hammocks made great bivy’s and I slid the reflector on top of the sleeping bag and under the ‘bivy” and was toasty warm.!

[Youngblood]

Deerleg, I am interested in what you did. What type and size pad? How did you re-attach the cuts for the darts? Where you able to roll & unroll your pad without damaging the re-attachment areas?

Youngblood

[Deerleg]

Deerleg, I am interested in what you did. What type and size pad? How did you re-attach the cuts for the darts? Where you able to roll & unroll your pad without damaging the re-attachment areas?

Youngblood

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/sh...cat=500&page=1

Cheap Walmart 20X70 ½ inch closed cell sleeping pad.

I did not attach the darts, they tend to flex and work back and forth as you shift your weight in the hammock, so rolling it up is not a problem either.