I just finished my thru....here's what I did
I started with the JRB Nest...boy...that's good sleepin! had it down to 6 degrees with no problem (with clothes etc), so it would be in my 'dream list' And by dream list, I mean the list of gear my sherpa carries <g>/
I loved it, but the Nest went home at Damascus and didn't come back out, instead I used about 3ft of 24" wide CCF. It sucked, my back was sweating, my shoulders would get cold if I moved over and touched the sides of the hammock. My feet were very cold in NH and Maine until I found a good way to keep my pack under them at night.
CCF....8oz instead of 22 oz for the Nest.... I love my Nest, but ounces become pounds and pounds become tired feet!
I only slept in 5 shelters the whole way, about 160+ nights in the hammock, screw going to ground!!!
FYI, I went on a serious weight loss program for my pack....25lb base weight to start at Springer....12lb base weight by Glencliff, NH so I was a little fanatical about pack weight, I know a woman that carried her Nest the entire trail, even when the temps were in the 95 degree range. She had one of those huge Oregon Research bags as a pack liner and would stuff her Nest in there and use it as her pad. To each their own!
--Bytecode
GAME '07
aka Cargousa