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I've been thinking of getting one of those heavy duty, reusable mylar blankets and making an underquilt by adding some loops on the ends to attach the shock cord to my suspension. Has anyone ever tried something like this? One of my worries is that I might wake up in a pool of sweat.
yep, pool of sweat is a pretty good guess. I think you would have better luck laying on it. I don't think either way would be very effective. I have heard of people adding a layer of it to an existing UQ and some have luck with it. If your really curious I say drop the 3 dollars for the blanket and make some loops out of duct tape and see for yourself if you like it. Probably the cheapest underquilt trial ever.
Worth a try. My guess is it'd be good to cut the wind, and reflect some heat. Maybe 60*F or so. Those "blankets" don't have any insulative properties, so not going to get you down too far.
With a breathable, or open top, and a slight air gap under you between the hammock and the mylar, you'd probably minimize the amount of "sweat pooling".
People have used them paired with other uq's, like a pluq, to add some degree's to their system.
Yes! Pool of sweat.
But for UL hammocking this summer I found something that worked down into the mid 40'sF for me (so far).
I have used it all by itself, on a closed cell pad and then also with a Thermalite bag liner. Both were enough for toastiness on summer nights at Yosemite and Point Reyes. Though it's a bivy, I didn't even need the sleeping bag.
Oh, I slept in the usual Merino shorty socks, silkweight Patagonia capilene longies, and topped with the Navy watch cap I earned the hard way at Great Lakes.
It's an AMK SOL Escape Bivy...which I'll describe as a coating of the reflective stuff inside of a Tyvekky or FroggToggy sorta bag.
If you look outside from within you can see the whole world through little holes in the fabric. If the bag were mylar, of course, it wouldn't breathe. I can bury my head in it and sleep like a baby without feeling moist or clammy anywhere.
And it's pretty water tight. I spent a night on the grass in the middle of a field at Stern Grove in San Francisco...it got down to 44F that night. Moisture never got through and one shake got it all off. And before that it held up to a good 10 minute hose test at home.
So far I've used it outside for 18 days and two more in my bed at home. It's holding up okay so far - no real signs of wear. I have been pretty careful with it and it probably wouldn't work for everyone. Nor would I stake my survival on it.
I can't wait to test it when it gets cold enough for a real workout of its capabilities...since it sheds water I'm thinking I could insert this Escape into the AMK Emergency Bivy, which is the mylar version of it...any body moisture would then go through the Escape and get trapped in the Emergency...or so my theory goes. I have no idea how much warmer that would be or if it would overwhelm the Escape or what. But what fun it's been, to reduce from a near 3lb Cat's Meow to a half-pounder Escape!
The AMK SOL Escape is fifty clams at REI...though I have no idea how long it's gonna last me.
Try the Adventure Medical Kits Thermal Bivy 2.0- it is awesome! I don't use it as an UQ but it is thermal and breathable and works great as a blanket to lay on or one to use outside of your usual sleeping bag to protect from the wind.