I've seen a few posts about making DIY under quilts out of SnugPak Jungle Blankets and had thought about trying that myself, until I looked on line and found that SnugPak actually sells a hammock specific Under Blanket. (Maybe they heard folks were making them out of the Jungle Blanket, so they developed one themselves to market ready-made?) At any rate, the ready made one from SnugPak was pretty economical so I decided to give it a try, even though I'd already ordered the plain Jungle Blanket. I have both now and the Hammock Under Blanket is much loftier than the Jungle Blanket. The Under Blanket fits beautifully on my WBBB XLC.
My underblanket arrived by UPS after dark last night in the midst of a torrential storm. I already had my WBBB XLC and SuperFly up in anticipation of its arrival. I quickly scrounged four small carabiners and ventured out into the night with my newly delivered SnugPak UnderBlanket. In the dark, in a storm, holding my flashlight by my teeth, I put the new underblanket on my hammock in only a few minutes and crawled in for the best night's sleep ever in my WBBB!
Doing mostly cool and cold weather camping, I have always used a closed cell pad because an underquilt won't yet fit into my budget. I have a DL hammock and always considered the pad comfortable...but, you'll never catch me using it ever again! The underblanket is awesome! There were absolutely no chilly spots anywhere in my hammock, unlike my pad experiences! The wind was blowing mercilessly, beating my tarp against my hammock and the temperature dropped from 61 degrees to 43 degrees in just a few hours as a cold front moved in. It remains to be seen how well the blanket insulates at lower temps, but I was way warmer at 43 with this underblanket than I've been at 43 in the past using a closed cell foam pad. I could lay any which way without encountering a cold spot. Once, early in the morning, I did notice my shoulder feeling cool but, unzipping my bug net and reaching outside for a quick feel, I found the underblanket had shifted off center. Without even sitting up, I was able to snag it and easily slide it back into position, instantly eliminating the cold spot. I doubt shifting of the underblanket will be an issue in the future when I can rig the underblanket in daylight and am more familiar with how to rig it properly to begin with!
I'm sure the SnugPak Under Blanket can't hold a candle to the down underquilts in warmth, lightness, or compact-ability...but it is definitely a step up in the right direction over a closed cell pad and at $44.95, ready to hang, it is very affordable!
I had already bought the SnugPak Jungle blanket before realizing SnugPak makes a ready made hammock underblanket, so, I thought I would lay them out together for a photo so you can see how they compare with each other size-wise (in case you'd rather DIY). The ready made underblanket is oval in shape. At its widest point is is the same width as the SnugPak Jungle Blanket and it is ten inches longer than the Jungle Blanket. In addition, it feels about three times thicker. It has a lot more loft. In the photo (which I will attempt to attach here) the black Jungle blanket had been sitting out fluffing for several days whereas I'd compressed the olive UnderBlanket back into it's compression bag earlier today and pulled it out moments before this photo was taken. The Underblanket comes with shock cord at four points. Down each of the long sides, shock cord runs through a continuous channel with a cinch attachment mid-length on each of the long sides.
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