Caution: this was a short test of only an hour or two. I woke this morning before dawn and couldn't get back to sleep. Since my pod was hanging over my BB, I decided to go out and hop in for a while. The hammock and pod were very cold to start with, however! A hot water bottle tossed in before hand would have been more luxurious!
I tried out the pod at 30*F (85% humidity, no tarp, no wind) on the WBBB. Definitely not optimum, efficiency and warmth to weight wise, mainly due to the shelf side keeping the pod a good height above your body. But I would love to try it on a WB Traveler!
Naturally, there are pros and cons even to a wide/high hammock's side keeping the pod up high, times when you might actually want that. Roominess for example. If the temps are warm enough that I don't need it right on top of me, say the 40s for me, then there is just lots of room to roll around in there. And if you are carrying a light TQ to fill up most of the space, then the gap doesn't matter much any way. And on nights that are not all that cold, just leave the TQ out and go with the roominess. Etc. I'm sure folks can think of many ways to make these variables work for them, and/or to overcome them if needed.
Any way, back to the mini-test. With no TQ, I tried out my system I used last year in the WY mountains for lows in the high 20s: my puffy clothing that I carry anyway( PG 14 oz jacket/8 oz pants), and a 9 oz down vest. What was dif was the high and wide BB rather than the narrow Claytor No Net.
So, it was definitely more difficult to fill the top air space with my down vest, especially on the right side. I was wearing my cotton PJs, the PG pants and jacket with hood down, fleece cap. I have in the past worn BOTH the jacket and vest BACKWARDS, with my arms through the sleeves which were in front. This really allows things to puff up and fill the top space around my chest and neck, and stopping any draft and escape of warmed air out of the breathing hole. But I didn't do that today, I just wore the kacket normally and put the vest on backwards, or just layered it over my chest without putting my arms through the holes.
It really felt cold when I first got in, but the longer I laid there the warmer I got. After about 1/2 hour I was quite toasty. One thing that helped was that, while the BB was way high on the right shelf side, it was plenty low on the left side and the Pea Pod sometimes would actually be in contact with the left side of my face and head. So I didn't need much help on the left at these temps, which meant I could scoot the vest to the right and wherever the biggest gap was.
As I have not used my Pea Pod much since that last WY trip ( I have been busy discovering the pleasures of a JRB MW4 and BMBH), one thing surprised me. With things fairly well blocked off below my neck, and even with a couple of breathing holes ( like MacEntyre's "chimney") I still had a huge amount of warmth at my head and face. Even though I only had a fleece cap on and not any form of hood. IOW, even when not fully closed, I was reminded that the Pea Pod effectively has a pretty good hood. I had to open the vents some more because my head was just plain TOO hot. This excess head warmth was no doubt functioning to shunt warm blood down towards my feet and lower body, helping keep things warm down there. I was laying there warm and comfy and all was roomy, when I heard a noise at the windows, and waved to my wife ( whose eyes were rolling fully as she looked at the insane man in the backyard), so I hopped out and went in for some hot coffee.
I went back out and played around with my Golite quilt inside the Pea Pod and BB, which was way too warm at these temps unless I really opened things up. There are zero draft issues with such a combo, which is a humongous positive.
Keep in mind that this WAS NOT ALL night, and Caveat Emptor and YMMV! In fact, my wife would have probably froze trying this. But still, I can't help but feel I would have been at least OK with a full nights sleep with this combo and at these temps and maybe a few degrees colder. I have been warm enough in the field with this set up, but I was using a narrow hammock, which is warmer. But, even in the BB I was still able to roll on my side, rotate the pod so that I only had a small breathing hole to the left side. That way all my breath humidity is being expelled directly out side, yet my head is fully covered, and heat rises away from that hole, so not much heat escapes. This can really boost warmth, and if worse came to worse I could do that.
Then before quitting, I threw up my Speer, Pea Pod and Golite quilt. But no jacket or vest, just cotton shirt and jeans By now it was in the 40s, and it was way too hot with that quilt in there. But, it nicely filled every nook and cranny, with LOTS of warmth even with a quite large opening above my face. Lots of room for me with it open like that. It would be a real nice combo for real cold temps, especially combined with a jacket, or light quilt or space blanket or pad down in the pod, under the hammock.
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