No Joy! Forced to bail out at -18*

[OCDave]

In the light of day, "shock cord" was the answer. I had left the quilts hanging from the night before (+5*) but, all day in the worsening cold left the thinner of the shock cords too brittle. One of the secondary suspension on the 20* is snapped and the primary suspension on the 0* (thinner than on my 20* for some reason)is stretched with no recoil. Kind of explains why I had so many difficulties keeping the quilts aligned. A local outdoors store stocks shock cord by the foot so I should be back up and hanging by tomorrow.

Looking forward to the next polar vortex to give it another go.

Thanks All, Happy hangin'

[gunner76]

Good try and even better that you had the house near by to escape to. Proof why one needs to test ones set up under controlled conditions.

Since I have started hanging 9 degrees is the coldest I have hung at and that turned out to be in my backyard.

[Phantom Grappler]

I've never hung in that kind of weather. Maybe adjust suspensions a bit--all three-primary, secondary and end closures. I'm in process of re-stringing all my underquilts with new shock cord from Marty at WildernessLogics. I got a longer hammock and needed longer shock cords. And my old 20 degree UQ suspension got too stretchy with age. It was tough to re-string--however worth it.
IF I was gonna be in that cold of hang--I'd add a 40x72x 3/16? Pad from GossamerGear. And would consider even thicker pad as well as stacking UQ. And I'd cheat a bit and add handwarmers to any spots that might get cold--I think they are called HotHands? Good luck on all your hangs and as long as you are still alive (not frozen) and well--I think of that as a win!


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[obxh2o]

I grew up in Minnesota (International Falls, then Mahtomedi) but now live on the North Carolina coast. I have forgotten how miserably cold -18 degrees can be.

[bkrgi]

Yup a def quilt suspension fail cause those 2 quilts together should get you down way deeper in Temps.
When I got my 0*quilts last yr I got the UQ one size longer than the 20* just for the purpose of stacking for deep cold. The 0* UQ easily swallows the 20*
At -18f and just in a base layer I was basking in warmth with the 4 quilts. Figure I'm very close to making -40 with this setup

Interesting that the shock cord did not like that cold....guess means something to keep a eye on for the rest of us.

[DuctTapeMessiah]

I salute your efforts. The only time I stay outside over night in temps below freezing is when my line of work forces me to!


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[Lenaxia]

There really doesn't exist any shock cord that is intended to survive temperatures that low. More likely than not if you plan on doing this regularly you'll have to find a non bungee solution. Perhaps a zing it based pulley system that you can tighten from inside the hammock.

I use shock cord in some of the other sports/activities i do and we regularly see failures due to extremes. They should not be relied on in extreme freezing temperatures

[Nighthauk]

An overnight excursion to my backyard hanging locale ended prematurely last evening. While my topside stayed relatively toasty under 2 stacked Hammock Gear 20* Burrows, the combination of 20* Incubator, 0* incubator and UQP was not enough to get me to dawn (-20* per local weather resources). At just past 4:00 and a temp reading of -17* my backside started to feel the sting/burn of the cold. I attempted a bit of repositioning and quilt adjustments but got not relief. Wind was not a factor due to snow walls I built with yesterday's snowfall. At 4:30 the temperature drop to -18* forced me, for the first time since my sleeping pad nights, to abandon the hammock for warmth of the house.

I have had issues keeping the stacked underquilts aligned. On my next attempt at this temp range I may try to connect the quilts together rather than just hanging the 0* below the 20*. I also have a 40* Incubator. I had not conceived that I'd ever need to stack 3 underquilts but, I may give that a try tonight.

One more night expected in this cold spell but, not projected to get as low as last night. My goal this winter is to achieve a comfortable sub -20* night with my existing gear.

Open to suggestions.

I'll keep you posted

Last year I was able to use that same type of setup down to -20*. I was in a Dutch hammock with HG 0* incubator with 4oz of overstuff against me. A 20* Phoenix w/ no over stuff on top of the incubator and a UQP on that. Then a 20* burrow with 3oz of overfill inside of a 0* Burrow with 3oz overfill on the outside. With that setup I ultimately stripped down boxers, mid weight long sleeve shirt a fleece balaclava, knitted hat and a down hat. That was it. I slept very comfy. With that said I crawled in at 10:30 at night and had a good meal just short of that. So depending on your metabolism you might not have had enough fuel in you system. I have had similar nights where I was in the hammock for around 12 hours and started getting chilled at the tail end because my body ran out of fuel. So I had something to eat in my hammock for if I start o chill off.

Keep at it though. You will find what works for you. It's better to find what doesn't work for you from your backyard then the trail. Great Job.


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[OCDave]

There really doesn't exist any shock cord that is intended to survive temperatures that low. More likely than not if you plan on doing this regularly you'll have to find a non bungee solution. Perhaps a zing it based pulley system that you can tighten from inside the hammock....

I have been trying to mentally work out a zing-it solution that would keep the quilt tight to the bottom of my hammock without damaging the quilt or being too complex to be transportable. Currently, thinking of using small bags at the end of Zing-it run through the secondary suspension that I can fill with rocks or snow as counter weight then running Zing-it thru a small Nite-ize S-biner hooked above my MSH. I'll post when I find a suitable solution.

Thanks

[Lenaxia]

I'm not a fan on relying on local features for my shelter to function beyond just trees but the rocks do sound interesting

I was thinking you could run zing it through your secondary suspension through a buckle at the head end suspension of your hammock to act as a pulley. Then the zing it would enter your hammock through the whipped end and connect via a prusik knot to your ridge line. This would allow you to adjust your quilts without leaving your shelter.

It's a but convoluted but just a thought