I've used a Thermarest in my hammock most often, and it does work well. The downside is that the pad and bag slide around separately- I've almost lost the pad over the side of the hammock. Still, after a little bit of learning curve the combo works down to cold temps.Originally Posted by TroutBum
I've got a friend who uses his Big Agnes bag & pad (not sure which model, but the bag has the integrated pad sleeve) in his ENO Doublenest and loves the combination.
The only problem I had with my BA was when I tried to sit up the next morning. That takes some getting used to.
I think the point is to keep YOU from sliding around on the pad since on the ground (its intended use) the pad would normally not slide. In a hammock, a pad is going to slide, that's just how it is. When you have to make adjustments, you'll just have to make them with the entire setup, bag and pad together which may or may not be easier or more efficient.
I would think a top quilt would work better as it seems to me that the pad would be easier to manage by itself. Some top quilts come with pad straps to keep it in place, but I found it I didn't like them.
I use a golite 1/4 wide pad in the pad sleeve of my claytor. That is my "base layer" setup.
On anything other than a warm night I incorporate a BA system. A Lost Dog with not additional pads for cooler nights. A bit cooler and I add a walmart CFC to the lost dog sleeve. A bit colder and I switch to my BA Yampa bag. A bit colder and I switch out the walmart CFC for a BA insulated pad. A bit colder and I add back the Lost Dog in combination with the Yampa.
I've got a BA pad and sleeping bag, a rectangular one, and I find that I'm colder in it than in a mummy bag. there's just too much air to warm up down around my feet. I got the bag as a warmweather solution, so it's usually not an issue.
They're great if you sleep "strictly" on your back and "straight” as a board. But, if you like to contort, bend your legs at the knees, sleep on your side and etc., then it’s not so good.
Before we switched to UQs, MrsMustardman used the big agnes system. Her experience with it was that it's a lot easier to get the pad situated in the hammock when it's inside the pad sleeve in the sleeping bag than it was when it was in the hammock's double layers. When the pad is between the double layers, it can still slide up to the side and come out from underneath you, whereas when it's inside the bag it's really easy to keep it under you.
She did really like the Big Agnes bag combined with an Exped Downmat 7. That combo took her down to around 15F and she was toasty warm as a very cold sleeper. However, it was a very bulky and heavy system - the BA bag is pretty huge since it is wide enough to completely cover the pad, and weighs more than many bags that actually have insulation in the bottom.
It's definitely a workable system, and pretty versatile if you want the option to use it for going to ground, but MrsMustardman ended up moving on and getting rid of the BA bag to put the money towards a warmer, lighter, more compact Mont Bell sleeping bag.
I guess it depends on how large a person you areOne of the things MrsMustardman loved about the system was that the bag was so huge that she could move around inside of it and get into a variety of positions. She's a tiny person though
Thanks for all the responses,
that is a lot to think about.
I sleep on my side and the BA system workd fine for me
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