Two nights ago, the temps dropped to 33°, so I made a test of my cold weather setup. It is actually just a tweak on my warm weather setup. From the top down:
8x10 Tarp, corners folded together to close it up
Poncho Liner overcover
40° sleeping bag
Fleece liner
Blue foam pad from Walmart - in bag, under liner
Hammock
Poncho liner UQ with solar blanket inside
Poncho undercover
I wore some polypro longjohns, socks, and fleece hat. Having the pad in the sleeping bag was great. It was the most comfortable I've been with the pad, and no sliding off! However, I woke in the early hours of the morning to a wet back.
Last night, the weather was to be a little warmer, 37°, so I decided to dump the pad and see how I fared. This is the surprising part. Temps actually got down to 35°, and I didn't freeze. There were a couple of times when I woke up chilled, but not cold. Usually a quick re-adjust on the UQ did the trick.
Eventually I plan to get a nicer hammock and the gear to go along with that. Until then, I just want to tweak what I have. I've been looking at the Gossamer Gear Thinlight wide pad thinking I could place it between UQ and hammock. Perhaps placing the solar blanket on top (sound familiar?).
Does this sound workable?
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