My Situation.

[Dave41079]

Be sure and test your gear before you head into the woods. Nothing worse than finding out in the field your setup does not keep you warm or dry ect. I spend more nights in my backyard than I do in the woods so I can test different combinations of my gear to find out what works and what doesn't.

This is exactly what I just got through doing. I hung in my front yard, in 26* weather...which is about the coldest I expect to be camping in...to test out what I'd need to be comfortable to sleep in. The gear I used aside from hammock/tarp/suspension was an Alps Mountaineering Clearwater 20* synthetic bag, a Stoic LTWT self inflating mattress(1.5" 3/4 length, 1" under the legs, R value average of 2.9), and a Driducks poncho hung as an undercover below the hammock body. Basically using my ground sleeping gear in the hammock, as it's new and I already have this gear at my disposal. The first night I put the pad inside the sleeping bag, as I've done on the ground to keep from sliding off the pad. It worked, but was hard to get everything situated properly. This night I slept in boxer briefs and a fleece hat, and was comfortable the whole night through with the exception of perspiration collecting on the sleeping pad since it was directly against my skin, and moving around and finding a cold spot on the hammock. The second night I put the pad in first, then the sleeping bag. It was a bit harder to get situated, but once there, stayed in place all night and was more comfortable. This night I wore thermal bottoms and an underarmour top, and the fleece hat. I had my shoulders out of the bag all night so I didn't get too hot. This was WAY more comfortable. Definitely don't inflate the pad all the way, so that it will conform to the hammock body. I also think this helps it stay in place. Since I was using a synthetic bag, I zipped up inside it to get what little help I could from the bottom not being completely crushed under me, and wrapping around the sides. I'm a side sleeper, so a 20" wide pad was ok for me to stay on without hitting many cold spots until I moved. You may want wider if you're a back sleeper. It should also be noted that I'm a pretty warm sleeper. With all that said, I am saving for an underquilt/topquilt setup because after sleeping a couple nights in the hammock I can definitely see the advantage of being able to just get in and lay down without moving stuff around and zipping up and staying off of cold spots etc. I'll use what I have for now though.

[KerMegan]

if what you have is enough, that will -as they say- "keep body and soul together"; then run with it!- there is time to upgrade when finances allow, biggest/best thing is to get 'out there'!
KM (encouragingly..)

[TheTorch]

The SPE (i think is what you are talking about) is not to keep your pad immobile but to provide extra "wings" of foam that insulate your shoulders and thighs.

Test it out, and if you have a wide enough pad, you should have no problem.

Haha that's what i was trying to think of. I'll give it a test once I get the kit and get back to you guys. Thanks so much for allege help, any more feedback/tips help a lot.

[finskie]

You can take a ccf pad and punch holes where you want the wings, buy another ccf pad and cut out wings with holes punched in them to mirror the main pad. Put the pieces together by tying line through the holes on the pad and wings, and you have cheap under insulation. You can add grommets if you're feeling confident, and want to use this for an extended period of time. My 30 degree down bag and ccf have gotten me to 30 no problems... this is all, however, my advice only if your deciding factor is cost alone (which it seems to be).