Success! Last night was my first cold weather hang. I finally got to hang in the back yard since getting my JRB No Sniv for Christmas to use as an underquilt. The low went to 33 degrees with a small breeze. I was warm with only a cold spot here and there throughout the night.
I’m a really cold sleeper so I’m thrilled because I didn’t use any type of pad. Just 39 ounces of down (19 oz belonged to a WM Summerlite sleeping bag on top and 20 oz. for the No Sniv. used as an underquilt = about 2.5 pounds) plus my regular cold weather camping clothing.
I went into the hammock at 11 pm and woke up at 1 am because of car noise. I decided to tighten the underquilt because I felt I could be warmer and I was right. It was even better once I tighten it.
I had my pad ready if I needed it, but never felt it necessary. I woke up with a crust of frost on the tarp at 7 am, but was warm enough to keep sleeping.
I used my HH Backpacker hammock. My hang was good because I was very comfortable in any position. Sometimes I get knee pain if I lay on my back too long when I'm not positioned correctly, but not last night. I slept on my back most of the night so I must have had the correct flat position.
I used my new JRB 10 x 11 tarp for the first time which is great, but now I know why people use tensioners. It stretched out during the night. (I had 4 new tensioners but didn’t use them.) I’m going to experiment more with them this week as I see they are an absolute necessity with this tarp.
I used my WM Summerlite bag as the top quilt. Didn’t zip it except for down around the feet. Even though this bag is rated to 32 degrees, I didn’t think it would do it for me. Pleasantly surprised that I was warm enough. But I did wear long johns, a pair of fleece pants, 2 pairs of socks, a turtle neck shirt, Montbell’s down under jacket and a fleece hat with a fleece baclava and a pair of liner SmartWool gloves.
This is what I pack as my cold weather backpacking clothes and I was happy that it worked out so well with the hammock setup. Plus now that I have the No Sniv as the underquilt, I’ll have this as an extra garment if needed in cold weather.
There’s a lot to be said for being confident that you have enough warm gear!
Even in cold weather, I appreciated the netting on the HH. I got a small bit of condensation inside the tarp. The condensation sat on the netting instead of getting on my down bag. I just shook it off the netting in the morning. The bag was dry. Being a newbie, I have a lot to learn about the setup of the new JRB tarp because it’s so versatile.
I do have to say that when I first put the No Sniv on the HH as an underquilt I kinda panicked and thought I had made a big mistake not getting the Nest with the slit for the HH. I thought it was going to be a pain getting in and out of it without a Nest slit, but the No Sniv really does well just pushing it off to the side and popping it back in place.
A few times in and out and I was an expert.
So I feel my first cold weather hang was a definite success. I feel I have all the gear I need to sleep in 30 degree temps comfortably. I love the comfort of the underquilt and I love the tarp even though there’s still a learning curve that I will enjoy figuring out.
I'll be interested to see if adding a pad will take me into the 20's.
Happy New Year! Tracy
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Originally Posted by Cannibal
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