To make sure I have it right: you rigged a ground cloth under your hammock to function much like an under cover, plus you used 2 pads? That obviously worked good. But depending on the thickness and R rating of the pads, you could have just as well gone to below zero with pads only.Originally Posted by Convert2010
IOW, I suspect that most of your good results were do to your pads- and maybe a little from your sleeping bag if you were inside a synthetic bag which doesn't compress near as much 900 FP down. Also of course, if you slept in layers of fleece or other synthetic clothing, you cold expect some additional boost for back temps.
But that is not to say the ground cloth under cover you rigged did not also boost things a bit. Many HH Super Shelter users will attest to the benefit of having the addition of that wind/rain/fog blocking layer under you. But for most of us, without any additional insulation ( like the HHSS OCF pad and a space blanket it is meant to work with), it is probably not good for more than 60 or 65* by itself. Then most need something else, whether an HH pad under the hammock or a WM blue pad or other type pad inside the hammock. Fleece jackets and such work great down in that UC also.
Also, your pads acted as a vapor barrier kept warm next to your body. Without the pads, you very likely would have had a lot of condensation down in your ground cloth UC. But as it is, sounds like you came up with a usable system using what you already had with you.
Again, sounds much like the principle used with the HH SS Sil-Nylon UC. But again, most folks have not been able to get much more than 10-20 degrees of protection without putting some form of insulation between the UC and the hammock. And again, without some vapor barrier ( like a space blanket) between them and the insulation/Sil-Nylon UC and very close to the hammock(to keep it warm), most have been plagued by lots of condensation. Some have had condensation problems regardless(luckily, not me)........................................
The basic principle goes sort of like this.
Your body gives off heat underneath you which passes through your breathable layer of fabric. Without anything at all the cold air makes contact with your bottom layer and your body heat steadily escapes.
An UQ helps to hold in the warmth through insulation.
The Clark design and the design I would like to try and emulate works off the principle I talked about above. Your bodyheat is released below you and is reflected back up by a non breathable layer. (this is also effective with breathable layers, but I want to work with different fabrics to see what gets the best results) This dead air chamber essentially locks in the heat without a need for insulation. It is the same principle as any other way of reflective heating and why something as cheap and simple as a super thin space blanket can save your life. There is a lot of fine tuning that has to be done and testing to see just how cold of weather this method will endure. But, as of right now I KNOW from experience I was quite toasty at below freezing temps.
But certainly sounds like you have had good results with the Clark pockets!
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As time moves on, i will look into underquilts and overquilts for insulation. But those won't be pressing issues unless I happen across down comforters, sleeping bags, and the like at a yard sale or something.
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