I have a poncho liner i could use also. Weight will not be an issue this winter so I may give that a try too. I want to get all the bugs worked out of my camping system so that when my son gets out of college he and I can hit the AT.
I have a poncho liner i could use also. Weight will not be an issue this winter so I may give that a try too. I want to get all the bugs worked out of my camping system so that when my son gets out of college he and I can hit the AT.
looking forward to hearing how your testing goes. I am thinking about adding one of these to mine as well.
I used my over cover this weekend when it dropped to 22 degrees outside.
I had to roll my TQ back a bit to cool down, didn't have any condensation issues.
And boy you can tell the difference when you open up the side and let cold air in!
That will wake you up.
One thing I will say is that it makes it very dark in the hammock, If you don't like the light you will love the top cover.
But if I know its going to get below freezing I will be bringing it along from now on.
You could copy the design and make one out of a light cover maybe?
just got an o c and was gonna use it with my HH large tarp with no doors. Should get enough air flow plus good weather protection????. The SS works good for me, It just gets so bulky to pack. I like to put it all together at home rather then set it all up when I am ready to camp.
Purchased a demo SS during the sale and an new OC. I have used them a couple times and they work really well within their stated limitations. Lowest I have gone is about 38 with 16 mile an hour winds with higher gusts. I used the SS with pad and emergency blanket and the OC without tarp and was comfortable and dry. I didn't use the tarp so I could look at the stars through the breathing vent. It was great! I could not have done this without the OC due to the wind I would have been very cold even with the tarp. I was really glad I had packed it since the trees I had were not conducive to setting a tarp up to block the wind, it would have blown up and under the tarp and I would have been cold. This is a benefit I had not considered with the OC.
huauqui
Last edited by huauqui; 11-20-2011 at 21:29. Reason: forgot something
Let us know how that works for you this winter. As for the bulky aspect, that entire SS ( UC and pad) comes stuffed inside a a sack that is no larger than most UQs, if not smaller. I wouldn't want to try and get it back in that sack, but it shows that pad is pretty compressible. I like to either pack the pad in a compression dry sack(usually with other stuff), or leave pad and everything(maybe even TQ) on the hammock and stuff the whole 9 yds into it's own compression dry sack or into my pack. Helps deal with that bulky pad.Originally Posted by blisterboy
That is pretty impressive!
Last edited by BillyBob58; 11-20-2011 at 22:49.
I can get the pad and UC back into the double ended stuff sack that they came in pretty easily. The trick is to fold and roll the pad up the same way that it shipped...turn the bag inside out, and start at one end of the pad, rolling it back rightside out as you go along.
To be polite...like putting a finger cot onto your finger.
Then just stuff the UC into the other end once you've rolled it all the way rightside out.
I don't keep the UC in there anymore, but keep the UC/OC/SB all in a small seperate stuff sack so I can keep track of them as a set.
I've yet to put the OC on, but the lowest temps I've faced so far have been 34 deg with very mild winds...no challenge for just the UC/SB and sleeping bag so far.
Weasel (youngest son) and I are waiting for the first seasonal snowstorm to hit our area...we plan on just running across the street from where we live and setting up our complete shelters in the wooded area there to run a "safe" test with fallback plan to the house if it goes bad.
We're both curious how low we can go comfortably with our complete setups. 34 is the lowest we've been out so far...and that was not testing the limits of our gear at all.
I'll be interested to read what your limits are also. Any condensation problems yet?
I've had some very small amounts of condensation in the UC...either on top of the space blanket if it's in there, or on top of the pad itself if no space blanket.
I suspect that a large part of the reason I've not seen much condensation is because I sleep IN/ON a sleeping bag...I think that the moisture is probably being absorbed straight from my skin by the sleeping bag/poncho liner instead.
Since I air out my bedding every morning before I pack out, I generally don't have any issues that night when I roll it all back out and let it loft.
Just picked up a fleece liner to go in my sleeping bag too...so figuring that'll extend my lower range down even more if need be. Just gotta get some hang time sometime soon. Looking for that to also test out the new whoopie sling suspension.
I like the using the over cover on my HH but have only used it at very cold temperatures. I am fine with just my sleeping bag to around 25 degrees. I have used the over cover from 15 degrees to -35 and it does help IMHO. But if you use other vapor barriers or are in warmer or humid conditions, more condensation or ice is likely to happen.
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