Spent the night in my backyard testing the Pod (20 degree) in my "Slack" side hammock. Wore light fleece shirt and pants, fleece hat, medium wool socks and a down vest (not zipped up). At 5 AM I was toasty warm at 38 degrees, except for some mild Cold Butt Syndrome (CBS). At 6:30 I woke up mildly chilled all over. Checked the temp and it was still 38 degrees. Went from toasty to chilled at the same temperature? I think my body ran low on fuel, need a 3 AM snack to keep up body heat output!
At the head end I started out with a bungee loop to restrict the bottom void. Didn't work well, still had a drooping void under my head each time I re-entered the Pod. Changed it to a suspended loop under the Pod and over the ridgeline. Worked well but had to be reset (reach out over my head and pull it down) each time I got out to water the leaves (often at my age!).
Given I'm a cold sleeper and the Pod is rated for 50 degrees w/o added insulation I'm very pleased to get to 40 degrees. Think I can easily push it down to 30:
(1) Push the Pod ends down further on the hammock for more center girth where I stretch it sleeping curled up.
(2) Use my sit pad for CBS
(3) Instead of the bungee loops at the ends: "Gather" the Pod ends (just like the hammock is whipped). Got that idea while wrestling with the head end loop while pulling the Pod center up. Still working on that. Edit: Come to think of it, it's gathered already when attached. Maybe just gather the inner shell?
(4) Additional clothing; down socks, LJ's, down coat, gloves and Balacava (and zip up my vest).
With added insulation I already have, summer 3/4 UQ, summer TQ, space blanket and hammock sock I should be able to meet all my winter needs. (May need to follow MM's lead and use a bag extender.)
It was so much easier to deal with the Pod than with seperate TQ/UQ! Could twist and turn at will with no cold gaps opening. And the Pod never falls out of the hammock as my TQ often does when getting in and out. But, definitely need a ground cloth! The Pod can hang very low when fully opened.
Bookmarks