Total "noob" blabbering and maybe a question or two

[Bart the fart]

Please bear with me here, I'm still learning the slang and what knots in this hobby.
So my girlfriend and I do some hiking and camping. After our last outing both of us where wrecked. Bad backs and shoulders. I'm a member of several forums and thought "They got forums for EVERYTHING! Bet there is a hammock forum!?" Came across a thread about hammocks.....shaaazzzam here I am!

My gal and I aren't into super long hikes. Couple miles, then hanging out and hopefuly catching some trout for dinner. We are not to worried about pack wieghts, although some of the videos I have watched of you guys are light on the trail...good stuff.

So heres some questions () please no laughing....
I bought a new 4 piece USGI sleep system. A gore-tex bivy, two sleeping bags (1 super warm, 1 aka patrol bag, light) and carring bag. Super toasty, will probaly only need the bivy and patrol bag for here in Northern CA. But I keep reading about over and under quilts. Am I asking for trouble, with my bivy bag in a hammock??? Are quilts just to have light wieght gear? Granted my bivy and patrol bag are not "ultra" light, but not heavy. Am I making a huge error and am too new (nieve) to know better?

any and all thoughts and comments are welcome ....just need to know what the pro's think
Cheers Bart

[USMCStang]

Quilts are not only to be lighter weight, but also for more comfort. With hammocks, you have air flowing underneath you that you wouldn't have when you're on the ground. You still need bottom insulation, whether it be a closed cell foam pad, underquilt, poncho liner, etc. You sleeping bag will work just fine as a top quilt. It's generally what's underneath you that keeps you warm. (I used a big ol winter DIY underquilt at 10 degrees, with my 40 degree bag as a top quilt, and was toasty.)

With hammocks, 99% of us use a tarp overhead, thus making the bivy redundant for weather protection.

Getting into a bivy in the hammock would take quite a bit of fidgeting, but it can be done, just as many people crawl into their sleeping bags rather than draping them like a quilt.

Welcome to the madness! Keep reading up, and watch Shug's videos on you tube, and you'll be a hanger in no time!

[Raul Perez]

The under quilts and top quilts makes hammocking more comfortable and helps maintain heat the best (IMO). To boot its also a lighter way to pack and travel.

That being said your set up will work. Just takes time to dial it in.

Welcome to the madness

[MAD777]

Sleeping bags work in a hammock to keep your topside warm. You do need insulation under you which can be a CCF pad, just like on the ground.

Top and under quilts are simply a lighter, more convenient and more comfortable way to the same end. If you end up doing a lot of hammock camping, you'll probably upgrade your equipment over time, just like everything else.

For now, what you have will get you out into the woods, and after all, that's what it's about!

This is a very friendly place so ask all the questions you want. I definitely recommend watching Shug's videos!

[djminnesota]

i find sleeping bags to work just fine to warm my top side, but prefer underquilts under my over pads. much mire comfy, and ALOT esier to deal with. and +1 on those shug videos, their very informative.

[BlackTalon]

I use a USGI MMSS setup and have been quite comfortable down in the 20's without a fire.

I use a combination of a reusable space blanket with either a wool blanket or one of my sleep system bags to lay on, and then the other bag to sleep in. Toasty warm.

So to be PC I'll put it in proper hammock terms. I use the reusable space lancet as a vapor barrier and heat reflective layer, with either a wool blanket (or your green patrol bag) as an under quilt to lay on, then the black bag as an over quilt (to lay in).

Super warm. As warm as laying in your bed at home...the main thing you want to do is protect your backside. Just like laying on cold damp earth will drain all the heat out of you, laying on a hammock with all that convective air blowing will do the same, but worse. In fact, I'm posting this while laying in my hammock in the exact setup I just described.

[jbrianb]

My brother is not a hammock camper ... He's planning a hang trip with me and keeps telling me, "I'll be fine... I have a good sleeping bag." I can't get him to "get it" that he's going to freeze when the lows hit 30 degrees.

I was ice cold in a 20 degree bag on a 50 degree night the first time I stayed in a hammock. The insulation in the bag compresses under you. With an underquilt, your butt isn't flattening the insulation out. By it being below the hammock, cinched up against it, it holds its fluff, your heat is contained and your backside stays warm. I learned quick about pads and underquilts after that night. Pads are cheap and effective, but finicky and uncomfortable, always shifting and sliding. A double layer hammock fixes this somewhat.

Lots of great folks with great ideas hang here. Whatever you want to know, there's a thread on it. Use the search tool, and as has been said, watch Shug's videos. I've learned a lot from SgtRock, too.

[DivaB]

Sorry...my brain gets stuck sometimes, and this is not in regards to the question, because I can't get past the "Bart the Fart". We tend to call each other by our forums names when on hangs as that is how we remember who is posting what. I'm guessing your going to want "Bart"? Just razzing. Welcome to the forums. If down isn't in your price range (which it has certainly been out of our grasp), go for CCF pad, or depending on your bag you may be able to pull off a peapod method. My son and I use the patrol bags as our top quilts, they work great. I just need to remove the zippers to save on weight. Other than that, they're not heavy and pack down nicely. If out below 30 degrees we use a top quilt that I sewed up using polar fleece and we shove that down inside the patrol bag. That's been good to 13 degrees and plenty toasty warm on top. As for the bottom.....well, we're still working on that part In summer and fall, we use a poncho liner as our UQ, when it's 45 degrees we pin in a down throw, when it's 35 degrees, we use our hammock socks (love our socks!!) But below that, even with our CCF pads, I think my bones just get too cold on my back side. I'm cursed with CBS

I just did a bunch of yammering...sorry

[Law Dawg (ret)]

...any and all thoughts and comments are welcome ....just need to know what the pro's think
Cheers Bart

Well BTF, first most all of us are unpaid so the status is amateur not pro.

Second, outside of the bottom insulation (covered well already) and maybe a tarp set up, there is no wrong in making your gear work just good, better, and best. Getting into and out of your set up will prove to be more difficult than a regular UQ/TQ or pad depending on how you chose to go. The sleeping bags can be modified into TQ/UQs (zipperectomies mostly) and were I strapped for cash that is the direction I'd go...DIY is not a desired option for this hanger but would be if poorer.

I'd try a pad for bottom insulation and use the sleeping bag as a TQ with the zipper open enough to make it work. Add a tarp too. Exactly what I did at first until learning that pads are of the Devil and Hammock Gear TQ/UQ are the sweet spot! As for the light weight option, the bonus side of that (for those of us who motorcycle camp) is bulk and down packs small with a bonus of downy goodness + warmth.

I learned all that was required in the backyard lab...until the first shakedown trip that is and then it was back to the lab. Try your set up at home or very near to it until it gets sorted out and do your HF homework too. This site and its helpful members were solid gold for me not that long ago while in your shoes.

[fishbait]

+2 on Shug's Videos and I'm going to recommend the "Ultimate Hang: An illustraded Guide to Hammock Camping" to the list as well. Shug's videos are informative as well as entertaining and the Ultimate Hang covers a lot of details and has a lot of helpful Lists, recommendations and web sites listed at the end.