Speer, Clark or something else?

[Cannibal]

Staying warm takes some sweat equity. That's why I recommended finding a hammock feel you like first. Read up on insulation here in the older threads, there is tons of great info.

[Ramblinrev]

Sometimes it is possible to overthink a problem. I'm not saying that you are doing that... but If you are going to make choices on price alone then stick to price alone and work out the kinks as you meet them. If you are going to make choices by flat lie... thaen stick to flat lie and work out the kinks as you meet them. Choose your priority because you won't find one system that does it all. I thought it was strange that companies would sell hammocks without tarps until I found out that people mix and match tarps, hammockes and everything else almost without limit. Choose a priority and let the rest of the quirks be "tinker" toys. JMO YMMV

[Youngblood]

I'm not sure what you are trying to compare. There are different ways to do all of this and I don't know that there is a "the best way" that handles everything. There is comfort, ease of use, cost, weight, bulk, whether it does what you think it does or not, etc.

There is a lot of ground between a low cost approach and maximum comfort approach. And there are things that kinda sorta work and things that work. Some schemes save weight by leaving out things that others include that makes it work easier and better... and whether that is a good thing is often a matter of personnel preference.

You are going to get a lot of different opinions on this from this group.

[GrizzlyAdams]

on the equivalence of the Clark comparison : With all the Clark folks here who routinely report sleeping comfortably without additional insulation in temperature regions where the rest of us have to resort to pads or quilts, I came to realize that there must be something special in the stitching. The way I figure it, Clark---being the A #1 Made-In-America hammock brand that it is, must have a contract with the DoD to test special thread the military would like to use in the field to reduce the bulk of stuff that soldiers have to carry. The thread creates a special electromagnetic field that affects an occupant's brain waves and suppresses the interpretation of "cold" signals from the body. So a lightweight desert uniform would work just as well for winter climes.

Long term effects of this field on the brain haven't been studied formally yet, but look---all these people actually believe they're staying warm with only an empty "pocket" beneath them, even when not in the hammock. You can judge for yourself whether there has been long term damage...

(just having some fun with the Clark folks, some of whom are my friends...)

Grizz

[Chris.Biomed]

Staying warm takes some sweat equity. That's why I recommended finding a feel you like first. Read up on insulation here in the older threads, there is tons of great info.

I have read a lot about staying warm and I just can't find anything that stands out as the better option. I can't spend the money just to try out a concept nor do I have anyone living close to me with models that I could test. All I know is that I want a top loader, warm, weather resistant and doesn't relay on anything else to work (such as the claytor and the dd with a stick to hold up the mosquito net). And the end result should be low bulk at a low cost (like everyone else wants).

[Cannibal]

I came to realize that there must be something special in the stitching. The way I figure it, Clark---being the A #1 Made-In-America hammock brand that it is, must have a contract with the DoD to test special thread the military would like to use in the field to reduce the bulk of stuff that soldiers have to carry. The thread creates a special electromagnetic field that affects an occupant's brain waves and suppresses the interpretation of "cold" signals from the body.

I gotta get me some of that!

[Cannibal]

I have read a lot about staying warm and I just can't find anything that stands out as the better option. I can't spend the money just to try out a concept nor do I have anyone living close to me with models that I could test. All I know is that I want a top loader, warm, weather resistant and doesn't relay on anything else to work (such as the claytor and the dd with a stick to hold up the mosquito net). And the end result should be low bulk at a low cost (like everyone else wants).

Get your hammock first, that’s the most important thing. Most of these insulation systems work with any hammock, mostly. Start cheap and light with the insulation and work your way into something that you really like. You will probably find, like the rest of us, that it takes more than one solution depending on conditions/requirements.

Pad are cheap and light (bulky) and plenty of people here use them with great success. Me, I’m a pad hater. Got my card in my wallet.

Find a cheap sewing machine and learn to use it. Then you can make your own synthetic UQ; moderate cost, heavy, kind of bulky.

Get yourself one of the Jack’s rectangular quilts when budget allows; light, more expensive, packs small.

Or, try one of the fancy new UQs (like the SnugFit, Mt. Washington, or Warbonnet options) that are cut to ‘cup’ the hammock. Neither the SnugFit or Warbonnet Torso pack down real small; can’t imagine the Mt. Washington does either. The cost and weight also differs due to the amount of insulation (full length vs. torso).

Grizz put it best some time ago when he said the difference between pads and quilts are that pads keep you from being cold while UQs keep you warm; or something like that.

[cavediver2]

on the equivalence of the Clark comparison : With all the Clark folks here who routinely report sleeping comfortably without additional insulation in temperature regions where the rest of us have to resort to pads or quilts, I came to realize that there must be something special in the stitching. The way I figure it, Clark---being the A #1 Made-In-America hammock brand that it is, must have a contract with the DoD to test special thread the military would like to use in the field to reduce the bulk of stuff that soldiers have to carry. The thread creates a special electromagnetic field that affects an occupant's brain waves and suppresses the interpretation of "cold" signals from the body. So a lightweight desert uniform would work just as well for winter climes.

Long term effects of this field on the brain haven't been studied formally yet, but look---all these people actually believe they're staying warm with only an empty "pocket" beneath them, even when not in the hammock. You can judge for yourself whether there has been long term damage...

(just having some fun with the Clark folks, some of whom are my friends...)

Grizz

Damnit and I thought my memory lose was do to getting as old as some of the others but here it's that military thread they were using and the stuttering that I just came about a year ago might be the thread as well.
may have to look into that a little more in depth.

As for the pad stuff cavediver2 never goes with out pad never know when he's going to have to loan it out... to those who don't use one or those who get colder in there hammocks ( JK ) I use a pad all the time and in less it an emergency of some great disaster I flat refuse to put leaf litter in my hammock. Just clothes and other what nots.

[cavediver2]

i would like to try one of those half quilts that fit snugly to the hammock body like Hangnout has

thinking xmas present to meeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[FanaticFringer]

I'd like to try a Clark hammock one day myself. One thing I do have a problem with is this statement on the Clark site "The insulating pocket system keeps you warmer in cold weather, removing the need for insulating pads."
That is a very misleading statement IMO causing many to buy one based on misinformation. Like Cavediver and others have said before, one typically needs a pad(s) or underquilt in cold weather in this hammock.