I am pretty new to Winter hammock camping. I've gone a bit overboard on my purchasing in my first season ( 30 degree Speer PeaPod, JRB No Sniveller, JRB Old Rag Mtn, JRB Winter tarp, JRB Weather Shield, Big Agnes Insulated Air Core pad). I also have a couple of synthetic sleeping bags one 15 degree and one 35 degree. My hammocks are Travel Hammock ATTH and a Skeeter Beeter Pro.
To begin, all of my new gear seems to work great in given environments. My problem stems from my choice of environments. I've been backpacking in the Cherokee and Pisgah National forests. With all of the WET weather we have been having along with cold nights, it has been a challenge to make it more than a couple of nights without my gear ( down in particular) be so wet that it does not work so well. Using my 30 degree Peapod along with the No Sniveller and BA pad, I've stayed quite toasty down to 3 degrees F with 30+mph winds. However, here of late it has been between 20 and 35 at night with lots of fog and mist. The results for that situation have not been so great. I can weather the first night okay, but there is not enough time or the conditions to dry out my gear for the subsequent days of backpacking.
I just finished a three day trip. The first night was at about 4800 feet, winds up to 45mph and temps in the mid 30's with rain. I stayed warm on this night, but my PeaPod and No Sniveller were damp and the rain and humidity did not allow for much in the way of drying the next morning. The second night was at Bob's Bald at around 5200 feet with similar conditions. The dampness of my gear almost made me commit the unforgivable sin of going to ground. I wound up using the BA pad with the No Sniveller (PeaPod was uselessly damp). I got up and forced a Snickers bar down three times to keep my furnace stoked, but it was still pretty cold.
I normally cover 8-12 miles per day, and I'm struggling to keep my pack weight below 40lbs with food and water.
Bottom line, any tips on cold AND wet backpacking hammock setups? I believe I have whatever gear I need, I just need some advice on how to implement it...
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