There certainly are a lot of people here that give pads a bad rap. Though in this thread the typical arguments have been presented better.
Why do
I believe the Church of the Underquilt (CotUQ) parishioners constantly come into the pad forums extolling the superiority of the UQ?
I would like to point outside of the realm of hammocks to other consumer products, such as audio products from Bose and Beats and/or Dyson vacuums. "It is worth a 10X investment" has to be argued loudly and frequently or one might feel they invested frivolously / got duped. If one spends $250 - $300 for bottom insulation as compared to the $20 - $30 that we lowly pad sleepers paid for ours,
we simply cannot be as comfortable. To me these arguments are akin to one arguing the booze in the hotel room minibar is worth the markup.
I want to stress that these are my opinions, and I am a noob. I've been on the forum for a bit over a year, and have one season hanging under my belt. I've been down to the mid 30's in my hammock. I have slept on both and
personally would rather spend my laundered outdoor gear funds elsewhere. I replaced my aging Kelty backpack with an Osprey Xenith pack last week. There are certainly great backpacks that can be had for a lot less money: I probably could have bought a perfectly good backpack and an underquilt for the price of this pack. I won't go onto an external frame backpack forum and extoll theirs simply can't be as comfortable as they lack the Bioform hipbelt, LightWire frame, and Airscape backpanel.
I use the 1/4" GG CCF pad in my Double layer hammock - for me this solves almost all the "issues" that the CoTUQ parishioners incessantly point out.
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I move around a lot and the pad slides out". - Pad in a DL hammock does not slide out. As another poster commented, "The complaints about the pad moving around are hammock issues, not pad issues". Triangles fix UQ sag, and it would be ridiculous for me to post in the UQ forum about their inferiority because of sag drafts. It is equally ridiculous to talk about pad slip - it can be resolved and easily.
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CCF pads are Sticky and uncomfortable to lay on" - DL hammock solves that, you are on the hammock, not the pad.
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My shoulders get cold / I shift diagonals and would have to re-orientate the pad." The GG pad is
39" wide, I can shift diagonals easily. There are many other cottage industry and home made solutions to get a wide mat that allows for shifting and/or shoulder insulation.
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An underquilt is like sleeping on a soft fluffly cloud." Unless I used it wrong, the underquilt is kept
under the hammock. The loft of an UQ cannot cushion the hammock above it, less its insulation be compressed. There is no extra softness provided by an underquilt because your weight is on the hammock with both UQs and pads. A thin 1/4" pad allows the hammock to conform to your body like a fuzzy fluffy cloud just as well as an UQ.
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Condensation" - Neatsheet..
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Bulk" - my thin CCF pad folded in half is less than 20" wide, and still rolls up small enough to easily attach to the pad straps on my backpack. It also fits inside my pack around the interior perimeter if, for some reason I don't want it attached on the outside.
UQs and Pads are both fine methods to insulate your hammock. If you use a pad properly, you should be able to overcome the "shortcomings". At the same time, many prefer an underquilt. In my opinion neither is superior.
Could someone help me off of this soap box?
-Matt-
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