Couple friends and I went on a shake down cruise for my upcoming Adirondacks winter trip. The temps fell to a reported 11 degrees...my personal low prior to that was about 27 degrees. Both hammocks are Claytor Jungle hammocks...one with a diamond stock tarp and the other with Claytors large rectangular tarp. Even though I didn't do it, both ends of the Rec. tarp could have easily being closed.... being a bit claustrophobic....I declined that option.
I had a home made full sized UQ with a Wally world full sized pad with wings for shoulders and knees. I had a Mountain Hardware Zero degree synthetic bag. I wore 300 weight fleece bottoms and thin long john top with a lightweight Patagonia down sweater to bed. I also had a pair of North Face down booties. I can honestly say I was totally warm all night. I slept from about midnight until 9:00 AM.
Both of my buddies complained about cold feet in their -30 degree bags...both only wore socks to bed. Those booties rock! I wore them in the snow for about an hour in the morning and my feet stayed very warm.
I'm glad I went on the shakedown as I now feel very confident I can survive the Adirondacks. My new (to me) Clark NX 250 should arrive in a day or two which will make the upcoming trip even more enjoyable.
Winter camping is great...if you haven't tried it...you should.
Miguel
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