Pea Pod thoughts....jump in here in thought

[millergear]

Spent the night in my backyard testing the Pod (20 degree) in my "Slack" side hammock. Wore light fleece shirt and pants, fleece hat, medium wool socks and a down vest (not zipped up). At 5 AM I was toasty warm at 38 degrees, except for some mild Cold Butt Syndrome (CBS). At 6:30 I woke up mildly chilled all over. Checked the temp and it was still 38 degrees. Went from toasty to chilled at the same temperature? I think my body ran low on fuel, need a 3 AM snack to keep up body heat output!

At the head end I started out with a bungee loop to restrict the bottom void. Didn't work well, still had a drooping void under my head each time I re-entered the Pod. Changed it to a suspended loop under the Pod and over the ridgeline. Worked well but had to be reset (reach out over my head and pull it down) each time I got out to water the leaves (often at my age!).

Given I'm a cold sleeper and the Pod is rated for 50 degrees w/o added insulation I'm very pleased to get to 40 degrees. Think I can easily push it down to 30:
(1) Push the Pod ends down further on the hammock for more center girth where I stretch it sleeping curled up.
(2) Use my sit pad for CBS
(3) Instead of the bungee loops at the ends: "Gather" the Pod ends (just like the hammock is whipped). Got that idea while wrestling with the head end loop while pulling the Pod center up. Still working on that. Edit: Come to think of it, it's gathered already when attached. Maybe just gather the inner shell?
(4) Additional clothing; down socks, LJ's, down coat, gloves and Balacava (and zip up my vest).

With added insulation I already have, summer 3/4 UQ, summer TQ, space blanket and hammock sock I should be able to meet all my winter needs. (May need to follow MM's lead and use a bag extender.)

It was so much easier to deal with the Pod than with seperate TQ/UQ! Could twist and turn at will with no cold gaps opening. And the Pod never falls out of the hammock as my TQ often does when getting in and out. But, definitely need a ground cloth! The Pod can hang very low when fully opened.

[Kanguru]

...that the PP was differentially cut. Especially the bottom. Difficult some times to get the perfect fit so as not to compress the bottom. I have even thought of running a few darts in mine near rhe "butt" area. And if you look at the construction you see it basically a long UQ and split TQ sewn together.

[millergear]

...that the PP was differentially cut. Especially the bottom. Difficult some times to get the perfect fit so as not to compress the bottom. I have even thought of running a few darts in mine near rhe "butt" area. And if you look at the construction you see it basically a long UQ and split TQ sewn together.

2nd that! It's so easy to get a snug uniform fit with Adam's (Hammockgear.com) UQ's.

[MacEntyre]

only one wish...

Another wish:

that I can one day fill up the PeaPod with down. Ed left room for the down to be shifted around, so you could put it where it is needed. I would rather overfill mine slightly, like FourDog did his.

I need to do the same thing with my Speer Top Blankets and my Snugfit!

- MacEntyre

[fourdog]

The nice thing is that there is only 8 baffels that need to be filled.
By adding at the ends, foot or head area it is easy to do and resew

[oldgringo]

Another wish:

that I can one day fill up the PeaPod with down. Ed left room for the down to be shifted around, so you could put it where it is needed. I would rather overfill mine slightly, like FourDog did his.

I need to do the same thing with my... Snugfit!

- MacEntyre

Might as well do two, while you're at it.

[MacEntyre]

The nice thing is that there is only 8 baffels that need to be filled.
By adding at the ends, foot or head area it is easy to do and resew

How much did you say you added to each channel, Don?

Might as well do two, while you're at it.

I'll be glad to do yours when I do mine, Dave! (I hope you are not in a hurry...)

[BillyBob58]

Spent the night in my backyard testing the Pod (20 degree) in my "Slack" side hammock. Wore light fleece shirt and pants, fleece hat, medium wool socks and a down vest (not zipped up). At 5 AM I was toasty warm at 38 degrees, except for some mild Cold Butt Syndrome (CBS). At 6:30 I woke up mildly chilled all over. Checked the temp and it was still 38 degrees. Went from toasty to chilled at the same temperature? I think my body ran low on fuel, need a 3 AM snack to keep up body heat output!

At the head end I started out with a bungee loop to restrict the bottom void. Didn't work well, still had a drooping void under my head each time I re-entered the Pod. Changed it to a suspended loop under the Pod and over the ridgeline. Worked well but had to be reset (reach out over my head and pull it down) each time I got out to water the leaves (often at my age!).

Given I'm a cold sleeper and the Pod is rated for 50 degrees w/o added insulation I'm very pleased to get to 40 degrees. Think I can easily push it down to 30:
(1) Push the Pod ends down further on the hammock for more center girth where I stretch it sleeping curled up.
(2) Use my sit pad for CBS
(3) Instead of the bungee loops at the ends: "Gather" the Pod ends (just like the hammock is whipped). Got that idea while wrestling with the head end loop while pulling the Pod center up. Still working on that. Edit: Come to think of it, it's gathered already when attached. Maybe just gather the inner shell?
(4) Additional clothing; down socks, LJ's, down coat, gloves and Balacava (and zip up my vest).

With added insulation I already have, summer 3/4 UQ, summer TQ, space blanket and hammock sock I should be able to meet all my winter needs. (May need to follow MM's lead and use a bag extender.)

It was so much easier to deal with the Pod than with seperate TQ/UQ! Could twist and turn at will with no cold gaps opening. And the Pod never falls out of the hammock as my TQ often does when getting in and out. But, definitely need a ground cloth! The Pod can hang very low when fully opened.

Not bad results using clothing you would almost certainly have with you anyway, and not even a summer TQ. But I'm like you: from "toasty" to slightly chilled with just another 1 1/2 hours at the same temp seems strange. Maybe like you said: in need of a snack. Consider draping the clothing over you rather than wearing, or putting vest and jackets/parkas on "backwards", with arms through the sleeves/arm openings but zipper(opened) towards the back. This really seems to improve the loft above you to help fill the gaps.

I'm surprised at the cold butt at only 38. I have never had that in the PeaPod, even at 10( though at that temp I had added a space blanket). Could it have been hung too tight and snug compressing the loft in that area? Another thing to check: I have found the down tends to shift towards the ends, surprisingly. I would think it would drift down towards the low point, the butt. I have more than once had to shift down fairly aggressively in order to have things lofty enough at the low point. Although, sometimes I go further than intended and end up with seemingly 4" of loft at the low point, and not enough near the feet or head. Still, I have found the 20F pod to be conservatively rated for bottom warmth, top warmth a lot trickier. Feel inside and out after you are in and make sure that you have at least 2" loft(or more) under your butt, plus just barely touching you on the inside. If not you may need to adjust pod tension just a bit, and/or shift some down around.

I am with you on the leg area sag, but I don't think I have ever noticed any on the head end. I'll have to watch for that next time. I have to be careful most of the time or my head will really over heat using the pod.

...that the PP was differentially cut. Especially the bottom. Difficult some times to get the perfect fit so as not to compress the bottom. I have even thought of running a few darts in mine near rhe "butt" area. And if you look at the construction you see it basically a long UQ and split TQ sewn together.

Yeah, I have wished for that from the beginning. I wonder how much such a design would add to the cost?

[Kanguru]

Yeah, I have wished for that from the beginning. I wonder how much such a design would add to the cost?

Stormcrows quilts are very reasonably priced and a longer one would be the perfect "bottom half" of a pod. I have some down laying around...but "that's a lotta work".

But after seeing video of Mac's IX sock that looks interesting. And a LOT easier to make than a Pod.

[Kanguru]

It was so much easier to deal with the Pod than with seperate TQ/UQ! Could twist and turn at will with no cold gaps opening. And the Pod never falls out of the hammock as my TQ often does when getting in and out. But, definitely need a ground cloth! The Pod can hang very low when fully opened.

That is the BEST part of all. I chase my TQ around all night!