New low for me, 17.7*

[Nightwalker]

I went to 21 degrees last night in a HH Exped. I used the SS with some 1/4" Evazote added, and a Western Mountaineering 10 degree bag inside. I kept having to put an arm out of the bag to keep from sweating. Tonight it's supposed to get to 16F. Should be fun.

I'm not surprised, somehow, that I'm not the only nut that saw cold weather coming and immediately ran outside for the hammock. The Exped stays set up in the yard all the time, and I camp in it bunches. Were it not for the wife, I'd probably sleep out there every night. She's the one that bought me the WM bag. She says that now she won't worry when I'm out hiking and a cold and wind advisory happens. Gee, what a sweetie!

The funny thing is that I was coming up to post about last night when I saw this thread and figured that I'd just add to instead of starting a new one. What a trip!

Edit: AT Troll probably thinks that we're funny talking about teens and 20s being a good chance to try out cold-weather gear. It's gonna get to 0F in Freeport, ME tonight with wind chills of -15F. And that's not even a cold Winter's night up there!

[neo]

Cold night and a surprise. Last night was the coldest night this year so far, so I didi what any slf-respecting hammocker does, I stayed outside!

I went NEO style!

I used a military CCF pad with homemade SPE, a Zlite on top of that and my cheap but good SG Sleeping bag.

My bag is a hybrid, synthetic on bottom, down (700fp) on top, mummy style, 15 or 30 degree bag.

I have never used mummy bags before; I always felt they would be too restraining, I bought this one because it looked good and it was cheap.

I gotta tell ya, trying out the bag in the living room, it felt great, but once I was in the hammock forget it. I just about killed myself gfetting it zipped up, and then I can't even get an arm out to reach my glasses or adjust my pillow. No good for me.

So I unzipped it and used it as a quilt! It works great this way.

I was wearing light wool longjons, under medium 70/30 wool/poly longjons and wool socks. No headgear at all, I had it if needed, just didn't wear it.

So anyway, I punched through 20* @ 3:00 AM and hit a new for me low of 17.7* with this gear.

I was comfortable with only occcasional cold/cool spots that were easily fixed with a little rearranging.

I am pratty happy with the outcome actually. This much CF makes for a big pack, but since I was using synthetic quilts it's not that much difference in volume, except it's on the outside of the pack now.

I am now a Neo CCF convert. There's no school like the old school!

Attachment 855

thats awesome bro.17.7 is pretty cold for texas,i am proud for ya neo

[FanaticFringer]

Careful about keeping the hammock outside all the time. The UV rays wont be kind to it.

I went to 21 degrees last night in a HH Exped. I used the SS with some 1/4" Evazote added, and a Western Mountaineering 10 degree bag inside. I kept having to put an arm out of the bag to keep from sweating. Tonight it's supposed to get to 16F. Should be fun.

I'm not surprised, somehow, that I'm not the only nut that saw cold weather coming and immediately ran outside for the hammock. The Exped stays set up in the yard all the time, and I camp in it bunches. Were it not for the wife, I'd probably sleep out there every night. She's the one that bought me the WM bag. She says that now she won't worry when I'm out hiking and a cold and wind advisory happens. Gee, what a sweetie!

The funny thing is that I was coming up to post about last night when I saw this thread and figured that I'd just add to instead of starting a new one. What a trip!

Edit: AT Troll probably thinks that we're funny talking about teens and 20s being a good chance to try out cold-weather gear. It's gonna get to 0F in Freeport, ME tonight with wind chills of -15F. And that's not even a cold Winter's night up there!

[slowhike]

i've got my hammock set up in the back yard... it's supposed to get down to about 18 here tonight.
i plan on testing a different combination...
Exped DAM 7 (full length) w/ the Speer SPE x 4
JRB rocky mt sniveler
insulated clothing

no under quilt.
i don't have the travel pod made yet but the tarp is set up in a low position.
it's windy out tonight.

[Mule]

One reason why you did so fine was the double layer bottom on the Claytor, awesome! Mule

[Nightwalker]

Careful about keeping the hammock outside all the time. The UV rays wont be kind to it.

Constant shade.

But yeah, you're right.

[slowhike]

i don't suppose the cold should have any effect on an electric alarm clock?
it hasn't so far, but i'd sure hate to wake up when i was already supposed to be at work<G>.

[Just Jeff]

If you want to warm up your DAM faster, put a hot water bottle in your hammock while you're eating dinner or doing camp chores. Your bag and pad will be nice and toasty when you're ready for bed.

[slowhike]

i've got my hammock set up in the back yard... it's supposed to get down to about 18 here tonight.
i plan on testing a different combination...
Exped DAM 7 (full length) w/ the Speer SPE x 4
JRB rocky mt sniveler
insulated clothing

no under quilt.
i don't have the travel pod made yet but the tarp is set up in a low position.
it's windy out tonight.

well... not your average, restful night's sleep in the back yard.
the Brunton Wind said it was 14.7°f this morn, but i was plenty warm enough to sleep, even though i did keep finding cold spots at the top of the SPE or between it's wings.

my main problem last night was "restless leg syndrome". that's got to be the worse night i've had w/ it yet.
i got up & came into the house a couple times to move around & read a few posts & take another muscle relaxer.
went back out at 3:30am & slept until the alarm went off at 5:30am.

as far as the gear mentioned above, it would have done better if i could have changed a couple things.
it was really windy when i set up & i don't have a travel pod made yet, so i set up the hammock & tarp low to provide wind protection.
ended up needing to re tighten the hammock so it wouldn't touch the hammock stand stretcher on the ground, so the hammock was tighter than ideal.
this made dealing w/ the SPE (segmented pad extender) & keeping the RMS (rocky mt sniveler top quilt) tucked in, more difficult than it should have been.

i could have made some readjustments in the tarp & hammock while i was up through the morning hours, but i didn't.

i'm afraid i personally find keeping myself in the right location for the SPE's wings to be in place, & sometimes keeping the wings of the SPE upright, more than i really want to deal w/.
but it works. if a person wants to go w/ that system, it does work.
i just prefer an under quilt on the outside.

i feel that as the top quilt meets the hammock where it's tucked in on both sides, it creates a union w/ the under quilt that is on the other side of the hammock fabric, forming a more consistent seal w/ no concerns about the wings being in place.

but quite a few people do great w/ the SPE. i'm not knocking it at all... it just doesn't seam to fit my style as well.

i also ended up using the warmlite (stepenson) DAM instead of the exped. it's thicker so even though it was somewhat softly inflated, it still caused a need to do some balancing because i was lifted higher than on the exped.
i think i would have preferred the exped.

the inside of the tarp was covered w/ frost, maybe in part because it was pitched so low w/ both sides near the ground... but i have seen that several times when it was pitched higher too.

no condensation problems w/ the quilts & pads, but i did have a little ice on a spot at the top of the quilt were i was breathing on it.

if i had been using an under quilt (even with out the benefit of a travel pod) i believe the combination of the RMS & the insulated clothes i had on would have been some what more than enough.

[Youngblood]

well... not your average, restful night's sleep in the back yard.
the Brunton Wind said it was 14.7°f this morn, but i was plenty warm enough to sleep, even though i did keep finding cold spots at the top of the SPE or between it's wings.

my main problem last night was "restless leg syndrome". that's got to be the worse night i've had w/ it yet.
i got up & came into the house a couple times to move around & read a few posts & take another muscle relaxer.
went back out at 3:30am & slept until the alarm went off at 5:30am.

as far as the gear mentioned above, it would have done better if i could have changed a couple things.
it was really windy when i set up & i don't have a travel pod made yet, so i set up the hammock & tarp low to provide wind protection.
ended up needing to re tighten the hammock so it wouldn't touch the hammock stand stretcher on the ground, so the hammock was tighter than ideal.
this made dealing w/ the SPE (segmented pad extender) & keeping the RMS (rocky mt sniveler top quilt) tucked in, more difficult than it should have been.

i could have made some readjustments in the tarp & hammock while i was up through the morning hours, but i didn't.

i'm afraid i personally find keeping myself in the right location for the SPE's wings to be in place, & sometimes keeping the wings of the SPE upright, more than i really want to deal w/.
but it works. if a person wants to go w/ that system, it does work.
i just prefer an under quilt on the outside.

i feel that as the top quilt meets the hammock where it's tucked in on both sides, it creates a union w/ the under quilt that is on the other side of the hammock fabric, forming a more consistent seal w/ no concerns about the wings being in place.

but quite a few people do great w/ the SPE. i'm not knocking it at all... it just doesn't seam to fit my style as well.

i also ended up using the warmlite (stepenson) DAM instead of the exped. it's thicker so even though it was somewhat softly inflated, it still caused a need to do some balancing because i was lifted higher than on the exped.
i think i would have preferred the exped.

the inside of the tarp was covered w/ frost, maybe in part because it was pitched so low w/ both sides near the ground... but i have seen that several times when it was pitched higher too.

no condensation problems w/ the quilts & pads, but i did have a little ice on a spot at the top of the quilt were i was breathing on it.

if i had been using an under quilt (even with out the benefit of a travel pod) i believe the combination of the RMS & the insulated clothes i had on would have been some what more than enough.

Tim,

I'm a little confused as to what you were using when you had some issues. What pad did you have in the main compartment of the SPE and what did you have in the wings? And exactly where were the cold spots you found, were those fit issues between the main pad and the wings or something else?