Thinlight as a supplement - how much warmth added?

[Mustardman]

So I'm trying to get everything lined up for some cold weather hanging. Both the little lady and I have our underquilts and top quilts all ready to go, but we are thinking a couple of Thinlight pads would be nice for emergency insulation backup.


The general idea is that we would carry quilts that we THINK are warm enough, but have the thinlights for just-in-case bottom insulation, and of course the extra layers and so on that we're wearing to supplement the top. The pads would serve double duty as supports for frameless packs, rather than carrying a framed pack which is dead weight with no other uses.


So how much extra warmth do yall think a thinlight would realistically gain us? Say our quilts are good to 0 degrees, would a 1/8" thinlight gain take us to -10, or -20, or whatever? Anyone done any real testing of these combos?


I've got the 1/8" thinlights, and plan to do some testing myself, but I'm pretty busy for the forseeable future, so any thoughts ya'll can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[BillyBob58]

I doubt there has been much exact testing. Just a general idea that you should be warmer. This was with 1/2" pad, so quite a bit thicker than you are considering. And remember Ed Speer considers himself to be a really cold sleeper. But, from apparently at least a bit cold to toasty warm by moving the pad from inside the pod to inside the hammock:

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?p=189707#post189707

Last night was a great time for cold weather testing here in the southern Appalachians--it was unseasonably cold. Karen & I slept out with 8 hours of less-than 15F temps & a low of 8F, wind ~5-10 mph. We both wore fleece clothing, hats & used PPs & Speer Hammocks with winter sleeping bags & vb bottom sheets, but no tarp. Karen used two Speer TopBlankets as liners in her PP, while I used an SPE w/ 1/2" thick CCF pad as a liner inside my PP. We both felt bottom cold, but it wasn't enough to interrupt our sleep; so we were close to the lowest comfortable temp. For the last hour (8-9F), I moved my SPE inside the hammock & was then toasty warm on the bottom as well. Tonight we'll try some different gear combinations.

[oldgringo]

This page on Ed Speer's site may be helpful.

http://www.speerhammocks.com/Products/SPE.htm

Also, I think I remember an article by Youngblood in Ed's newsletter that discussed this in detail. Maybe someone will know how to access it.

[Uticafats]

I'm not sure about the added warmth (5 degrees?) for the thinlite, but it's a must have for me. It weighs nothing and as you said can be used in a frameless pack. Lay it out on the snow to keep things dry or double it up and you have a nice sit pad for around camp as well. My 2 cents.