View Full Version : So we've covered cold weather how about...
Kallorne
03-15-2010, 18:56
The heat of the summer? i've only had a chance to use my hammock in cold weather so far. as the sun is taunting me with the thought of summer right now, my question is this: is any under insulation necessary in the summer? can i, like i'm hoping, totally eliminate all pads and underquilts in the warm season and carry only a summer weight bag? should an unexpectedly cold night pop up, will a vbl (tarp, space blanket, poncho, etc) get me through comfortably in a pinch?
I've had a few UK summer nights when there's been no need for anything, but usually our temps drop enough at night to warrant something. Most of my camping is canoe based and I'm usually near water and damp areas so I like to have something under me.
From around May time I'll drop the UQ and switch to a 3/4 thermarest.
Watch those night time temps - Spokane is mighty dry as you well know and depending on how close you are to the high desert that night time temp can swing way down on ya without warning
Then again you may very well have antifreeze for blood like some of the other hangers on here :)
Much below 70F and I would want some form of under protection.
My $0.02
Kallorne
03-15-2010, 19:04
just a little additive to the original post... i'm intimately familiar with the areas i frequent in summer, the coldest i'd expect on a stormy summer morning would be around 40 (above 0;)). also i tend wake up with my hot water bottle warmer than when i started...especially after a spoonful of butter in my ho cho
I think that you will need something around 65º or so....... it is a long night of back exposure. I needed something and I thought I was a warmy.
Shug
Kallorne
03-15-2010, 19:16
I think that you will need something around 65º or so....... it is a long night of back exposure. I needed something and I thought I was a warmy.
Shug
that's what i needed to know...thanks shug
Just Jeff
03-15-2010, 19:36
Yeah - I'd be ready with some insulation below 70-75...even warmer if the wind is blowing.
I'm planning my summer DIY now. I think I'm gonna make a 1.9 oz gathered end hammock with a single layer of torso-sized primaloft sewn directly to the hammock, and a quarter-style bug net sewn down one side.
Not sure it'll be more comfortable than the Blackbird but it'll probably save some ounces. For cooler trips I'll add a torso-underquilt like the Yeti.
I agree with the suggestion / recommendation of having some kind of insulation under you. I'm one of the ones mentioned that stays warm down to really cold temps, but even I need at least a piece of fleece under me, I have one set up to hang as an underquilt for "High summer" use & it can do double duty as extra insulation in the deep cold. Being bulkier than my down No Sniv, I really don't carry it now, but it does get used in the summer in my house.
For summer hiking trips, the No Sniv goes anyway, & I just hang it with a easily adjustable gap tween me & the quilt. That way if I do get cool I can snug it up, cause a lot of times I have hiked in 70 - 80 degree days, with 40 - 50 degree or colder nights. Add rain & wind, & even someone like me can get cold on a long hike.
Kallorne
03-15-2010, 19:55
i just complete my first hammock and have been injecting up a storm since. the hammock is a mid-light weight walmart polyester that feels great against the skin, and i'd been toying with the idea of sewing some sort of insulation in or a sleeve on the outside that matches my lay to stuff with a pad or whatever presents it's self... i tend to go minimalistic in the summer time and "screw it, i want to be warm" in the winter, this would be a strictly summer set up.
I think that you will need something around 65º or so....... it is a long night of back exposure. I needed something and I thought I was a warmy.
Shug
What about just a space blanket when it gets down to 55-60? Is that enough, or is anything under 70-ish UQ weather?
Just Jeff
03-15-2010, 20:08
If you rigged it on the outside to block the wind, you may get to 60.
What about just a space blanket when it gets down to 55-60? Is that enough, or is anything under 70-ish UQ weather?
Yes .... might get a bit sweaty on the back .... but that just depends on you.
Just have to see what works for you.
I would bring my lightest UQ and hang it loose ...... or if it were hot maybe just my weathershield ... but that may or may not cut it.
i carry a 20x24 section of CCF all year long, and this serves as my sole bottom insulation throughout the summer in PA (may-sept). on the occasional night it's really, really cold, i'll sleep in my windshirt. the 20x24 section keeps my butt plenty warm and that's really all i need.
cost $6
What about just a space blanket when it gets down to 55-60? Is that enough, or is anything under 70-ish UQ weather?
The problem w/ space blankets is their mode of insulation. That is, they are not designed to hold heat in like conventional insulation (which prevents CONDUCTION of heat due to the nature of the material and CONVECTION of warm air due to the air pockets.).
Space Blankets on the other hand are designed to stop RADIATED heat from escaping and are REALLY bad at stopping CONDUCTED heat... so if you are in close contact with the pad its gonna sap the heat off of you just like you were pressed up against any other sheet of plastic exposed psudo-direcly to the cold air.
Space blankets have their place but I just don't think bottom insulation is it - maybe as part of a larger system but then we have condensation issues... so it'd have to be sandwiched in between other more conventional insulation to insure the temperature delta wasn't high enough to cause water droplets to form on it (yicky bathtub hammocking).
If you want to go light use a light-weight down UQ.
If you want to go cheap use wool blankets or foam pad (low compressibility) for these temps
MacEntyre
03-16-2010, 12:00
I've always been surprised at how insulation that works very well in temps above 50*F (Thermodrape, IX, or fleece liner) is not enough in temps 45*F to 48*F.
However, what works for me at 45*F will take me all the way to freezing. I can't figure it out!
turnerminator
03-16-2010, 12:22
Personally, I dont bother with any under insulation if its over 10c/50f.
I did a 30F night this year with only 2 pads and no bag,just a silk liner, wearing my clothes. I woke up toasty.
My mate was in a 0f bag/ccf and was shivering all night.
I'm a warm sleeper and used just a JRB Weather Shield 2 loosley hung providing warmth to about 55 deg F. I am now experiementing with my tarp poncho as a weather shield as I'll be carrying it anyway. It added quite a bit of warmth to my JRB Stealth (as an under quilt).
I sleep cold. That being said, I do most of my camping in hot weather. Usually I have a bugnet and down bag, and that suffices. As long as I have something to block the wind off my back, i'm good to at least 70. Actually slept in low 60's without one last August.