Therma rest sit pad as insulation

[lazy river road]

Ok so I was reading a thread that kayakkarl started about UQ and noticed that both shug and some one else mentioned they use a therma rest inflatable sit pad in winter to suplement their partial UQ. The therma rest inflatable pad I have is open cell foam and I was under the impression that only ccf works as insulation. I was wondering if any one had any experience before I tried this. My sit pad packs much smaller then any ccf I have. I know that ocf absorbes water and ccf does not but how does it work as insulation.

[The RidgeRunner]

I currently use a full thermarest pad for insulation (until my crowsnest arrives). Other than shifting off in the middle of the night every now and then, it works great for me.

[coolkayaker1]

I have a Thermarest Prolite and it's warm. I just got a sit pad yesterday, so your post is timely. I think it'd be a tad warm, maybe use under any cold spot that comes up in middle night.

[BillyBob58]

Ok so I was reading a thread that kayakkarl started about UQ and noticed that both shug and some one else mentioned they use a therma rest inflatable sit pad in winter to suplement their partial UQ. The therma rest inflatable pad I have is open cell foam and I was under the impression that only ccf works as insulation. I was wondering if any one had any experience before I tried this. My sit pad packs much smaller then any ccf I have. I know that ocf absorbes water and ccf does not but how does it work as insulation.
OCF by itself won't work worth a hoot as insulation, unless you can hang it under the hammock in a manner where it will not be compressed, such as with the HH Super Shelter OCF pad. Plus, it would be to water as a sponge is.

But OCF used inside a sealed up Thermarest coated nylon shell ( or whatever) can not compress, unless you start letting air out in varying degrees. Plus, the shells are at least somewhat waterproof. So OCF used this way insulates quite well indeed.

Does your TR sit pad have some type of shell which contains the OCF and whatever air is trapped in there when you close the valve? If so, it should work very well indeed, as an insulator.

[lazy river road]

But OCF used inside a sealed up Thermarest coated nylon shell ( or whatever) can not compress, unless you start letting air out in varying degrees. Plus, the shells are at least somewhat waterproof. So OCF used this way insulates quite well indeed.

Does your TR sit pad have some type of shell which contains the OCF and whatever air is trapped in there when you close the valve? If so, it should work very well indeed, as an insulator.

Yes that's exactly what it is an inflatable sit pad in a nylon shell. It has the twist valvue that inflates the pad and you can close it to keep it inflated. Shug shows one on his most recent video glad to hear it works well though packs much smaller then ccf.

[WV]

But if you use it under your feet, wouldn't it need to be inflated as much as possible (making it hard) to keep your heels from locally compressing the open cell foam insulation)? I imagine a down-filled inflatable pad would have the same problem. Anybody have some real-world experience to share?

[berksound]

I throw my Thermarest sit pad in the foot box of my sleeping bag, and I don't find that it needs to be fully inflated. Me feet are lighter than me butt. :) This is good for me with my 3 season yeti into the high 20s (I'm a cold sleeper), at which point I can zip up my bag to my thighs when they start to get cold.

[weaver2469]

That's what I use as a footpad after I saw shugs video. It works great.

[Scout620]

I take a therm a rest x-lite small with me in addition to my UQ on long trips. I have used for my feet, legs and or butt when a storm blew through and temps dropped suddenly at night. I just inflate 1/2 and it is easier to manage and keps me warm and cozy.

[Scottybdiving]

I use an REI sit pad under my knees for calf ridge relief. Works great as a dual purpose item.

[Cermichael]

I use the neo air sit pad to insulate my feet. It works great for me. But, my under quilt is almost 60 inches long and I am only 5" 9'. I think the length of your under quilt and your height are important factors.

[psyculman]

Note: INFLATABLE SIT PAD

I made a pocketed vest, so two inflatable sit pads fit up my back, and, thus cannot slide around. This is both warm, and solves CBS very nicely. I use it all year. There is no condensation problem.

The two pads are removed and deflated for packing, and do not take up any room in my pack. My only regret is that I did not buy 3 of the pads from REI when they had them. They are hyper lites, and REI does not sell them anymore. If I had 3 pads, they would go all the way up to my shoulders, but, even though the set up does not extend that far up, the 2/3rds it does cover works very well. INFLATABLE sit pads are waterproof, and do not compress enough to loose insulation value. Using individual sit pads also allows for them to be very flexible/comfortable. The only other sit pad of this size is made by Thermarest, but, it is not as big, and not as light.

Incidentally, the vest is made from a 'semi-paper' like disposable construction cleanup suit, which is available at dollar stores for about $2. (NOT a water proof type!) (Home Dept or Lowe's $10) The suit is modified. The legs cut off low enough so it covers the CBS problem. The arms cut off. The fabric of these suits is not slippery like what rip-stop would be, and is very breathable. I also have a back panel of 'insulbrite' sewn in to the entire width of the back, and just the insulbrite works very well in the summer above 45 degrees by itself alone.

The vest folds down to about nothing, so it takes up very slight volume and weight for trail hiking. This vest/sit pad works well down to freezing in combination with a HH SS for under insulation.