long trail weather help

[wjsawyer]

Hey guys
During July I'll be hiking the long trail in VT and I might be bringing along my hennessy but I'm concerned about the cool nights. The night temps will be around the lower 50's maybe the upper 40's.
last night I slept outside and it got down to 60. I was sleeping in full long underwear and a cotton bag liner and used my ancient 35* polarguard3D bag unzipped as a quilt. It was a little chilly.

I tried attaching a space blanket to the underside of the hammock and it held for about five minutes, but i did a terrible job of putting it up. any recommendations for how to attach it?

how would a fleece blanket cut to shape do as an underquilt? maybe with a space blanket attached on the outside of it?

also, I'm trying to keep my setup as light as possible, and can't afford something like the hennessy supershelter.

thanks

[vitamaltz]

Do you have access to a sewing machine? A neat sheet underquilt can fit a HH beautifully, with only a little sewing. It won't get you down to 40 degrees, but if you slip a pad in between the hammock and the UQ, it's certainly doable.

[adkpiper]

I spent my first year of hammocking with a cobbled-together pad setup: closed-cell foam sleeping pad inside the hammock, with one (or sometimes two) really cheap CCF/Mylar windshield reflectors placed perpendicular to my body to cover my shoulders and hips.

I'm an underquilt user now, because it's easier, but that stuff definitely worked just fine! I took it down to about 34 degrees, with a 45 degree bag, and I was fine.

My concern about a fleece blanket as underquilt is that fleece is pretty bulky when packed, and it tends not to be very windproof. So you'd be taking a big hit on backpack space, and I think you'd still want an outer shell for the fleece. It would work, though!

Welcome to Hammock Forums! I did a short bit of the LT last summer (Stratton Pond area), and just climbed Camel's Hump last weekend. Vermont is lovely.

[wjsawyer]

the neat sheet idea looks good, but the sheet doesn't look like it would be a good insulator, but that might just be me.

also, is there any good method for attaching things tot he underside of the hammock without poking holes in them? for a space blanket I tied on of the short sides around the end of the hammock, and used some double sided tape around the perimeter, letting it hang pretty loose. this fell apart quickly but you can really notice a difference in temperature. I was thinking a couple thin strings from one side of the space blanket to the other that goes over the ridgeline?

I have a ridgerest pad that I'm going to try using inside the hammock, would adding a sheet of space blanket to the bottom of this help at all? it wouldn't be very durable but roll it up with the space blanket on the inside and make sure the inside of the hammock is clean and has no dirt/sand in it.

[Ramblinrev]

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/video.php?do=viewdetails&videoid=69

at roughly 7:40 or so I show the suspension for one of my DIY underquilts. It might help although you won't need the materrial I talk about for a neat sheet type Undercover

[Rock_Hanger]

The best way i found to use a space blanket as an underquilt is to get an adventure medical heat sheet, the two person one. Then just gather the ends to make it into a hammock shape and attach each end to your suspension lines. I used this on a high 50 low 60 degree night with a fleece top and boardshorts with a 40 degree quilt and woke up in the morning sweating. Just make sure the heat sheet is snug against the hammock so it retains more heat. And you'll have to adjust it a bit by the pulling the sides of the heat sheet up once your in the hammock but it works good and ways nothing. Plus the heat sheet can be used as a ground sheet but be careful because its not very durable

[wjsawyer]

Thanks for the advice rock hanger, last night I slept with a makeshift uq of a space blanket and a this fleece one, worked very well for 60's but definitely not enough on a 50* night. its a start though. I'm hoping to go to a salv. army store soon and try to find a sleeping bag to convert into a quilt.

[NorseAmerican]

My son and I are starting out NOBO on July 6th. Good luck. On the cheap for now, go with a wallyworld egg crate pad and an unzipped sleeping bag. A 40 Deg. bag and that should keep you comfy to 40. I am just bringing a 1/8 Volara foam pad and a JRBMR quilt.
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