Nearly completed Kickass Inspired underquilt
I have uploaded some pictures of my Kickass inspired underquilt. I have to finish the quilting loops and then string the supporting lines and I will be done and ready for testing. It has two inches of Primaloft Sport I got from Thru-Hiker.com. When I'm done later this week I'll weigh it.
Patrick of KAQ has been very supportive during this project.
Touch of Grey!:eek:
Finally the temps are forecast to drop...
Finally the forecast for the next couple of days says the temps will drop below my previous test temps of 35.
Currently:
Detroit City Airport
Last Update on Jan 7, 12:53 pm EST
Fog/Mist
37°F
(3°C) Humidity: 86 % Wind Speed: SE 9 MPH Barometer: 30.11" (1020.3 mb) Dewpoint: 33°F (1°C) Wind Chill: 30°F (-1°C) Visibility: 5.00 mi.
This Afternoon: A 30 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. Southeast wind around 9 mph.
Tonight: Rain and snow likely, becoming all snow after 10pm. Cloudy, with a low around 31. North wind between 6 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
Real life conditions I could see in GA and NC in March and April. The hammocks setup and ready for me to climb in this evening. My wife of 26 years has known that I am crazy and she is beginning to think certifiable.
Same setup as last time. Found a few things that needed adjusting and have done so. Did not change the shock cord size so will still be the original shock cord.
I have the tarp a little more open on the sides for some air to circulate and hopefully take care of my breathing condensation issue I had the last time by pulling everything so close.
Wish me luck! A full report in the AM.
TOG:confused:
Another successful test...
Okay guys and gals, I fixed the issues and rehung the hammock yesterday. Then had my son who is two inches taller and 60 lbs lighter get in while I did a preliminary adjustment to everything.
He crawled out and I crawled so that final adjustments could be made under my weight conditions.
Went out at 8 PM local time and crawled in to read for an hour. Turned out the reading lamp about 9 PM. Temps according to the cheap thermometer I had with me in the hammock said 38. This was pretty close to what was being published by the NWS for the airport about five air miles away from me.
Awoke for some reason at Midnight and tossed for an hour or so. Temps still around 35 according to the cheap thermometer. Winds gusty at times but not too bad. Pulled on my 200 weight polarfleece top as my back was chilled a little.
Fell asleep again and reawoke this morning at 530 AM which is my usual time to rise and shine. I had a small cramp in my right calf from a chill I could feel there but again as my last test on Xmas Eve it was not unbearable. As a side note, it's kinda funny how your extremities feel a chill but when you put your hand there you cannot register that same chill on your hand.
It's now 558 AM here as I write this and here is the official weather from the NWS;
Detroit City Airport
Last Update on Jan 9, 5:53 am EST
Partly Cloudy
30°F
(-1°C) Humidity: 79 % Wind Speed: W 5 MPH Barometer: 29.75" (1008.2 mb) Dewpoint: 24°F (-4°C) Wind Chill: 25°F (-4°C) Visibility: 10.00 mi.
The above airport is again five air miles away.
So results from last evening are good, not great, beating my previous 35-38. I'll have to see if I can tweak anything a tad and eliminate the chill areas without stressing the shock-cords again to achieve my goal of 15 degrees as my bottom temp.
BTW temps in the cocoon, inside between the quilts, was a toasty 75 degrees when I checked it. Not bad all around for the third test!:)
Oh and Patrick you were right, it does sag around 8 inches from the bottom of the hammock before I crawl in and weight it down.
As many have said before, the learning curve is steep when you first attempt to hammock in the colder weather. Working out the bugs and kinks now is going to make my thru in March be that much more enjoyable than it could have been if I had went in cold and untested and froze to death each night.
TOG
January 9 Night Test Results...
Okay everyone, I think I reached my comfort zone limit last night. Went out to the hammock at or near 9 PM local time with temps according to the NWS at 2 to 3 degrees colder than when I came in the morning before after the last test (30 degrees previous low the night before, 27-28 at the time I went out).
I was fine for the first 2 to 3 hours or so and then started to feel cool and then chilled. Nothing I did could make it feel better. I went to bed in the hammock with the KAQ inspired homemade underquilt fitting nicely and better than the night before. Clothing was as follows:
Base Layer - Mid-weight Polypro pants and long sleeve top
200 weight Columbia Polar Fleece pullover top
Smart Wool hiking socks
Balaclava (yes my eyes were the only thing showing to the elements and they hurt from being cold)
200 weight fleece mittens homemade according to Risk's example
WM Sequoia 5 degree bag opened as my overquilt
I could have pulled on my 200 weight polar fleece pants and put on my rain suit as well as another pair of socks but really that was not the object of my own tests. I really wanted to know where my comfort zone ended and survival began. I could not get back to sleep after an hour and was not feeling any better chill wise, so I ditched into the house. Temp according to the NWS was
Detroit City Airport
Last Update on Jan 10, 12:53 am EST
Humidity:
Wind Speed:
Barometer:
Dewpoint:
Wind Chill:
Visibility:
Not bad really if you think about it overall. My wife who works afternoons said that when she came home earlier, roughly 11 PM, that her car thermometer said the temp was 21.
I sent some emails and crawled into my comfy bed only to take another half-hour to feel comfortable there. Just could not feel warm between the covers for that long showing me that I was probably getting close to my threshold before shivering set in while sleeping outside in the hammock. Telling me that I was loosing body heat and slowly becoming hypothermic.
So what did I learn?
Comfort wise I can safely do 28-30 on a regular basis and sleep thru the night getting a good nights sleep. I could go lower but sleep then suffers by waking periodically because of chills.
So, I may have to go to ground and use survival skills I learned many years ago in Boy Scouts and from Military Mountain Survival Training courses. I know how to survive down to 0 degrees for prolonged periods if necessary so that is not an issue. What is at issue for all of us is being able to recognize the limits of our bodies and what we do or do not do.
I've now established a baseline as they say in the business world with which to work from for myself. This will go a long way in two months when I start my thru.
TOG