I went out last weekend on my first Winter hang. I was very excited, but still a LOT nervous. It was a car camping trip to Fish Creek Pond in Saranac, NY, so I took as much gear as I could possibly fit in my truck. The weather on Saturday to Sunday was a high of 17*F and a low of -22*F. I was quite impressed with the performance of my gear, but I also learned/confirmed a LOT of valuable lessons.
BLUF: Per MacEntyre's "Technical Note on Canvas for Extreme Cold". http://www.mollymacpack.com/canvaswhy.html, natural fibers are KING!
Set up: I had my Eno DN; JRB Old Rag Mtn UQ paired with a Hudson River (overstuff) UQ; Hudson River TQ; MacEntyre Breathable Nylon Hammock Sock with SEEP, a wool blanket for condensation catcher inside the hammock sock; Maccat Delux Tarp.
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I dug a revetted pit to help block the wind, with a cold sink at the lowest part of the slope. The set up worked well and the hammock sock made a big difference. At some time around 3:30am when the temps bottomed out, I noticed my condensation catcher (wool blanket) was soaked and the inside of my hammock sock was too (as expected). I tossed them off thinking that it would help prevent me from getting colder due to saturation. Boy was I wrong!
I had been fairly warm all night. If I stayed in one spot, the coldest part of me was a small patch on my butt (point of most compression?). However, once I threw off the hammock sock, I was noticeably colder all over, no matter what I did. So, I eventually had to get out of the rig and put the sock back on. Once I did this, everything warmed back up considerably, despite the fabric being more than a little damp. It really did help to create enough of a "micro climate" to take the "edge" off of the cold. To give you an idea; if I had my hands uncovered for more than 15 seconds, they started to physically hurt!
One thing I did notice was that at such low temperatures, the hammock itself becomes an obstacle to keeping warm. Like I said, if I stayed in one spot I was fine, but if I moved at all and touched a new part of the hammock, the material needed to be warmed due to the cold transferring from the exposed material. Do this enough, and I started losing heat (conduction) faster than I could produce it...net effect is that I began to develop a deficit in body heat.
Lesson 1: Things take WAY longer and more engergy to do in the cold weather than they do during normal 3 season backpacking!
Lesson 2: I need to switch to natural fibers for both clothing and my hammock sock at sub 20*F weather. My $200 climashield jacket under my Gore-tex parka had developed ice buildup while just standing around the fire, and I steadily got colder as the night went on. However, my $5 wool gloves and $20 wool hat kept my hands and head toasty warm, despite being soaked through. I see a wool capote and canvas anorak in my future. By morning, the SEEP of my synthetic hammock sock was frozen almost stiff due to the fabric being unable to breath at such low temps. I have little doubt that a canvas hammock sock would have helped reduce the level of condensation buid up.
Lesson 3: I need to find something that is going to do a better job at creating a tighter "micro climate" around the entire length of my hammock fabric. I'm thinking a Speer Pea Pod is the ticket. I plan on getting one and using it with both a JRB quilt and a canvas hammock sock to achieve the effect/comfort I want while reducing condensation buildup.
Lesson 4: My tarp configuration did little more than to trap condensation and increase humidity all around me. I need to ditch the enclosed tarp configuration and go with more of a wind block or baker shelter configuration. My tarp configuration at those temps simply created another "collection point" for the water vapor to condense.
Lesson 5: My investment in down products (JRB TQ/UQs, JRB Hood Kit, JRB Sleeves, and LL Bean Vest) more than paid for themselves, and were crucial components of my sleep system at such low temps. Without them, I think the night would have been MUCH less enjoyable!
Even with all my issues, I still made it through a brutal night and was much warmer than 90% of the people we were camping with. I now have an experiential baseline to judge from, rather than my own simple theory and can work to further increase my margin of safety and comfort.
I’m sure Moll Mac and Tree to Tree Trail Gear will be getting several orders from me soon. I may also look into canvas hot tenting with a Ti wood stove to increase the comfort factor and provide a more efficient means to stay warm with less fuel...we burned a LOT of wood Saturday night.
Sunday morning on the lake and a much deserved cup of coffee!
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