Artistry of the Pea Pod

[joggerjohn]

I was wondering if anyone has any special tricks or actual experience on how to keep the Pea Pod warm in super cold conditions? Is there an art-form to adding simple insulation under the hammock and between the pea pod.How much clothes or sleeping bags can you stuff in that gap.. How cold can it get down to? How warm will you stay? How much can someone boost the inside temperature range in the pea pod. It seems like you should be able to go down to real low temperatures with such a strange looking sleeping tool. The Pea Pod looks like a work of inventive genius.

[Just Jeff]

The PeaPod is a great piece of gear. Ed Speer (NotToWorry) answered this question on the other active PeaPod thread today. He loosens the ends to create a small gap between the bottom of the PeaPod and the hammock, then puts extra quilts or clothes in there.

The PeaPod is one of the more hassle-free (read: Idiot-Proof) pieces of hammock insulation out there. It's very forgiving of the minor adjustments that full-length underquilts require b/c it fully encloses the hammock. The trade-off is a bit more weight and bulk. I like using my PeaPod for Joker b/c I know that he'll stay warm no matter what he does inside, like kick off his quilts or something. He's been known to wake up with his top quilt laying on the ground under him...

[joggerjohn]

I was going to let a friend who is new to hammocking borrow my Pea Pod because he is kind of lazy setting things up and is sloppy at sleeping. I figured that he would love using the Pea Pod because it is very idiot proof and seems to have all the bases covered when idiots use it. I just wanted to know of a simple way of insuring that the guy doesn't freeze his butt off when he moves around too much in the hammock. Can you put a down sleeping bag in the gap created between the Pea Pod and the hammock.? I want to create alot of extra insulation for this guy. The possibilities of the Pea Pod seem limitless.

[Just Jeff]

As long as the bag doesn't compress the insulation or pull the PeaPod away from the hammock, you can put it underneath. I like to tie the PeaPod's drawstrings to the hammock supports to keep the PeaPod aligned correctly.

He'll still need a top quilt when the temp drops. A much thinner one than he'd need without the PeaPod, but still needs something on top.

[joggerjohn]

I know that. I plan on sleeping down to the teens and I wanted to be able to set his hammock up so he wouldn't get to cold. I haven't yet tried using a sleeping bag in the gap between the hammock and the bottom of the Pea Pod. I figured a light top quilt would work well. I just was wondering if there was anyone of real experience who has done this thing before.

[Just Jeff]

Yep - lots of folks have. I'm a big fan of the PeaPod...it's a good system. It's what I used for Joker during our -2 hang, and what I used on the Winnemucca trip. I had a pad+PeaPod on that trip, but Joker had more down between him and the PeaPod on the -2 one, like you're talking about.

I think your friend will be warm in some pretty low temps if he has a PeaPod with a down bag below, and a light quilt above. Interested in hearing the trip report!

[MacEntyre]

I like to sleep with my head inside the PeaPod. I make two small openings, one over my chest and one up high above my head, to create a chimney so that cold oxygen will enter and warm moisture will exit.

I'm noodling on a simple gizmo to keep the openings from collapsing while I sleep... sometimes the velcro closes up by itself. I'd hate to be found slowly cooling, having suffocated in my sleep!

Perhaps I'll try a couple of 3" diameter plastic rings, each with 180 degrees of hooks and 180 degrees of loops.

- MacEntyre

[joggerjohn]

Surely, one can not suffocate while sleeping in a pea pod? My pea pod seems to ventilate air even when closed

[MacEntyre]

Surely, one can not suffocate while sleeping in a pea pod? My pea pod seems to ventilate air even when closed

I don't really think you can suffocate. However, with the ends cinched and the velcro closed full length, moisture will collect inside. It certainly is tight enough to require venting.

[joggerjohn]

That is a relief because I KNOW that my friend will probably close the pea pod all around himself. I didn't want to drag his dead body out of his hammock if he suffocated.