Backyard testing at 14F

**Shug** · 01-03-2010, 10:49

I ended up not getting to sleep out ...... whaaaaa. Had a lovely evening with my wife though. I got shanghaied!
Tonight it will be -13º so I am set up and hope to get out there and shoot some video.
Shiverin' Shug

**NCPatrick** · 01-03-2010, 11:54

Mine went pretty well. I was wearing a long sleeved wicking shirt, socks, down booties, silk long underwear pants, tyvek coveralls, running pants, a light wicking vest, a tyvek jacket, and another vest, (nylon), but nothing very heavy or bulky. Layers layers layers. I could have taken off the socks and been fine. Forgot to mention the turtle fur neck tube and homemade fleece hat.

I have a large top quilt and it worked against me a little last night. It's really too big to fit down in the hammock, so it kept slipping around and off me and causing cool spots. I finally got up and put my down vest on and slept fine the rest of the night, except when the fire truck went by... so spotty sleep not so much because of temperature, but mostly because of streetlights and full moon and traffic noise that I'm not used to.

I really liked the hammock hut, because it did get down to 14F and was breezy, but I didn't feel any of those breezes all night long. I had some breath condensation on my top quilt, because since it's a bit too long it got in my face more than I'd like. I thought about Shug's condensation catchers that he's been working on, not sure that material sewn on to catch condensation would stay near my mouth all night the way move around when I sleep. Maybe a condensation bib?

Shock corded modified down booties stayed on all night and worked great to keep my feet nice and toasty all night long. I've tried the JRB sleeves over my feet, but as much as I liked them they were a bit fussier than the booties. Worried they were falling off, etc. With booties I could just get up and go if I needed to get up and go...

The vb clothing worked great. I got cool at times (see TQ prob above) but never very cold. Slept until 7:30, when an enterprising squirrel started hopping around in the dry leaves next to my head outside the tarp. I got up and was still nice and warm while walking around the yard and back to the house. Nice not to be freezing as soon as you get out of your covers in the morning, and it was still approx. 14F when I looked at the thermometer at the house.

So whoopie slings, down booties, JRB hammock hut, and tyvek clothing all worked very well together. Success!