I am the kind of person that needs to try everything out. A few weeks ago the temp got below 27*, I was just on the comfortable side using a 40* Enlightened Equipment under and a 15* Brooks Range top. Wearing patagonia cap base to sleep in and a wool beanie.
My suggestion is to buy your quilts on the lighter side and try them. EE and HG will both add down to their stuff if you need it warmer. Never tried to unstuff a quilt.
Different take here... why don't you get a set of summer quilts and take those along as well to supplement (stack) the 20 degree quilts? Not sure your pack will accommodate that, though.
"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
GA>ME'17,PCT'18,CDT'21
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This may be helpful.
It has shaped my decision to buy a Greylock.
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...greylock+dutch
Here is how I am building mine:
- Sierra Stealth
- Quilt Liner
- Greylock 3 w/ 1 ounce of over-stuff
adding a Hudson River later.
I am in Chattanooga, TN.
Last edited by Vanhalo; 10-06-2017 at 14:43.
So I completed my thru hike a couple of weeks ago. The setup I ended up with, and it all worked out great.
Winter start: Dutch Chameleon with top cover
Warbonnet Yeti UQ
Hammock Gear 20 Burrow
Thermarest Neoair short pad - I carried this the whole way, used under my feet in the colder weather and when I stayed in shelters in the
Smokies and in bad weather
Changed to in Waynesboro VA
Swapped top cover for bugnet on the Chameleon
Wilderness Logics SSUQ
Enlightened Equipment 40 degree 950 fill TQ
In Hanover NH I got the Yeti back thinking it might get colder, but kept the EE and glad I did. Some nights it was too hot and I didn't use the UQ until early mornings.
Using the Neoair under my feet to supplement the 3/4 UQ worked out great. Even when it got into the teens I was toasty warm. At 7oz it was worth carrying the weight given the number of times I used it. As much as I love sleeping in my hammock when you're dealing with rain day after day the shelters can be a refuge. Two nights I was by myself at shelters and hung the hammock in the shelter to get out of the snow and rain.
Wow, thanks for the follow up! Congratulations on your thru hike. Please consider writing a trip report.
Thanks - one thing I forgot was I used the Dutch quilt liner the whole trip. Added warmth at the beginning and there were many nights at the end that I didn't pull the TQ on at all.
As for trip report, maybe more later, but I'll share my major 'FAIL' in Maine. Maine is all rocks and roots, some areas have very shallow soil.
The second night in the 100 mile wilderness we camped near a stream and there wasn't a great selection of trees, especially those that didn't take up a space a tent could go, so I set up on what I could. As we were settling in hiking partner said one of the trees seemed to be bending. It didn't seem that bad, so I went to sleep. At one am I got up for natures call and noticed I was almost on the ground. The roots of the tree were coming right out of the ground!
I tossed down my tyvek, blew up my air mattress and went to ground, using my trekking pole to hold up the head end of the hammock to keep the bug net off my face. Got s few good hours sleep like that.
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