my first post other than intro of myself.

[kitesurfer]

i've been lurking/reading for few days. my question is concerning pads. i have an old 1" thermo rest and i also have two ccf pads. I will be camping off my motorcycle so i can carry all 3 if needed. i will be camping in the smokies the week of labor day. the ccf pads with extra for shoulders and hips 'logically' appears to be the ticket. but haviing never slept in a hammock befor, I realistically don't have a clue. Advice on pads please? I've also ordered a new syn mummy bag --5 degree. do you actually get in the bag and zip it up?

[goodcaver]

Welcome to the forums, kitesurfer. Regarding your mummy bag: I do get into mine and zip it up in the hammock, but I only carry a mummy bag in winter. I think you're going to be pretty warm in your 5 degree bag in the Smokies around Labor Day, so you might just want to drape it over you as a quilt. Really you could use any one of your pads, or a combination of two as you indicated would be fine as well--the only way to know what you will like is to go out and get in your hammock and see what you think!

Have fun!

[WV]

It's easier to keep a top quilt over you in a hammock than on the ground, so you probably won't need to zip up your mummy bag. Just stick your feet in it. After doing that for a year I realized that I didn't need the zipper at all, so I took it off. YMMV

[RootCause]

Welcome aboard, Kitesurfer!

First off: set up your hammock at home before you get on the road, and try it out! You'll likely have to work through a few bugs with your setup, and it's easier when you're not under the pressure of time, encroaching darkness, rain, etc....

In my experience, either the 1" Thermarest or a single CCF pad (the blue Walmart kind) will take you down to the low 30's with no problem. (I'm more of a 'cold sleeper', too.) I found that the Thermarest didn't always want to stay put in my hammock, even when I deflated it part way: the square ends kept pushing out of the narrow gathered ends. The cut-down CCF pad stayed put a lot better.

How to get in? I have only used pads in a single-layer hammock, so I put the pad in, bag on top of that, and climb in the bag & zip it up. In the standard gathered-end hammock hung with lots of sag, there should be plenty of stability to let you wriggle your way in without falling out of the hammock! If you have a double-layered hammock, slide the pad in between the layers, then jump in your bag. Easy, and no pad slippage either....

Play with it- a common theme on this forum is that many many techniques work, you'll find the one you like best!

[CrankyOldGuy]

I'm a cold sleeper and the Smokies in Sept. can either be warm at night (low 70's) or pretty darn cold (low 50's) but even allowing for the transition from Jax weather to the smokies, a 5 deg. bag sounds like overkill to me. I'm planning a trip up there in Oct. and I'll take a 30 deg. bag.

I generally start out with my bag unzipped and kind of draped across my middle, covering progressively more as the temp. drops. It does take a bit of gymnastics to get into a mummy bag in a hammock.