In the Coffee (Hammock Engineer) at Hurricane Shelter thread it was mentioned that:
This a pretty startling revelation to me, especially when a hard core hammock user like HE decides to give up hanging and goes to ground in order to stay warm. It had been mentioned that gear that was not as clean as it had been, resulting in a loss of loft, may have been partially to blame.Originally Posted by Hammock Engineer
I think the main culprit was the weight that HE lost during his thru hike:
Going by that statement, you would loose about 1 degree of cold protection for every pound that you shed during your hike. There was also talk of not being able to build up enough calories to help keep you warm at night. Basically you are expending more calories than you are taking in and when you do eat the body consumes everything and leaves nothing to "keep the furnace going" at night. At the same time I have always heard that younger people tend to be warmer sleepers due to higher metabolisms and that as one gets older you sleep colder (meaning you need more insulation to stay warm).Originally Posted by Hammock Engineer
It's almost like saying that getting and shape and loosing weight may not the best thing for winter camping or a long distance hike.
I know almost nothing about the intricate workings of the human metabolism except that as I get older I put on weight more easily I wanted to open this topic up for discussion because it intrigues me. Has anyone else had experiences with weight loss/gain and staying warm on the trail and in your hammock.
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