The VERY first thing you need to do, IMHO, is to upgrade the suspension. Easily accomplished on a budget. My choice is the JRB all-in-one hammock suspension system. You can find it here:
JRB complete suspension system 5.75 oz and has everything you need.
If you find you do not like the bottom entry on the Safari you can fix that as well. My second recommendation is to get a zipper mod for the ol' girl. 2Q and ZQ are the go-to vendors for these:
2QZQ Hennessy mods Lots of pictures here to see of the mods. And I hear the quality is such that you can't tell it didn't come from the factory with them this way.
You also need to start thinking (and saving) for a good underquilt. But until then you can easily build a Speer Segmented Pad Extender (SPE for short). This will allow you to use warm, cheap closed cell foam (CCF) like the military pads, Wal-Mart blue pads or even inflatable pads you already have for insulation. There are many iterations of the SPE, find a build you like and copy it. I used fleece on the body of mine and rip-stop on the wings and it works great! Just Jeff has a kind of 'pad use history' on his site, it includes the SPE as well.
Click here to read all about it!
For well under $200 you can have a tricked out Hennessy Safari that ALL your scouts will be wanting to ride in! And you will be warm to about freezing with minimal pads.
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