How much pad do you need for 20*?

[Tobit]

Then I must be a warm sleeper.. actually I'm warm in general, I keep the apartment at 58 degrees year round and wear shorts down to around 15 degrees.

- JT

[BillyBob58]

Tobit, I see you are in Manchester, NH. Our daughter lives in Bedford. If it was time to come up for a visit, I could bring up some gear and we could camp. Or at least you could check some gear out. We usually come up once or twice a year. But, I'd have to come loaded for bear this time of year in NH! c-c-c-c-c-cold!

[Tobit]

Tobit, I see you are in Manchester, NH. Our daughter lives in Bedford. If it was time to come up for a visit, I could bring up some gear and we could camp. Or at least you could check some gear out. We usually come up once or twice a year. But, I'd have to come loaded for bear this time of year in NH! c-c-c-c-c-cold!

Next time you're up this way, give me a heads up.. we'll do a hang someplace.. even if it's at a state park. I'm going to do my first hang at Monadnock State Park in March.

- JT

[BillyBob58]

Then I must be a warm sleeper.. actually I'm warm in general, I keep the apartment at 58 degrees year round and wear shorts down to around 15 degrees.

- JT

Yep. You may be another Neo!

[BillyBob58]

Next time you're up this way, give me a heads up.. we'll do a hang someplace.. even if it's at a state park. I'm going to do my first hang at Monadnock State Park in March.

- JT

Sounds like a plan!

[headchange4u]

A warm sleeper is one who tends to need less insulation to stay warm at a certain temp. than an "average" sleeper.

A 1" pad is kinda thick and I think it depends a lot on what type of material the CCF pad is made of. I have been to right at, or just below, 30* with a $7 WM blue CCF pad. It's what, 3/8" thick? My GG thinlight pad tends to feel warmer, and reflect heat back better than my WM pad, and it's only 1/4" thick, but I have never used the GG pad by itself so it may be my imagination.

[Rat]

I went to 17.7* with 7/8" of CCF, so I think 1" would get me down to 10* or so, but I voted for 15* because I tend to sleep warm.

[BillyBob58]

OK, I'm impressed, with 3 folks so far ( 50% so far ) voting for 0° or lower. I didn't think there would be that many. I should have had additional options below 0°. I figured most would be between 15° and 20°.

My Walmart blue pad measures awfully close to 1/2", to the point I would tend to call it 1/2". But they may vary.

[Dingus Khan]

I voted for 25*, then realized it was 1" thick, not the standard "close-to-1/2" walmart CCF pad. I am comfy into the 20's with just that and no other insulation.

[Fiddleback]

Pad thickness comparisons are gonna be kind of misleading without similar comparisons of the rest of the sleep system, e.g., if one sleeps in cotton underwear and another sleeps in insulated clothing there will probably be different results from the same pad thickness. Then of course there's the issue of different pad materials; starting with open cell vs. closed cell...

Still, the point of comparing pad thicknesses is probably to determine at what temp one feels cold coming through (the bottom). During a backyard experiment, my 3/8"X40"X60"/7oz pad got me close to 20°...at 22° I felt 'cold' underneath my shoulders. I was wearing a wool baselayer and an insulated jacket...there was nothing else between my shoulders and the pad. The cold was enough to make be bail to the warmer, friendlier bedroom but there's no doubt in my mind that had I doubled over that 7oz pad it would have been good to the sub-teens or lower. Had I been on the trail I would have just put my blue foam sit pad under my shoulders and everything would have been comfy.

I always take the 7oz pad with my hammock and usually have the 1 1/2oz sit pad with me. That half pound of foam will keep me comfortable in the hammock well under 20°. I've never not used a pad in a hammock so I don't know how the comfort level between pad and no-pad works out. I only know that my hammock and pad as given me the most comfortable nights on the trail I've ever had...

FB