Under quilts used in the deep south?

[The_redneck_Q]

Hey gang , I getting ready to build and under quilt for my Hennessy and was wondering for those of you like me that live in the deep and humid south how thick are your UQ and are they down or synthetic?

[Buffalo Skipper]

I have 2 UQs. 7 or 8 months of the year I use my Summer Jarbridge River. I find it comfortable down to about 45° or prehaps a little below. Then I have my "winter" (relative to the deep south) underquilt, which is a 20° Incubator. I like this anytime the temp is about 45° or below. Knowing what I know now, I would probably get the HG Icubator with 1 or 2 oz of overstuff, but I am very pleased with the quilts I have. I have only 1x pushed my winter UQ to the limit, and I now have a much better Top Quilt to accompany it, so I know I am probably good to about 15° as is.

Remember that I am deeper in the south than you. But I do take the opportunity in January to camp further north than in other months.

[The_redneck_Q]

lol I would call that deep south east !

[BillyBob58]

I think of myself as being in the deep south, but I am a bit north of you by maybe 140 miles. So you are deeper south than me. Elevation difference is probably not major. So I doubt that there is any more than 2*F difference in our average temps. For example, I notice you are currently 81F as are we. ( BTW, isn't this fantastic weather for August? )

So we are going to be pretty close in weather, which means that most of the time and most of the year, you are not going to need much. But, are you going to camp in the dead of winter trying to catch the coldest days of the year? In that case you will occasionally need a lot. So far, in my back yard, I have caught a couple of 10F nights, and quite a few more 15-20F nights. And a whole bunch of 30s to 40s.

On those coldest nights, I had either ~ 4" of JRB down under me and did great, or another 10F night I had about 2.5" under me ( Speer Pea Pod spec, but actually a bit more) along with a space blanket and was fine. There was a 14F night in a HH Super Shelter with a fleece jacket and down vest thrown in there, and was toasty.

So there you go, I needed 4" of loft ( or it's equivalent on one or two other nights) under me one night not far north of you. And this is over quite a few years trying to catch the rare single digits. But if I was just to go by the average winter weather, I can get by with a lot less.

Just remember wind ( and moisture or both) can ruin all of these calculations, they MUST be blocked. And there are other variables like: are you sleeping inside a synthetic sleeping bag or clothing? That can ad some warmth because it does not compress as much. Then there are pads and VBs, which can give a big boost.

[The_redneck_Q]

So most of you are using down? Have you had any issues with it getting damp due the humidity? I can build either a down or synthtic. I looked at the 5 oz climashield UQ and have read good things about it and it looks straight forward in its build but when I add all the cost up I can build a down one for 20 - 30 bucks more.

My camping buddy is pretty much against down as if it ever gets wet and here in La and in Ak we are either in or on the water. As for winter camping I wont do much of it unless a group wants to do something otherwise I am trapping and hunting , however I will be joining a new buddy for some trout fishing in nov up in Ak and he said last year he woke up with snow on his hammock! Snow? What the heck is that ?

[Buffalo Skipper]

I bought my Summer Jarbridge River UQ with 3.0 oz Climashield because I was worried about down and the southern humidity. But that has not been a problem.

As for it actually getting wet, well that is all in how you take care of it. First the DWR layers currently used (both by the cottage industry and mass manufacturers) will keep a down sleeping bag/quilt dry in normal conditions. You pretty much have to submerge it or lay it in a puddle of water to make it wet anymore. With the idea that the hammock is off the ground, that is really a non issue. If you are concerned about it getting wet in you backpack, then just pack it in a plastic bag (like a 2.5 gal ziplock).

[The_redneck_Q]

Thanks BS as that is just what I was wanting to hear since I really wanted down lol! For the past 2 years I have used my fat and an air mattress so its time to upgrade!

[rpd2459]

I am looking into under quilts at this time. I am not that crafty but i can sew simple patterns. I can also get a sewing machine to break...use. So if all I need to buy is the materials would it save me a large amount of money to make my own?

[CrazyMike]

If you're going to DYI it then this may not help much but Paul @ UGC has made Resist Down available in his quilts just recently.

[BillyBob58]

So most of you are using down? Have you had any issues with it getting damp due the humidity? I can build either a down or synthtic. I looked at the 5 oz climashield UQ and have read good things about it and it looks straight forward in its build but when I add all the cost up I can build a down one for 20 - 30 bucks more.

My camping buddy is pretty much against down as if it ever gets wet and here in La and in Ak we are either in or on the water. ....

Well there are lots of threads here and elsewhere with that subject debated. It is kind of a never ending debate.

But I use down JRB MWs and Speer Pea Pod, an HH Supershelter ( which has a synthetic open cell foam pad), a WB Yeti insulated with Climashield ( no longer available, but quite a gem ) and even plain old pads.

How important are weight and especially bulk to you? Because that is where 800-900 FP down really shines.

Is soaking fog much of a problem for you? And do you have to pack up and go, no matter if your gear is wet? Do your trips tend to be a bunch of nights in rainy/foggy/cloudy weather, or just one or two nights? ( having some sun to fry out down gear can be a real help.)

I feel with a good tarp of adequate size, or an UQ protector, and DWR quilts, and sheltered sites, and experience camper is very unlikely to get his down wet from outside moisture. Though anything is possible. A much bigger threat- especially on longer, colder and/or damper/humid trips, is condensation inside the quilt. I have a friend who, on a couple of different week long trips, had noticeable loss of loft with his down gear. Even when not a drop of moisture from the outside touched it, or at least there was no moisture evident on the shells. But one of those trips was fog/mist/drizzle every day, never much sunshine, in the Olympics of WA. So apparently this loss of loft ( on both trips) was due either to condensation or outright sweat.

On the Olympic trip I was nearly all synthetic ( HH Supershelter and TNF Cat's Meow bag), as were two other tenting friends, and none of us had any wet insulation issues. On the other trip, I did have a down PeaPod, but I used a vapor barrier under me, and for that or whatever reason, had no loss of loft issues. But my down using friend had obvious loss of loft on both trips, but no outside moisture got on his insulation, so go figure. Come to think of it, on the 1st night of the Olympic trip I did soak the foot of my HHSS foam pad and Polarguard sleeping bag from condensation, but it amounted to nothing. I still slept warm, didn't even know it was soaked until time to get up, and it all dried very quickly.

If you think that you will get your insulation wet ( have you in the past?), either from fog or sweat or condensation or rain, and if you don't really need the ability to really compress down small, you might prefer the Climashield. Otherwise, the down has many advantages.

I don't think it is available for DIY, but there are now down products that are way resistant to water, close to waterproof.