UQ basics

[thekevinator]

I've been using a synthetic wool blanket for a while now and I love it- stays pretty warm and much more comfortable to lay on while in the hammock vs. the foam pad

[Atlas918]

I took one of the famous (infamous?) blue pads, and cut it in half, and then cut one of the halves in half again; This gives me a nice piece to put under my shoulders, and 2 more for my feet and perhaps my butt if I need it; I am going to try this route next trip before investing the money in a UQ;

A new tarp is a must have though. My A-sym diamond give me minimal coverage. Probably going to look into a WL Tadpole here soon.

[heyyou]

As a tightwad, I resisted buying underquilts for a long time. I used double foam pads in my single layer hammock at temps in the low 20* F. I rolled the pads and hung them off the back of my pack with small bungie cords, for the Everready battery look.

With 24" wide, double pads, you can offset them slightly side to side to give you a double layer under you, but only a single layer at each elbow. Some carry one full length pad with a half length to use crosswise for shoulder and elbow insulation.

Note that for serious cold, those hangers supplement all of their other high dollar insulation with pads. Very cold air is dry so you get less condensation on the pad under you at 20* than at 40*, it is your breath that gives you the frost trouble at 20*.

thru-hiker.com sells Climashield(CS) insulation. Read about the KickAss Quilts made with CS at arrowhead-equipment.com to see the possibilities of using synthetic instead of down insulation in a DIY underquilt. You could combine Insultex from backwoodsdaydreamer.com (BWDD) with CS in a nylon envelope following the BWDD tutorial for Insultex underquilts.