Why do pads get a bad rap?

**Met77** · 01-06-2013, 23:07

I have a 20 degree under quilt but I still use a NeoAir mattress. It doesn't move around on me and I like the way it sleeps. It packs down to the size of a Nalgene bottle so size isn't an issue.

**outdoorsguy** · 01-06-2013, 23:27

Originally Posted by dammfast

My 10 year old prefers the pad. He likes that it holds the hammock open while he is getting in and out. He puts the pad into his sleeping bag so he will stay on it. He did that on his own, I never told him to the morning after his first night it was there. when I questioned him he said it would sit still so he put it in there.

He's using the pad as a vapor barrier, he's very bright. Did he notice any water/condensation under him in the morning?

**dammfast** · 01-07-2013, 00:09

I checked him in the morning on the first night he did it and was dry. I was a little surprised. I know he was warmer than I was on that trip.

**outdoorsguy** · 01-07-2013, 00:26

Ok, I'm going to try it, thanks.

**cleandirt** · 01-07-2013, 00:55

Seems like most people don't like a pad in gathered end hammocks while a lot of people prefer using a pad in a bridge hammock. It's the other way around for me. In a gathered end hammock I find a pad helps alleviate some of the leg pressures that keep me awake. It is a bit of a pain to adjust and as the night progresses I find myself having to readjust, but it's more comfortable for me with the pad and a I've stayed warm using a sleeping bag and classic therma-rest into the 20's. I also prefer sleeping on the pad rather than putting it between a double layer. With the double layer I found that the pad still moved around but I had a harder time readjusting it.
This past week I got a bridge hammock and I've been sleeping in it. I like it better with an underquilt and no pad. The underquilt is nice because it stays in place and I can roll around as much as I need to without making adjustments. The bridge hammock solved my leg problems so I don't need a pad for that. I get some shoulder squeeze in my new bridge hammock but using a pad doesn't seem to help with that. That said I've also found there is a learning curve to using a quilt. It has taking me a bit of time to figure out how to set it up without getting cold air drafts. Where as the pad is simple, if you roll off it you will get cold and it's time to get it under you again.
Mostly it seems like everyones different and we've all got to find our own way.

**LazyCamper** · 01-07-2013, 08:53

I'm probably going to try to diy a underquilt, but keep the pad for extreme New Hampshire cold.

**brushybill** · 01-07-2013, 09:23

i slept in a hammock for 9 years before i even knew there was such a thing as an underquilt, the first time i used a pad in my hammock ,i thought i had found heaven, no more cold butt, but anything that touched the sides froze.
when i bought my first uq ,i realised what true comfort really is,
i wish i had discovered hammock forums years before i did

**Grinder** · 01-07-2013, 10:52

Here's my two cents on the subject.

There's nothing wrong with a pad for bottom insulation.

It is true that it takes some experience to do it right (for you).

BUT!!!

That's true for everything about hammocking (and change in general).

1. How many UQ people spent a few miserable nights until they figured how how to set up correctly (for them!!!) I'm one of them.

Hell! It took me two or three nights to even sleep through the night in my Hammock when I started.

2. There is, let's face it, a tendency to exalt the most expensive option available in gear as the only true option. I guess it's just human nature. It's sure true in camping gear. (ref. titanium as an example)

3. One advantage I can't argue with, is the ability of down to pack small. That goes for sleeping bags as well. Back packing is as much about cubic inches as it is pounds and ounces. One can minimize this by using your pad as the stiffener in your pack (coil it inside or use a Gearskin type pack.

**oldsoldier** · 01-07-2013, 12:48

Add me as another pad user. We just had a winter group hang. First night it got down to 17, the second night, 22. Both nights, I slept fine. I had a Gossamer Gear pad, and a Reflectix under that. I slept quite warmly, both nights. PERSONALLY, I like the pads better, as I can set it up faster, and its locked in, once I am in the hammock. I also like the flexibility of it. And, I could, in theory, pull it out to use as a sit pad, elsewhere, if I wanted to, I suppose. I own a UQ as well-I just dont use it all that much anymore.

**PDA** · 01-07-2013, 15:41

A Walmart blue pad (or 2) is/are the most cost effextive under insulation that you can buy. A $5 blue pad will protect you to about 30deg f . I cut mone in half and lay side by side, overlapped to give a total width of about 30 inches, whcih protects my shoulders from cold. I use an Alps mountaineering 20 deg bag as a top quilt. Total weight 4-4 1/2 lb and cost about $40. I am on a very strict budget, and I cannot find any other configuration which even comes close to this. BTW, absolutely no discomfort whatsoever. No need to bother about rain splashes (as one does with a down UQ). Can use the pad as a kneel/sit pad around camp. Even as a PFD for river crossings

. Rolled up, it can even be a load transfer stiffener for an UL backpack. Oh, and if you have to go to ground, it will insulate you there (and even give some comfort). Such versatility, such bombproofness, and such effectiveness, at such a low price. What's not to like/admire?