20* UQ winter test

[Lorax]

Here's a little info I shared with the people over at BWCA.com on the hammock sub forum. I thought some here would find the review helpful or interesting.

I took my Hammock gear UQ out for a test run yesterday. I ordered it a while ago but never had it out under 23*. Here's the results from yesterdays 9* hang. I used my most minimal gear in the test to really see what it could do.

First of all, the gear:
-Warbonnet Blackbird in 1.1 fabric with a double bottom.I figured it was breezy and I purposely didn't want to block any wind or use my 1.7oz hammock for the test.
-Marmot Pinnacle 15* down bag loose on top of me like a quilt.
-I had on a baselayer only with a knit cap. No gloves, no down booties and just a normal pair of midweight socks.
-I had my Hammock Gear 20* incubator (full length) with a 2oz. overstuff.

Weather:
- Sunny, nine degrees with a steady breeze making it 1-3* above Zero for the entire test.
- No tarp used because I did not want the wind blocked. I wanted the worst conditions knowing how wind robs the heat.

Now, I'm a cold sleeper normally and usually take along extra for the weather knowing this. I've been a pad user down to 10* for ten years and this is my first UQ.
I spent just about 3 hours in the hammock and had no trouble settling in. The UQ went right to work as they do sending up the warmth. Once in a while I felt that cold blast that comes in from the foot or the head end. In this case, it was just down my neck. This would take a simple adjustment of the draft collar on the UQ to fix and if I was dressed for an actual night out, I probably would have been fine.

It has been my long experience of over 3 decades of gear that you get what you pay for. I've been lucky at getting gear that has always functioned flawlessly with just two exceptions in that time. This piece of gear from Hammock Gear is one of the finest. There is no doubt that I could have stayed out all night with little more than I set out with on my test.

I liked it so much, I ordered another one yesterday. I now have a 0* incubator on order as my average nights out are usually below 40* and with proper UQ venting, it could be used for most of the year or dead of winter camping, which I also enjoy.