So many choices

[MedicineMan]

I just now noticed how you started the thread='so, it boils down to 3/4 versus full then'
I thought I'd point out that there are even more variants to be had. Some of the cottages (HG for one) will make exactly what you want.
ON the Roan Higher Colder Hang (8F) I was more than cozy in a PLUQ (partial length underquilt) but it wasn't a 2/3s or 3/4s, it was a 5/6....no longer made by Leighlo. We call it the 5/50, 5 feet long 50 inches wide and rated to 0F. Said all of this just so you know that you dont have to be in the cookie mold if you don't want.
One more thing since you are new to hanging in cooler temps, never forget the thin ccf pads (that as you know can help if you are above treeline and gTg). You'd be surprised how much temp range a 1/8 inch thick pad can add.

[breyman]

These setups can be pricy.

In the end, it might be worth trying to make it to a local group hang in your area, if you haven't already. Those are about the best opportunity to try out lots of different options in both hammocks and insulation to see what's most comfortable and well-suited for you. Then, when that's decided, you can feel good about saving up for what you find as best.

Wow, breyman -- that is a pretty impassioned pitch for that hammock/UQ combo. I'll at least give it a look, ponder the weight, etc. I am just sticking my toe in the water so far with a home sewn gathered end hammock, about $25 invested in it. Heck, I spent more on the Gossamer Gear wide lite pad I now use with it in warm conditions. I'll be up on the north rim of the Grand Canyon this coming week, and if there are trees (as there surely will be in many places), I'll be in the hammock - perhaps wishing I had chosen and purchased and underquilt in time for the trip. Should not be a burning need for insect protection (or even a tarp for rain protection).

Your endorsement of the incubator is duly noted. I'm going to go do some searches on the 3/4 versus full length hammock choice, which I expect has been discussed at length already on the forum. Hard to choose between my desire to be ultralight and my desire to be cozy warm -- I want both !!!

[MAD777]

Tom, don't fret the choice too much. Any of these quilts from established vendors is going to serve you very well. As a fellow gram-weenie, I think you should go with the partial underquilt plus foot pad option. From your description of the weather you hike in, a 20 degree setup sounds right. A 40" wide quilt is plenty for me at 6' tall and 200# and I sleep on my sides and toss & turn at night.

[TallPaul]

I have a Phoenix 20* UQ. Real happy with it. I watch my ounces as well which is why I went 3/4 length. I have read those having full length really like it, but too many oz's for me.

I also put a small sit pad inside the foot box of my TQ and it works fine.

A little heads up... There is some fiddle factor with UQ's. You will want to read up on quilt hooks and other options to help conform the UQ to your asym lay.

You mentioned a 0* bag. Not trying to talk you out of it. Just wondering how often you go down to this temp now? This will be a warm bag - maybe to warm if you want to use it in the 60's? I don't have a 0* bag so I'm just theorizing. My plan is to get a 40* bag later to add to my 20* and then combine them if I really expect temps to hit 10*.

Anyway, good luck.

[Tucson Tom]

You mentioned a 0* bag. Not trying to talk you out of it. Just wondering
.

I never go down to this temperature. I have been surprised by some drops into the mid 20's and shivered through some nights like this in the Sierra. But I have lost my interest in actual winter camping (and I live in Arizona).

This is a good question, a very good question though. My reason for considering a zero degree bag is that I sleep cold. I can be shivering when others are sweating. And often I push hard, get to camp exhausted and that just adds to the problem. So I am just pondering "a few extra ounces" as insurance against shivering nights. Sometimes overkill can be a good thing, but it could also be a mistake.

[Tucson Tom]

Tom, don't fret the choice too much. Any of these quilts from established vendors is going to serve you very well..

Now this makes a lot of sense. Maybe the reason the choice is so hard to make is that the choice is not clear cut or a matter of taste. Maybe I should resign myself to ultimately owning more than one underquilt, if so the question would be which to buy first.

One thing I have noticed - the full length Hammock Gear Incubator 20* is amazingly popular and is nearly my choice at this point. But I am unsure of the camping styles of those who favor this quilt. Are they backpackers setting off on week long trips like I am.

So it is tempting to go with a 3/4 quilt and do the pad thing to save ounces and see how that works for me, figuring I may well end up adding the HGI-20 at some point anyway. The choices in 3/4 quilts seem to be the Yeti, the Te-Wa antifreeze or the HG Phoenix, probably others -- for some reason the Te-Wa quilts are talking to me ... but once I settle the 3/4 versus full question all the choices in either category seem excellent, as you say.

[Tucson Tom]

make it to a local group hang in your area.

Dude, I would jump at the opportunity. I am not even sure how to track down something like that, but the chance to learn from more experienced people first hand could not be beat. I will dig around to see what options there are. If anyone knows about something going on, let me know, I would even consider travelling out of state.

[Red Wing]

I never go down to this temperature. I have been surprised by some drops into the mid 20's and shivered through some nights like this in the Sierra. But I have lost my interest in actual winter camping (and I live in Arizona).

This is a good question, a very good question though. My reason for considering a zero degree bag is that I sleep cold. I can be shivering when others are sweating. And often I push hard, get to camp exhausted and that just adds to the problem. So I am just pondering "a few extra ounces" as insurance against shivering nights. Sometimes overkill can be a good thing, but it could also be a mistake.

Honestly Tom, when I've had those experiences, it's been my under insulation and not my sleeping bag.

The nature of a UQ, it covers roughly 3 sides of you, the top quilt only really cover your top and not really the sides, since they're compressed in a gathered end.

Also think about what you can supplement on top with your TQ sicne it doesn't have to warp around your body, the UQ does that. That's huge weight savings.

[Tucson Tom]

Honestly Tom, when I've had those experiences, it's been my under insulation and not my sleeping bag.

The nature of a UQ, it covers roughly 3 sides of you, the top quilt only really cover your top and not really the sides, since they're compressed in a gathered end.

Also think about what you can supplement on top with your TQ sicne it doesn't have to warp around your body, the UQ does that. That's huge weight savings.

Sorry, I am still talking about my pre-hammock experiences and how cold -I- sleep.
I shiver while others sweat (in similar sleeping bags in good pads on the ground side by side).

But I hear what you say about underquits, and I am realizing that what you say is exactly the situation, the UQ covers bottom and sides and the TQ just frosts the cake. Sounds to me like the underquilt is the most critical part of the system.

Which brings up something else I have wondered about. Seems like in wind you could get a lot of heat stolen from the underquilt. Do people ever hang a windproof layer of some kind under/around the underquilt?? Something that would serve the same purpose as the bivy bag I always carry and use when ground sleeping?

[TallPaul]

You have a couple options to stop the wind.
Your tarp - I have a Warbonnet SuperFly, in part for this reason. You can open it up for nice days, or really close it down for protection from the elements.
Another choice is an Underquilt protector. 2Q and ZQ have one, and I seem to recall Shug did a video recently of the one by Warbonnet, which can also be used as a poncho.