Top, Bottom, Bags - oh my!?

[Shug]

Maybe this will give some insight......
Carry forth.
Shug

[Acer]

Be careful of the zippers of the sleeping bag, catch on the hammock material. One hole or snag,,and you can rip a hammock so easily and ruin your hike. Good luck hammocking.

[Nodust]

Be careful of the zippers of the sleeping bag, catch on the hammock material. One hole or snag,,and you can rip a hammock so easily and ruin your hike. Good luck hammocking.

That's what worries me about a sleeping bag.

[BillyBob58]

Ok, I think I understand this, but can someone please clarify? ........

Bottom/Under quilt - for underside insulation.
Top quilt - for cover insulation.
Sleeping bag - almost the same as top quilt, but you zip it up for warmer temps when you don't have bottom/under quilt?

Do I have this correct?

I have sleeping bags (2, one light and one heavy). I think that will do for now, since I still don't have a hammock lol. Working on that.

Thanks for educating me if I am wrong!
Scott

Just wrong on that last part about " zip it up for warmer temps when you don't have bottom/under quilt? ". You can use your bags as bag or quilt, but you will need something for your back as many have already explained. However, once you feel like getting adventurous, search for Shug's videos on using a sleeping bag as a pod. If you have the right bag and right hammock, you can wrap the bag entirely around the hammock ( commercial version = PeaPod ). It will probably require a good bit of experimentation, but several people have done it with good results. This can be very warm.

Oh my is right! I am just looking into using a hammock. I wasn't thinking of all this other stuff as well. hmmmmmm...things just keep adding up.

Lots of people start with a cheap wal-mart pad and their sleeping bags, especially if they are unsure if they are going to like hammock camping. Then they find out how comfortable sleeping in a hammock is and how much more comfortable underquilts are than pads. It's easy to get a cold butt in a hammock, even at 70*, so bottom insulation is important. I started with a pad and my synthetic sleeping bag. It worked, but it was heavy. I have since invested in two top quilts and two underquilts. It's a sickness I tell you, a sickness!

It is a sickness and it has been very serious illness for me, according to my wife!

But really, don't sweat it sdveirs and naperica , it is not a big deal, just slightly different, so you make a few adjustments compared to keeping warm on the ground.

Are you already a tent or ground dwelling tarp camper? Then don't worry, you already have everything you need, it is all the same as for what you need in the hammock, but with a twist that you must adjust for, easily done. On the ground, you have a sleeping bag to keep you warm on top, right? Check! You need the same in a hammock( or replace with a lighter Top Quilt if desired) You also have a pad that you count on to cushion you from the hard ground, right? Check! You still need that pad in the hammock, but not for cushioning.

What you may not have realized is that you were also using the pad for insulation from the cold ground. All of this time, you were compressing the bottom layer of your sleeping bag so that it was giving you very little to no insulation from the cold ground. If you did not have that pad for cushion/comfort, and it was winter with a 30F low and cold or snow/ice covered or just plain cold ground, you would soon be shivering even in a 20F bag.

So, same thing in your hammock! You needed a pad for comfort and back insulation on the ground, and you still do in the hammock, except you don't need it for comfort/cushioning anymore, only for insulation from the cold air under the hammock. Therefore, you can often get by with a much thinner, lighter or maybe even NO pad depending on temps. But mostly, you are going to need something if it gets below 70 or even 75, depending on what you are wearing, how cold natured you are, and how well protected you are from the wind and moisture.

So what is the catch? A full length pad in a single layer hammock can be quite tricky for some people, hard to stay on, or not wide enough to keep shoulders warm, or not as comfy in various ways as a hammock without a pad. Though almost always more comfy than on the ground, but not as nice as no pad ( Though a double layer bridge hammock solves almost all of these problems). People have been able to solve these problems with many different tricks which you can read up on later if you decide to stick with your pad. So, some folks hate pads in hammocks, others are fine with them, a very few actually prefer them. But bottom line, you can use the exact same system as you had on the ground if that is how you roll, so don't let it all overwhelm you. ( plus, since you don't need cushioning, there are pad variations like HH bubble pad, car windshield reflectors, etc that work well for some folks)

The other difference is that there is another way than pads to deal with back warmth in a hammock that many prefer. Ditch the pad and use a:
1: HH Super Shelter
2: Speer PeaPod
3: Under quilt(UQ) used either with your sleeping bag or separate top quilt(TQ)
4:Your sleeping bag rigged PeaPod style

That is all the approaches I can think of right now. But the main thing to take away from this is: all of this last part, all of these UQs and such, it is all just another way to do it, a way that can not be used on the ground. You don't have to go that route, it's just that most people prefer it to maximize the comfort of the hammock. With these additional methods that are available for the hammock hanger, the pad is replaced with the equivalent of the bottom half of your sleeping bag, either with your actual bag wrapped around the hammock, or with a commercial PeaPod wrapped around the hammock, or with a separate UQ wrapped around the bottom of your hammock, all while you use your separate sleeping bag or TQ to keep your top warm. With the equivalent of the bottom half of your sleeping bag wrapped around the bottom of your hammock, it is now free to loft up ( no compression from your weight) and keep you just as warm as the top half of your bag normally does.

On the ground, you might not have realized that your bag was providing little or no insulation for your back, because your pad was taking care of that. But if you slept on the snow without a pad, you would quickly realize that truth. Same thing if you sleep in a hammock without a pad. Unless you replace that pad with something like an UQ. See there, it's really simple, and really has no different requirements than when you slept on the ground!

[nothermark]

FWIW - the major potential damage point on a sleeping bag is the zipper pull. The easy answer is a couple of layers of tape.

The bigger issue is take off your shoes and outer clothing before you get in. That gets the small stones and the knife on your belt that you forgot about.

[grannypat]

Just in case nobody has mentioned it, I highly recommend getting or downloading a copy of the book "The Ultimate Hang" by Derek Hanson. (Note the proper use of quotation marks.) It's a great primer for hangers and explains some of the mysterious hammock accoutrements. He posts here as Dejoha and also has a blog: http://theultimatehang.com/