Cold Weather Gear Test & it's your fault

[gunner76]

Oh this will move outside at some point but want to establish lower limits on the gear without wind before I join the ranks of equally dumb

Too late.....

Always a good idea to test your gear. I did some back yard testing last night. Got a 0 degree TQ and a 20 degree UQ that has yet to get a real work out yet. Last night at 27 degrees was the coldest I have been able to use the gear since I got it. Keep hoping for a 5 degree night like we had 20 years ago so I can really put my cold weather gear to the test under controlled conditions.

[dkurfiss]

Add another water bottle? Your at home, can't hurt?
PL's over the rl add a good bit of warmth. Leave room for ventilation. Even a poncho traps some heat.

Maybe a personal thing, but I get cold sleeping in my down jacket. I was cold last January and couldn't figure it out?? Finally took off my coat and then I was fine. The compressed down seemed to be wicking the heat off me and the uq.
I know lots of folks sleep in a down jacket. So, its just a thought...

Thanks for the suggestions.

I put the PL over the ridgeline then tied it to the tie out points on the HH. I also left about 8 to 10 inches at the top (where my head will be) open so hopefully I won't have condensation.

I think I am going to save the 2nd water bottle for perhaps when I move outside. Since I don't normally carry two water bottles when I am out, I think I will hold off on that yet but thank you for the suggestion.

I was pretty amazed at how warm my feet were in the REI down boots. I have always, in more moderate temps, used just clean wool socks but I think the boots just earned their spot in my pack.

[IRONFISH45]

I recently purchased a "Under Quilt Protector" I just love it, the quality is top rate. I sew and I know quality gear when I see it.

I was looking around in Ikea, found a keep warm mattress cover on sale, I think it was $4.99 USD a twin size. I drug it home, put a some darts in each end, injected some binding around the edges, stuck in some cording, tied it onto my hammock, all very spur of the moment. Stuck on the QP and climbed into the hammock. Guess what I was warm down to 30F. Next time I am going to use my HH overcover, I have found that to be very important to keeping warm, even in our wet summers. I like the UQ Protector better than HH SS, besides I have pretty much stopped using the HH's because they are just too difficult to exit.

I no longer choose to be as methodical as I once was, I just need to do what I can do when I have the opportunity. Life is moving on rapidly, so I do things differently now days. There is also the fact that I live part of the year in a subarctic area. I guess from years of camping and all sorts of experiences I kind of have built in radar for what is going to get me into trouble.

I started reading this site because I like how members quantified and experimented with different options. Saving me a lot of work and negative experiences.

[dkurfiss]

Life got in the way of my testing last night. I have everything set up just need to not have sick people around me that I need to take care of. Assuming everyone is well tonight I will get back into testing mode.

[OutandBack]

I started reading this site because I like how members quantified and experimented with different options. Saving me a lot of work and negative experiences.

Yep you end up spending tons of $$$ on the right stuff instead of the wrong.

[bigfanboy]

So the JRB was not enough for 31°?

I did a test on Saturday, it got down to 29° here in McKinney TX, yep it gets that cold a few days a year.

My gear was;
HH Safari
HH Hex - Tied very low and blocking the wind
Thermarest 1.5" half empty - Still hate this, Wrote to Santa for the HQ Incubator 0
Mountain Hardware Phantom 20 - LOVE this Bag!!! Plus I got it for super cheap at the HM Employee store in Cali - Nice to have friends.

On me I wore
Long Sleeve T
Short Sleeve T
Columbia Fleece - No idea of model
Cabelas Thermal bottoms, not the deep cold ones - again not sure of the model - but I think they are rated for 30 or so
Jeans - Made it not so comfortable, but I slept fine
A cheap knit hat
Wigwam wool socks

I consider my primary shelter is what I am wearing, so Layers is the game of course. On the other hand I sleep O-Nature All at home and would love to be able to sleep in my hammock with nothing more than boxers and socks. The boxers for modesty and the socks to slip in shoes for a pee.

It was heavy wind and freezing rain all night, but other than my feet I was toasty warm. I will add a Thermarest camp seat to the foot box for this.

I am hoping that with an additional Phantom 0°, a descent UQ like the Incubator 0°, a hammock sock,and maybe some strategic VP placement, I should be able to get this setup below zero? If not well below. I am trying to get the CFO to approve budget for the MN Frozen Butt Hang in Jan. Specially since I will no longer be going to Tel Aviv that week(work trip).

NOTE: I would not even think of Hijacking your Thread dkurfiss, but I am still new and I have not hit the needed 50 posts to start my own thread yet.

[dkurfiss]

So the JRB was not enough for 31°?

INOTE: I would not even think of Hijacking your Thread dkurfiss, but I am still new and I have not hit the needed 50 posts to start my own thread yet.

You are fine. You are still talking about testing gear so it's all good.

Now to answer your question, since I did not have cold spots like hips, shoulders, or feet I have to assume the JRB did it's job but I don't believe it can account for the DIY top quilt or lack there of

My assumption is that if I add another layer (like the LL Bean long johns to insulate all over than will get me below 30. When I add in the PL over the ridge line it should be all good.

You notice I said assume because if it is not one thing it is another so I was not able to get the temps down to 30 last night. The front moving through the area with all the rain actually had temps rising all night. When I checked the temp at 11PM it was 39F and going up. This morning it was 44F.

Of course I slept like a baby and was nice and warm all night. Amazing what a difference 10 degrees will make. I already knew that 40 was something I could with my gear since I had already done that in August in upper MI. All I needed to do in August was block the wind, which I finally did, and 40F was most comfortable.

Tonight lows are forecasted for 22F so perhaps the testing will actually work tonight.

[wiktor]

I am new to hammocking and backyard test proved to me they are the essential, I would be VERY stupid no to do them otherwise.

Location: Aspen, CO
Temps: below 32, down to 10-15 F (-10 Celsius)

Gear:
Dream Hammock Thunderbird with overcover
Edge Tarp (mostly u necessary, clear and bright nights)
UQ: Yetti 3 season with 1oz overfill
TQ: Enlightened Equipment Revelation X 20F (3 season)

Thanks to advice from ultimatehang.com I basically, pushed 3 season gear to winter use with GoLite Down Jacket and Western Mountaineering Flash Pants.

Still, after several nights with not a single one slept comfortably (not because coldness) but the hammock nature of sleep position, now I know that hammocks are not for everybody (unfortunately)...

[dkurfiss]

Gear:
Turtle Stand
HH Explorer
JrB The Nest (25-30F rating)
DIY top Quilt (rating unknown)
Hot water bottle
2nd down blanket rated to 30F
PL over Ridge Line


Clothing
Under Armor winter watch cap
fleece top/bottom
down booties
LL Bean long johns top and bottom

Garage Temp 32F


I knew with the holiday I would not get another chance to test out my cold weather set up for a while so I decided to take a long break today and nap in the garage for 4 hours. It was a good choice. I slept like a baby for 3.5 hours with no cold spots. Nothing was cold when I woke up except my feet. I believe my feet got too hot in the down booties and once they started to sweat, they got cold. That is easy enough to fix with wool socks instead of the booties.

So now I have my 30F camping gear set. Next step will be to move it outside or even continue inside down to 20F assuming the temps get that cold this year. But before that happens I am going to send off both of the HH to have a Mod 4 done on them so I can do side entry and roll back the screening.

[dkurfiss]

Hmmm, hammocks may not be right for you but my question to you is did you have yours set up correctly? With the HH I do not have to be concerned about angles and such but with the hammock you have, I believe you need to get that angle correct. Just a thought