I finally got to spend a significant amount of time in my Clark NX200 (not just afternoon naps in my own yard). It wasn't technically real camping, mind you... My wife and I went up to the La Crosse area, Centerville to be exact, to visit her family for the holiday weekend. As these family gatherings tend to be pretty chaotic and crowded, I happily took along my Clark, hoping that there would be suitable trees on the old family homestead property.
First night I didn't get to set up until about 10:00pm, using a mini-mag flashlight clenched between my teeth for light, heheh. Between a few micro-brews and the darkensss, the result was a slightly off-center set-up, with the tarp kind of wonky, but as there was no rain in the forecast it was no biggie. I awoke once at about 3:45am needed to answer the call of nature and realized I was a bit chilly. Turns out something slipped in the night and I was pretty much on the ground, which compressed the 2/3 "Leigh's Underquilt". I adjusted things a bit and was fine the remainder of the night. In fact, I slept until 10:30 the next morning! This is HUGE news for anyone who knows me, as I haven't slept past 7:30am in years. My wife was truly impressed.
Temps for night 1 got down into the upper 40's F, with a fair amount of fog early in the morning.
Night two I tried out my Wally World blue CCF pad. Within 10 minutes of climbing inside the hammock I was overheating and the pad went bye-bye. The 2/3 down UQ combined with my REI Halo 25 bag kept me happy until morning, with just a touch of chill on my feet being out past the UQ. Wool/synthetic blend socks kept things fine for me.
Again, temps dipped to the upper 40's F. Plenty of moisture again as well.
On the third day I decided to rehang everything in the daylight, and got a much more comfortable hang. The third night's sleep was awesome.

All the in-laws thought I was off my rocker sleeping out in the crazy contraption, but I was beyond happy out there! Warm and cozy... peace and quiet, and a nice weekend triple-feature movie...mmmm nice.

I can see I might have to do some careful planning in order to be prepared for the Fall Northern Hang in October. I imagine the temps could get a bit cooler than what I saw over this past weekend. I think the 2/3 length UQ combined with the CCF pad would be enough... but I'm a tad worried.





n0thing