About 27 ABOVE is my coldest so far.
Let me say, you deep cold hangers truly have my respect!
About 27 ABOVE is my coldest so far.
Let me say, you deep cold hangers truly have my respect!
Yes, terrible year for pushing the limits so far!Originally Posted by OutandBack
That IS cold for you guys. I am about 8 hours north of you and we have not got that low yet, and have only maybe 4 or 5 days in the low 20s. The warmest winter here I can remember, following two pretty cold and snowy ones.Not even close to the records here, but I have a new personal low that happens to coincide with the rest of the Florida (and Tennessee!) folks for the Florida Hang: 21 F, according to JPsax, in this post.
That's cold to us peninsula folks! My toes didn't warm up until a good hour after dawn (though that's more my own fault for improper gear than anything else; I was planning for mid-thirties as the low).
My hat is off to you folks who do real cold weather hanging. -47 F is insane to me, but getting out there and seeing is half the fun with this stuff! Just get on out into the woods (or the tundra, or...).
Well, sounds like at least some one is starting to get serious! At last something well below zero. What were you using to keep warm?
Yeah, it is. On the other hand, we virtually never have to worry about moisture at temperatures below 40 F or so. It just doesn't happen down here in FL, and that makes a huge difference in perceived warmth and insulation effectiveness. I was able to get by (not warm, but not in danger of freezing to death, either) with the following:
Clothing: 40-gram Thinsulate watch cap, lightweight Minus 33 merino longsleeve base layer, Patagonia expedition weight capilene fleece longsleeve, homemade fleece Wristies, synthetic compression boxer/brief underwear, synthetic running shorts, heavyweight nylon sweatpants, and SmartWool Hiker merino socks.
Top Insulation: Poncho liner and thin WallyWorld fleece throw (~40" x 60").
Bottom Insulation: Sew-em-up PLUQ with a layer of InsulBright added.
Supplementary Materials: Hot water Nalgene with two cups of water in a fleece cozy.
It was not enough to keep me warm, but it was enough to keep me from freezing. My toes were the only part of me that were really cold; the rest was just chilly. About ten minutes into trying to sleep, I took my wristies off of my hands and placed them over my feet to supplement my socks. It helped some, but not enough.
What I would have done differently had I known the temperatures would be in the twenties: brought my midweight fleece zip hoodie and my thick acrylic boot socks. Between those two things, I would have been warm enough to be comfortable, if not hot.
If things got real bad, I still could have added my sit pad and space blanket to the mix (I had both with me). I wasn't cold enough to get out of my hammock to do that, though.
My personal low record was from when I was still in Scouts. The second night of our weekend outing was -35c/-31f without the windchill factor (we were just in the trees on the coast of the Bay of Fundy so you can be darn sure there was a windchill). Some of us were in tents, some of us were in a poorly made quinzee, everyone was cold but no one got frostbite.
I camped out once a couple years later with some friends from that same group at below the minus 30 mark. We were on snowmobiles but were very poorly prepared (last minute teenage boys ideas). But we had fire and an ax so we made due. Actually we would have bailed but at least two of the sleds had no headlight.
I'm not going that cold again unless I'm hot tenting, these days I'd be more concerned about staying home and keeping the fire stoked for the family anyway.
wearing: wool socks, longjohns (top and bottom), arcteryx fleece top, balaclava (with diy fleece insert)
TNF Solar Flare Mummy Bag (-20*F rating)
Claytor Expedition hammock
1/2 inch ccf
3/8 inch ccf
(another 3/8 inch ccf perpendicular for torso)
under hammock was poncho rigged as garlington taco.
also inside hammock was my extra clothing/puffy jacket to stuff as necessary at any "cold spots" usually at my hips on one side just below where the perpendicular ccf ends.
Last year I got down to 4F with -5F to negative -10F wind chill in my backyard. Slept warm until about 4 am when i had to water the plants. I looked like one of those sprinklers, you know the ones, chik, chik,chik,chik, fftfftffftftt. Got back in my hammock and it took me a good 45 minutes to get back to the edge of comfort. I normally would have bailed but my wife said I wouldn't last the night so i had to man up and walk in at 7 and act like the it was the best night of rest ever.
My gear that night is as follows:
Wbbb dl1.7
Wbbb winter yeti
2'x2' half inch landau foam under my footbox
Ems mountain light 20F bag used as quilt.
Stoic luft 800 fill down jacket
Polypropylene long johns
Three pairs of wool socks
Hiking pants
Base layer t shirt
Micro fleece sweater
Long sleeve shirt
Fleece Lined balaclava
Heavy wool beanie hat
No tarp(it definetly would have helped with the wind)
Ah Ha! A pad man! Proves once again they can get the job done at whatever temp. Sounds like a total of 10/8 or 1.25" under your torso, plus whatever boost you got from the Garlington. Good to know!
Well my lowest is only about 20*, but I can do that consistently on the trail, and be perfectly comfortable. This is coming from a person that has traditionally hated the cold and until 2006 wouldn't regularly go out if it was under 40. I have never like the cold, and still don't, but regularly take trips in the 20's because I know i'll at least be comfortable when I sleep. Not to mention that I have gotten my pack weight down to 25 lbs or less with food for a weekender. I still wont go if its going to be less than 20 because I know I wont have fun. We don't have to deal much lower than that where I live anyway.
All in all when you consider weight to warmth ratio I feel like I am at a good point and owe it all to HF. Anyway, just wanted to say that I feel accomplished and goals are relative.
Congrats to Turk and Shug though. No doubt they are darn good at what they do!
Remember -- I now live in Tucson, AZ. We could arrange a trek into the desert in July, when its about 110F. Only problem is the saguaro cacti can't be used to hang a hammock, we'd have to find some mesquite or Ironwood.
I can see the video now: scorpions, rattlers, road runners, javelina, gila monsters.
--Kurt
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