Experimenting with GossamerGear hammock pad

[FanaticFringer]

down booties with ccf soles are great.

I just saw these today. Not as nice as down booties but cheap, probably lighter.

www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=467758

[Ramblinrev]

There is a real nice DIY fleece bootie pattern on line. I'm wearing mine now. Just the ticket for all that extra fleece you got lying around from when fleece sleeping sacs were going to the salvation of hammock hangers everywhere.

http://www.cedesign.com/familyphotos...ecebooties.pdf

[warbonnetguy]

i need to get a new pair, the cordura on the bottom wore out and the ccf started falling out. i'm thinking about glueing a piece of thin leather to the bottom of the next ones i get.

[naiya44]

Im not really a DIY guy,Wish i was but I'm not...

Plus i don't know how to sew.

or..Anything.

I guess ill just order that and the $9 pad.

[wallace]

I have that same GG pad; used it this weekend in my Claytor down to 48 degrees. I was only briefly chilled once and I think that was more due to not tucking my quilt around me properly and turning too often from one side to the next.

Those cuts look great, and would further reduce the weight of an almost weightless pad. Thanks for the post.

Manach,
I just ordered a Claytor for my 13yo son for Christmas and planned to use the Gossimer pad. Do you put your pad between the two layers on the hammock bottom. If so, any thoughts/ tips/or opinions on the setup?

[Fiddleback]

I use a similar, older model pad from Oware; 60 X 40 X 3/8", 7oz. Using a hooded jacket and insulated pants in lieu of a sleeping bag or quilt, I've been comfortable into the mid-20's. In one backyard test at 22°, I felt cold coming through after three or four hours. I believe placing my sit pad (a piece of blue foam) underneath my shoulders and back would have stopped that discomfort and extended my temperature range well into the teens.

I've not noticed significant folding or wrinkling in my Hennessy. The pad does cup my shoulders and I like that... It provides wind block and some extra insulation in that area. But then, I don't have any loft so there's no compression worries...

FB

[Hector]

Yes, but also remember that the pad is impervious to water and so doesn't really need to be packed inside of anything. Can be just as easily strapped to the outside, where bulk is probably much less of a concern.

Bulk's a concern on the outside because of wind. A light CCF pad can be blown to tatters if not packed correctly on a motorcycle. Ask me how I know.

[Hector]

> cramped panniers

BIcycle camping? ROFL! Never mind. Just roll it and put it in a Thermarest stuff sack and strap it anywhere, you won't hurt it.

[neo]

In the pursuit of extending my comfortable temp. range in the hammock, I purchased a GossamerGear hammock pad.

I tried it out in the hammock (and should have taken pics), but it wants to bunch up in strange ways. Imagine that, a flat pad in a curved hammock.

Anyway, I decided to try cutting the pad for a better fit.

Here's what I ended up with. It doesn't show the change as much without me in the hammock, but . . . .

I should have made the side cuts "deeper." But this did show me that these cuts improve the fit of the pad in the hammock. I think that with some refining, I could get it to lay pretty well in there.
And I immediately noticed a drastic increase in temperature. Obviously it's not cool enough right now to REALLY test it, but this weekend in the WNC mountains, it should get down into the upper 40's at my elevation.

However . . . . the rolled up GossamerGear pad is much too large for my tastes.

It's incredibly light for its size, but . . . for motorcycle camping, packed size is more important than weight savings. I might change my tune if I was carrying all of this on my back, but . . . for now I'm not.

So . . . I may be back to looking at quilts. While their weight will definitely be greater, I imagine that something like the Mt. Washington would fit better in my bags.

Well, just wanted to share.

wow looks like a lot of stuff to carry to stay warm in a hammockneo

[TiredFeet]

True, but if the ccf pad gets wet, it will need to be dried off before putting it in the hammock.
Seams to me it would be more trouble to dry the ccf pad than to stuff an under quilt into a dry bag.

Not really. The water is on the surface only, it doesn't soak in. Wipe with a dry cloth and it's dry. If you do this before unrolling, then you only have to do a small portion of the surface. Much quicker than stuffing a quilt into a dry sack - at least in my experience. YMMV

Bulk's a concern on the outside because of wind. A light CCF pad can be blown to tatters if not packed correctly on a motorcycle. Ask me how I know.

Ahh yes - motorcycle - I was thinking bicycle.