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Hammock camper advice

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I'm leaving for a trip on Saturday, and it was going to be my first trip using a hammock. I've got a hennessy jungle expedition. I bought the insulating mat that goes between the layers, and an extended hex fly. Seems very comfortable.

However, the weather up here has been completely goofy. The first two nights of the trip are going down to 2 degrees C, or 35.6 degrees F. My understanding is that hammocks can be fairly cold to sleep in at those temps.

I have an older single wall tent that I'm eyeing up again, thinking of saving the hammock now for a trip later this summer. I don't have the time or inclination to get into all those under-quilt things, etc.

Any thoughts? Will my arse freeze off at 35.6 degrees?
 
I've never slept in a hammock, In fact, I've had one for over 40 years and never even took a nap in it. Anyway, on a recent trip I was concerned about being cold so I wore my mid weight down jacket to bed. I left my sleeping bag open and mostly just had my legs covered. It worked great, I was warm and didn't feel as confined as I do with the bag zipped up. Have fun on your trip.
 
It really depends on the insulating mat. A hammock does NOT require an underquilt, it requires under-insulation. Pads fit that bill. In fact when the temp goes subzero F, I use only pads, as the warmth to weight ratio is much better than an underquilt at those temps.
 
My first hammock camping was just a cheap $20 nylon hammock with no bottom insulation whatsoever and I woke up a few mornings with frost on my sleeping bag. It was flippin' cold but I survived, you probably will too.

If you have enough insulation under you, either pad or quilt, then you should be fine.

How much is enough? I don't know but it would probably need to be more than you'd have to stay warm on the ground.

My experience with pads in hammocks is that they kind of suck. Even with a double bottom hammock I found the pads to be frustrating. They'd slip out of place during the night and were a pain to resituate and it was just never all that comfortable. There are probably better pads for that application than what I was using though.

I know you said you aren't interested in under quilts but if this is something you think you might do more of you really should consider it. It's much more comfortable and warmer. If it's too warm when you go to sleep it's easy enough to push the whole quilt off to the side for a cooler sleep. And then when you wake up chilly in the middle of the night just reach an arm out underneath and pull it into place.

Alan
 
The foam mat, under protector, and the mylar blanket should work. To help you could put clothes in there also. The problem is condensation and the clothing accumulation in the belly of the under quilt protector. Hat and socks make a difference. Practice setting the thing up a few times, I like my foot side set up a little higher then my head. Helps keep me centered. Enjoy
 
In my Warbonnett Black Bird, I had a problem keeping the pad under me. I solved all my problems with an underquilt.
 
i've been a Hennessey hammocker for the past almost 20 years, have rarely used a tent since, unless I am really cold weather camping. I do not have an under quilt and have always used a thermarest pad under me. There's a learning curve to using a bare pad under your sleeping bag. As mentioned, it tends to squirt up from underneath and then ends up uselessly on top of you. It can be quite a comedy show to watch and listen to someone spend their first night in a hammock as they struggle with getting situated and with the loose under pad not staying in place.

There are a couple of solutions for that problem. At first I ued an old bed sheet sewn into a bag shape to contain the pad and myself in my sleeping bag. It is a good solution. Another good one is to use a Big Agnes sleeping bag, which has a pocket on the bottom made to insert a pad into. All of my newer sleeping bags are Big Agnes.

The way and height you tie the ends of the hammock will determine where you will land inside. Your center of mass will slip toward the lowest point, which is not necessarily the most comfortable way to lay. i like to tie mine quite tight so the sag is minimal before I get in. if my foot end is tied slightly hgher than the head end, that seems to work best for me. The proper way and place where the gathered fabric ends are gripping the ridge line is an important adjustment.

For warmth, i find that even with the hammock integrated netting over me, along with an outsie tarp spaced overhead, I normally retain plenty of heat within the hammock system in the air above me. Often it is onlly necessary to use my sleeping bag more like an open quilt, rather than as a zipped into bag. I also use a silk inner bag ( adds ~10 degrees), and on colder trips sometimes I bring an extra fleece bag aa well to slip inside my sleeping bag. I've never been excessiveliy cold during most 3+ season trips, even when down to freezing or somewhat below.
 
I'm leaving for a trip on Saturday, and it was going to be my first trip using a hammock. I've got a hennessy jungle expedition. I bought the insulating mat that goes between the layers, and an extended hex fly. Seems very comfortable.

However, the weather up here has been completely goofy. The first two nights of the trip are going down to 2 degrees C, or 35.6 degrees F. My understanding is that hammocks can be fairly cold to sleep in at those temps.

I have an older single wall tent that I'm eyeing up again, thinking of saving the hammock now for a trip later this summer. I don't have the time or inclination to get into all those under-quilt things, etc.

Any thoughts? Will my arse freeze off at 35.6 degrees?
Take the tent.

I own 2 hammocks - a Warbonnet and a LittleShopofHammocks Warrior Lite. I spent the better part of 2 summers setting them up in my back "forest". Issues I experienced included numb heels to an earth-shattering headache and several other problems. I have The Ultimate Hang book and I tried everything in it. I'm not saying that hammocking sucks, just that it would be a pretty good fluke to get it all right your first outing.
 
I have been hammock camping for 5 years now. I was driven off the ground because I slept uncomfortably in a tent, whether I was using a sleeping bag with a pad (I tried many different ones) or even a cot. I bought a cheap hammock ($30) on Amazon and used it on a trip to Lows Lake in the early summer. I put one of pads in the hammock, opened my sleeping bag and used it like a quilt and put my regular camp tarp over the hammock. I had reservations about how things would go, so I brought along one of tents and a cot just in case. I was there 5 nights and slept comfortably in the hammock every night. I never took the tent or the cot out of the canoe. Afterwards, I did some research and decided on a Warbonnet Ridgerunner bridge hammock, which I was fortunate to get a discount during their Black Friday sale. I couldn't spring for an underquilt at the time, so I went with a double-layer hammock and just used one of my pads (Klymit V) and a military casualty blanket in the sleeve, along with the sleeping bag as a top quilt. My first trip with it was early in the following spring. Temps went in the lower 20s at night, but I was fine with my setup, merino wool long johns, a wool beanie, with a down sweater and pants as backup if needed (I didn't need them, probably because it was a winter bag). The following November I purchased a 25d AHE Ridge Creek XL under quilt, a Hammock Gear 20d Econ Burrow top quilt and Spindrift Sock. I hammock camped through the end of November that year and have been using that setup for shoulder season hammock camping ever since. For summer trips, I converted a Costco down blanket into an under quilt and use a 40d Pine Down Blanket for a top quilt. I want to extend my hammock camping season, so this year I purchased the Pomoly Lone Wolf Rhombus hammock hot tent tarp, along with a woodstove. I am very satisfied with my systems and the only piece of gear I see myself getting for the future is a 0 degree underquilt. Based on my experience, I suggest you outfit yourself as best you can (you can always layer clothes) and give it a shot. I tried my setup in the backyard, in similar weather before I went on that first trip and I only paddled in a short distance to a site in case I had to bail after the first night.
 
I've got a Grand trunk and an Enos. I like an under quilt. It moves as I do and doesn't squish out like my thermo pad did. I've slept good at 25F before. Above 45 I would use my under quilt and down blanket and I'm fine. Below that and I would slip into my sleeping bag and then get into the hammock. Some people can't lay in one. It took me a long time to figure out what works for me. Try it out before you depend on it. I've ruined a few good trips because I didn't sleep well.
Roy
 
Many of my trips, mostly solo, involve bushwhacking far off trail and nowhere near any designated campsite. All perfectly legal, if LNT principles are followed. Finding reasonably flat, dry open locations to set up a tent in primitive landscape can be a near impossible search task taking far too much time at the end of a hard day of hiking (with or without a boat overhead). Going to hammock use has freed me from most of that frustration. I have slept comfortably in areas of steep slopes, over thick brushy or blowdown landscapes, in swamps over soggy ground, over lumpy rocks, and various other kinds of terrain where I could never consider setting up a tent in. All I need is two reasonably stout trees spaced 12-17 feet apart.
 
Pads moving in hammocks are usually the inflatable types. Not recommended for hammocks IMO. Inflatables main purpose is comfort, not insulation. The hammock takes care of comfort. Insulation is needed, so for pads that means open or closed cell. Open are sponges... Do not use them. Closed Cell foam pads do not move at all are come in a variety of thicknesses.
 
Thanks for all the advice gentlemen! I had already repacked yesterday and put the tent in the bag. The pad that I got came straight from Hennessy and is designed to sandwich in between the layers on the bottom. I tried it, and although it wasn't supposed to move, it did.

In any case, my buddy has run into some issues, so the trip is now in limbo. Not sure at this point what I will do, guess I'll decide by tomorrow.
 
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