Temp requirements for Top Insulation

[OCDave]

I'm curious at what temperature is Top Insulator required/recommended? ...

SectionHicker,

A pertinent question would be: What are you using for insulating you underside?

If using only a sleeping pad, it is much more comfortable to have something on top even when night time temps are reasonably warm. However, a down underquilt captures and radiates your body heat in a manner than creates its own micro-climate above. With a down-underquilt, I have slept comfortably with just a fleece jacket across my chest with overnight temps dipping into the 50's.

Anything you currently have will work fine as top insulation but, there is nothing which will compare to a good underquilt for hammock comfort.

Good Luck

[SectionHiker]

SectionHicker,

A pertinent question would be: What are you using for insulating you underside?

If using only a sleeping pad, it is much more comfortable to have something on top even when night time temps are reasonably warm. However, a down underquilt captures and radiates your body heat in a manner than creates its own micro-climate above. With a down-underquilt, I have slept comfortably with just a fleece jacket across my chest with overnight temps dipping into the 50's.

Anything you currently have will work fine as top insulation but, there is nothing which will compare to a good underquilt for hammock comfort.

Good Luck

I understand, as with anything this will be a learning experience . Sounds like it will be a costly one as well (which I knew diving into this hammock thing hehe)

[mychal]

I understand, as with anything this will be a learning experience . Sounds like it will be a costly one as well (which I knew diving into this hammock thing hehe)

Not necessarily. It sounds like you can start off (back yard test?) with only two things: your sleeping bag (top) and your​ sleeping pad (bottom). It will help if that pad is an insulated pad, but again, only one way to find that out. 😉

Many people find pads annoying, and move on to underquilts. But you should try the pad first, and convince yourself that you want to try the UQ.

Finally, if you really want hammock luxury, you would think about moving from a sleeping bag to a top quilt. Between the two, a TQ with the same temp rating will pack smaller and have a significantly lighter weight, something hikers really like.

But it sounds like you have what you need to get started without buying anything else.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

[SilvrSurfr]

I'm curious at what temperature is Top Insulator required/recommended?

I'm also wondering if insulation is required mostly for those that don't use sleeping bags or even if you use one?

Reason I ask is because I usually camp out in 40s and up and wasn't planning on using a top insulation at all. But I will be using a 5 or 20 degree sleeping bag with optional breathable emergency bivy in case.

I'm just curious as with tents there is no top quilt, but I do realize hammocks get more drafts etc.

For most people, a bivy is going to cause condensation, as will a pad underneath you. I used a pad for two years before finally switching to an underquilt - the condensation was too much to handle. I never even considered using a bivy because a) condensation; and b) I have a friend who uses a bivy in his hammock and it literally takes him 15 minutes to get adjusted. There is nothing fun, or funny, about using a bivy in a hammock (well, it is pretty funny to watch).

As for going without top insulation, that's certainly something I've never tried. Even with overnight lows of 73* F, I always have some sort of top insulation (40* TQ or fleece blanket).

[Tucson Tom]

All kinds of communication issues here, but it looks like it is all settling down.

My initial hammock expense was about $25 for fabric to sew up a gathered end hammock, then a bit more for some 1 inch webbing for tree straps. Tied knots at first and used my thermarest pad and sleeping bag and made sure the hammock thing was going to work for me.

I had actually been using a quilt instead of a sleeping bag for several years before I got into hammocks, so I had a nice down quilt already. The concept for the ultralight backpacker is that almost half of a sleeping bag gets wasted since you are laying on top of it and
smashing it flat. So just leave that part of the sleeping bag at home and lo and behold you have invented the a quilt! It is pretty standard practice with the ultralight community and thru hikers of all sorts and saves weight. If I am not clear, you carry a pad and quilt instead of a pad and sleeping bag.

The key to being warm in a hammock is what is under you, don't ever forget that. But to answer the question originally asked, which I don't think is relevant if we have this all squared away, is that for a guy like me who is always cold it is never warm enough to not have
anything over me. Your mileage may differ. And note that I live in Arizona. Now maybe if I hung a hammock down in the desert somehow that just barely dropped below 100 on some sizzling summer night....... I always have a quilt or sleeping bad or blanket or something over me.

As far as a bivy -- I can't see that working out well. Figure out how to rig a tarp over the hammock. You will save weight and be more comfortable.

[SectionHiker]

For most people, a bivy is going to cause condensation, as will a pad underneath you.

Not if it's breathable...Bivy would be used in unexpected/cold situations. I've heard or people using this method with 20 degree bag and no quilts in the winter!

As for going without top insulation, that's certainly something I've never tried. Even with overnight lows of 73* F, I always have some sort of top insulation (40* TQ or fleece blanket).

I will use sleeping bag on top (opened)

[dakotaross]

A sleeping bag is top insulation.

Just want to restate this and piggyback on some of the things Paul and others have said, mostly to clarify for noobs reading this since I think you (OP) get it now...

A sleeping bag is ONLY top insulation, and its that way in a tent as well. Obviously from your original question, that wasn't exactly clear, and in fact its one of the most misunderstood elements of tent vs hammock camping. In a tent the pad is typically 20" of insulation and the bag is the rest. Folks hear that the hammock crushes insulation on bottom more so than on the ground - because of how it conforms to your body - and perhaps that makes them think they need "another" piece to account for that, especially when they hear about an underquilt. Makes people think that is something extra needed for a hammock, which is not the case.

So, for years I used my Hennessy (with stock tarp & no UQP) with the same bag and pad I used in my tent (RIP-it was great for me for a long while) and saved a substantial amount of weight with the HH vs tent. So, there really isn't anything extra required to go to a hammock insulation-wise, and therefore, nothing required that should make a hammock setup weigh more than a tent. Eventually, after realizing I had way too much bag material inside the hammock with me, I replaced it with a topquilt, saving a good bit of weight. Then after I got a little more disposable income, I replaced the pad with an underquilt of about the same weight.

I think its crucial to think of how you replace the elements you use in a tent with what you will use in the hammock, as if you don't, its easy to get caught up in all the extras that are available to hangers now and to think you need all this extra stuff (and disposable income) to have a good hammock setup. You don't. Leads a lot of people to think hammock setups are heavier, which if comparing correctly, they really should never be heavier than a tent setup. Again, you can always use the same bag/quilt and pad that you used in a tent inside your hammock, so that the weight comparison should always only be hammock/tarp to tent, without the mistake of thinking you have to "add" an UQ to stay warm.

I will also caution that one of the drawbacks of hanging, being open to airflow around you, is also one of the great benefits when it comes to dealing with condensation. Adding a bivy, which are typically water-resistant or proof materials will interrupt that ability of airflow to take away your moisture. Another mistake noobs may make is to think because they are not closed in, they are more prone to getting water in some form of spray or splash on them and that a bivy might add that protection. Try to think of your tarp as if it had lengths of string hanging off the sides that would visually look like walls, but of course, its just string not actual walls. Nevertheless, I want to convey to you that your actual interior space, and coverage, is exactly as if actual walls did exist like that. A bivy could keep morning condensation off your TQ, or it could retain interior moisture that might adversely affect your TQ insulation. I prefer the benefits of the open air.

[Theoktays]

+1 on pgibson.

When hanging you are dealing with air flowing on all sides of you. As such, may find, as I have, that my hammock gear needs to be a little warmer than if in a tent.

HTH