Big Agnes system...work well with a hammock?

[LazyBee]

I used one of my Big Agnes bags in the beginning as a top quilt, but I would be careful of any protruding sharp ended zippers or metal hard points that can put an incredible amount of pressure and cause the already stressed nylon of the hammock to fail/ rip apart. A friend of mine had a pocket knife in his back pocket and the metal tab must have been just enought to fracture the nylon under his weight to cause him to fall through. There is a LOT of pressure especially in the area (buttocks) where your weight seems to test the fabric. I always check my pockets for anything that could cause a minute tear or fray the fabric before I get in.

[Mrknot]

I used one of my Big Agnes bags in the beginning as a top quilt, but I would be careful of any protruding sharp ended zippers or metal hard points that can put an incredible amount of pressure and cause the already stressed nylon of the hammock to fail/ rip apart. A friend of mine had a pocket knife in his back pocket and the metal tab must have been just enought to fracture the nylon under his weight to cause him to fall through. There is a LOT of pressure especially in the area (buttocks) where your weight seems to test the fabric. I always check my pockets for anything that could cause a minute tear or fray the fabric before I get in.

That is excellent advice!
As a complete newbie, that is perhaps something I may not have taken into account.
Thank you.
That is exactly why I signed up here, the pearls of wisdom abound with every post...mostly :-)

[hewittdallas]

I'm curious about this very topic as well. I am converting over from backpacking with a tent and have a Sierra Designs Backcountry Bed as my primary sleeping bag. It has a built in pad sleeve and no bottom insulation for the same reasons. I haven't had the opportunity to try it out on a hammock yet, but would imagine it will perform about as well as any bag can.

[Miguel]

I used one of my Big Agnes bags in the beginning as a top quilt, but I would be careful of any protruding sharp ended zippers or metal hard points that can put an incredible amount of pressure and cause the already stressed nylon of the hammock to fail/ rip apart. A friend of mine had a pocket knife in his back pocket and the metal tab must have been just enought to fracture the nylon under his weight to cause him to fall through. There is a LOT of pressure especially in the area (buttocks) where your weight seems to test the fabric. I always check my pockets for anything that could cause a minute tear or fray the fabric before I get in.

I refuse to sleep in my hammock wearing any article of clothing that has a rear zippered pocket. Don't ask me how I know this is a bad practice. I also empty my pockets of anything that could possibly damage the hammock including loose change. Hammock material is very strong but at the same time very delicate when exposed to pointy, sharp or abrasive items.

[SCWJeremy]

Has anyone tried this with reflectix instead of a pad?? As a complete noob myself, I'm somewhat in the same boat. I have the BA with the sleeve on bottom too and I made a pad with reflectix to completely fill up the sleeve. Doing my first hang tonight in the backyard to try it out. Temperature is only getting in mid to high 50's, but my REI sleeping pad is too narrow. It would sure be nice if this works out because I could leave the reflectix in the sleeping bag and still roll it up small enough to fit in the compression bag. I have about 20 ft of it left over from a non hammock related project so it's not costing anything.

[miyanc]

I currently use a ba lone ranger 15 as a top quilt. I have tried it with a pad in the hammock and felt as though I was on the floor. I had more room then if I was in a regular mummy, but the benefit of a hammock is comfort. I felt to hemmed in, this is of course because I now use an underquilt and know better. Look I get pads and if I had to this may work, but compared to tq and uq it sucks. Btw as a tq it also stinks because no matter how I configure it the part that has no insulation ends up on top and my feet freeze.

Having said all that I have used it on the ground with a ba insulated air core and loved it.

[Mrknot]

Has anyone tried this with reflectix instead of a pad?? As a complete noob myself, I'm somewhat in the same boat. I have the BA with the sleeve on bottom too and I made a pad with reflectix to completely fill up the sleeve. Doing my first hang tonight in the backyard to try it out. Temperature is only getting in mid to high 50's, but my REI sleeping pad is too narrow. It would sure be nice if this works out because I could leave the reflectix in the sleeping bag and still roll it up small enough to fit in the compression bag. I have about 20 ft of it left over from a non hammock related project so it's not costing anything.

How'd the first hang go using the reflectix?
Been kinda curious about that stuff...I have access to a bit of free reflectix and am considering snagging some at some point...not like it's all that expensive anyway...

[ckmaui]

older post just saw this
have a BA setup but prefer quilts and now wont go back to anything but kids still like there bags and pads
found the inflatable pads did not work cause you sink into them to much and created a thin spot CB syndrome so maybe a self inflating that has foam also could be OK half inflated but went to CCF for a while till I jumped to quilts
never liked sleeping in a sleeping bag inside a hammock at all !!!!! so I am bias
being from the tropics most my life I was used to laying a blanket down on the hammock and have it hang over both sides (mayan hammocks that are net) and got used to the freedom I guess

tried to use the BA as a quilt but the liner part where the pad goes was just to in the way

I would say if someone has a BA setup try it out but also try out the quilts anyone want to buy my BA bags that tells you something I am never going back to the ground

[SCWJeremy]

It actually went pretty well. I used just the reflectix with no pad and the temp got down to 53*. I was comfortable the whole night, a little cool on my back side, but not cold. I put my REI mummy pad in the sleeve around 5 a.m. just to test the difference and stayed really warm after that. It rained most of the night but didn't get too windy, I didn't have a drop of condensation. I'll probably get a UQ sometime but with funds running low and warm weather ahead I'm not in a hurry. I want to try a few group hangs this year in hopes that I can test the difference between a pad and UQ

[CanGnu]

I use two pads, my therm-a-rest scout self inflator and a ccf pad under that all tucked into the pad envelope on my BA HogPark. My first attempt at low teens camping did not do well. My hammock is a DIY 12.5 footer. I ended up making a removable double layer with the out layer being water and wind proof silnylon. I've often thought about putting pads between the layers but with the silnylon stopping the wind I'm quite warm so I haven't tried it yet.