Teperature Regulation

[Kamper Kurt]

Just starting to sleep in a hammock and have had two experiences. I slept in it for the first time last week. It was about 65 degrees and I slept fine in a pair of sweat pants, a t-shirt and had a light fleece blanket. When I felt my back in the morning, my skin was noticeably cold, but it did not affect my sleep.

Last night a storm blew in and it cooled off to 55 degrees so I decided to try again. This time I took a cheap blue foam pad and placed it into the hammock to sleep on, then put the light fleece blanket over the pad. I laid on that, and then zipped open a sleeping bag and used it like an top quilt.

The good news was that my back did not get cold at all. The bad news was I got so hot that I was sweating. When sleeping on the ground I have always been able to unzip the bag a little, put my arms out, or something to cool off just enough to sleep well. But in the hammock, whenever I shifted the bag on top of me, I couldn't really "vent". I had to move it off of me where I would expose myself and I had cold spots in seconds.

The easy answer would probably be to get a lighter top covering, but I would still like to know if there are any tricks to regulating the temperature in a hammock when you start to get too warm.

[bkrgi]

Answer to solve the problem but will cost$$$ ...Down Quilts
Down has a ability to regulate ones temp. Use a minimal base layer and tuck into the down under and top quilt and your good.
So long as my base layer is minimal to temps I do not over heat wrapped in down from 20* to 60* (we do not get many warm/hot nights here) using a 20 UGQ UQ and a 15* Marmot Helium bag as a TQ
Only time I overheat is when i wear too much or too heavy clothing to bed
If your committed to hanging invest in down quilts.....it is amazing stuff.

[Nodust]

Good bottom insulation keeps me warmer than good top insulation. I can have a 20°F top quilt and not enough bottom insulation and will be cold at 65°F. But swap things up and I will be very warm.

[gargoyle]

Pads do not breathe well, hence the sweaty feeling. Quick fix is to wrap your pad in fleece or similar soft fabric. That will give you more comfort for now. Many folks use a pad.

[pdxleif]

A top quilt is a little smaller than an unzipped sleeping bag; maybe it'd be easier to vent one way or the other. Sometimes I'll stick a leg out or something if I'm a bit warm. I also have a silk sleeping bag liner I can use to still keep something covered even if I don't have the top quilt over it. Also, if you have an underquilt, you can loosen it a bit allow some draft under.

[Kamper Kurt]

I would love to own down, but I do not. Living in Arizona my main camping months don't get very cold. So my 35 degree synthetic bag is already small and light. If I go during the winter it still usually just gets down to 30 degrees. I add a 15 degree liner and long underwear.

Now that I am trying to switch over to hammocks, I would love to try an UQ and TQ, but need to have several trips before I can justify it. So it is experimenting with what I have for now. I slept outside again last night. It was 55 degrees again. This time I still used the pad, but just used a couple polyester blankets. One to cover the pad and one over me. I did not get cold at all, or too hot. Like you said, I did have a slight clammy feeling probably from a little condensation, but it was not bad. And without loosing heat from below, I did not need much on top.

But now I am wondering about just wearing some long underwear for this 50-70 degree range. Could I ditch the pad altogether and just sleep with one blanket to wrap around me? It looks like I still have a couple of 60 degree nights before it warms back up, so I think I will try it out.

Thanks for the feedback.

[duckyy]

Everyone sleeps differently but I'm pretty sure you will won't be able to sleep with just a light blanket in 50* weather. Most people can sleep without no insulation in 65-70*+ range.

[Kamper Kurt]

Everyone sleeps differently but I'm pretty sure you will won't be able to sleep with just a light blanket in 50* weather. Most people can sleep without no insulation in 65-70*+ range.

I can confirm that

Was a little too cold to sleep well last night. I think I will jump over to the pad forum at this point and get the type of pad I will use squared away. After that I will play around with the top insulation again to get it right.

[Chadx]

Using long underwear has many benefits. If you pull the sleeping bag you are using off, you won't get a cold spot like you do with exposed skin (short sleeve shirt). Also, it keeps your bag and hammock cleaner (less skin oil, etc. just like using a liner or long underwear in a sleeping bag. It also allows for a wider temp range while using the same bottom pad and sleeping bag you have now. Sleeping in a different temp range? Just put on lighter or heaver long underwear and socks. Good wicking layer also transports perspiration and can help with the clammy feeling when using a pad. Also helps retain body temp if you need to get up for a bathroom break in the night.

[Paul-Stefi]

An underquilt and use a sleeping bag as a top quilt if you want to save money. Socks can mean the difference in cold or warm for me. If my feet get cold I get cold.

P.S typo in the title teperature instead of temperature