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"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Ben Franklin
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Yes, I should have thrown my extra coat and cloths in a plastic bag and utilized it as extra insulation below the hammock in the pea pod.
Putting your clothes between the hammock and UQ will probably cause air gaps, or compression depending on what type of UQ you have.
Putting your clothes in a plastic bag that you're gonna keep warm all night won't make you any friends with noses...that's sure to cause mildew and "da stank." I do it with my boots though...guess they've never gotten warm enough to stink any more than after a normal winter trip.
“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” ~Judge Joseph Story
- My site: http://www.tothewoods.net/
- Designer, Jeff's Gear Hammock / Pack Cover by JRB
IMPOSSIBLE JUST TAKES LONGER
I use my extra clothes as a pillow. My head keeps them nice and warm for in the morning. Just use an extra stuff sack.
I do that on a lot of trips as well. In summer I usually just sleep in my hiking clothes. They're damp and dry by morning. In winter...it's a toss-up. If my clothes are barely damp and it's not extremely cold, I'll sleep in them. If it's really cold or my clothes are really wet, I'll change to dry ones and figure out what to do with the wet ones. Sometimes I'll hang them over the ridgeline and just deal with the cold/frozen-ness in the morning when I put them back on. If it's a short trip (and unfortunately most of mine are) then I might consider putting wet clothes in a waterproof bag in the hammock with me...just haven't had to do that yet.
HH and Warbonnet style bugnets are great for drying clothes if you use the tie-outs. Lay your clothes over the ridgeline, on the outside of the hammock, and you basically double the surface area available to dry the clothes. Plus you probably get a little bit of body heat coming thru. Just gotta make sure the wind can't blow your clothes away during the night...good tarp takes care of that, if necessary.
“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” ~Judge Joseph Story
- My site: http://www.tothewoods.net/
- Designer, Jeff's Gear Hammock / Pack Cover by JRB
IMPOSSIBLE JUST TAKES LONGER
Yes, agreed. Mine just arrived in the mail yesterday, and last night (Christmas Eve,Eve) was my first night in a Peapod. The warmth was great even at 32*. There was some effort getting used to the velcro that runs the length of the pod, probably due to the fact that it was already dark and I was setting it up for the first time.
I awoke during the night to find that my 10 inch breathing hole had closed and the entire bag was sealed. I'm told that re-breathing one's same air can lead to a headache (or death as in a snow cave).
As for hammock comfort, well, not very. I am spoiled with my WBBB, but it might be better after I re-do the whipping on that little Travel Hammock or remove the ridgeline on the BB.
My friends call me a gram counter, but that's in the summer when mistakes don't kill you. In the cold this Peapod is wonderful. I won't mind carrying this kind of security in my winter pack.
"Well, you might be lazy, but if we were not all about comfort here this would be a tent forum!" - - Roadtorque
Yeah, I just used the pea pod yesterday night using a Warbonnet Traveler Hammock and it worked.
Wicking base layers work for me and I'm a person that struggles with overheating on a regular basis. I wear heavy to mid weight base layers (top and bottom) and heavy wool socks; that is my basic PJ configuration. I add things like a watch cap or balaclava as needed. The base layer all but eliminates any moisture from building up, for me anyway.
Damp clothing generally goes in a stuff sack left open and gets stowed under my topquilt with me. Clothing isn't usually "dry" in the morning, but it's a lot closer to it than when it went in the sack. I've given-up on the idea of trying to keep my boots ice-free in the mornings, just something I've learned to accept. I did learn one slightly dangerous, but tons of fun trick to dealing with cold boots in the morning. If you use an alcohol stove, pour a half a cap full of alcohol in your boots and light. Let it 'burn' for a few seconds and blow out. Slip your feet in immediately and revel in the temporary warmth that has been created. It won't last long, but it makes putting your feet in them much more easy to deal with. All priase to "Yazzi" for that little discovery on a cold morning in NC.
Trust nobody!
With the Pea Pod, I have routinely done this, but not with a plastic bag. But adding loft beneath the pod by adding clothes can really boost warmth. I have not noticed any problems yet with air gaps. I have always figured that was because the Pea Pod is not only supported on the ends, but along the complete length of the hammock by the Velcro closure.
I'm not saying no gaps resulted under my legs ( hard to know for sure, but no gaps under my torso for sure), I can only say it did not cause any cold spots. Of course, I'm sure I often had stuff added under my legs also. I think the biggest risk is having something down there that is too heavy or having the pod too tight to add stuff, and causing, like you said, compression of loft.
Last fall, on my Wind River trip, I did a lot of experimenting and playing around. The first night was the coldest, and I just used the pod by itself plus clothing on top. But on the following nights, I started adding nearly every thing I didn't need on top down in the pod. Just to see what would happen. I was just wanting to see what would happen with overall warmth if I maximized bottom warmth, even though the pod was plenty capable of handling those temps with zero added to the bottom.
So, I put dry rain tops/pants, camp towels, stuff sacks, whatever I could come up with that I didn't wear to bed. Sometimes a pad down there, or sometimes a pad in the Claytor pad pocket under the legs. Then I would check adjustment so that it was all just barely touching my back. I would reach out and check loft, which was usually pretty awesome.
I can't really say how much it helped or didn't help, because the following nights were not as cold, probably only low-mid 30s. Though the air was much wetter and it was much windier. But, I definitely did not need to close things up near as much, and was always way warm.
Last edited by BillyBob58; 12-24-2009 at 15:51.
That is what I do.. I store all unused clothes in the bottom part of the Pea Pod.
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