Skipping insulation in summer heat

[Phantom Grappler]

My only insulation is 20* set top and bottom quilts
Can I skip insulation on hot summer nights without freezing?
What would nighttime lows have to be and be above for me to be warm enough to sleep through night without great discomfort? I know everyone is different. Have you tried skipping insulation and considered it a success on hot summer nights?
No guessing—has it worked for you?
Thanks Y’all

[Ohoopee]

I have found that below about 70 at night requires some kind of insulation
under me. I dont need anything on top other than a light sheet but
backside pressed against hammock required something. Several times
I have been caught w\o and have slept on clothing or light apex blanket.
Both worked fine but I did need something.

[chapinb]

75 I could get away without anything below me. Any lower and the breeze feels cold.

[sparky32]

Great question. I have the same gear / question... 20 degree HG TQ & UQ and will be taking them on a trip this July in Michigan's hot and humid summer. I am taking my quilts but plan to vent them or maybe just use the UQ and forego the TQ. I will be interested in the answers as well. Thanks for posting it.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Phantom Grappler]

I might do some backyard testing B1st
And or cheat a little bit with a foam sit pad
Phantom—expert at making mistakes
I’ve made so many mistakes—it’s miraculous I’m still vertical
For this alone, I can wake every day with Happy Face or at least not stick my bottom lip out very far

It’s better to be vertical than horizontical
Unless in hammock
Thanks to ALL

[HillbillyHanger]

I admit I sleep cool. I take blood thinner and that maybe the cause. I cannot get away without something even in Summer. I've camped on Badin Lake in July several times and I'm okay until about 1 or 1:30. Guess the metabolism starts to slow down. I use to use a poncho liner uq that I put together. It worked, but was just bulky. I never could justify buying a 40 degree quilt, until HG came out with the ECON. I bought one of those and it works great in the Summer. I bought (prior to the ECON) my son a Summer KAQ synthetic and it works well. Got a great sale on it and I use it when it's really humid/raining. I did experiment last Summer one week without the uq and used a piece of a Thermarest Z-Lite pad in between the layers of my hammock. It worked at avoiding the chill, but it just wasn't as comfortable.

[DGrav]

I experimented with not using one in the summer. I found that once it was in the 70s I needed one. I also found that even in higher temperatures if the temperature dropped a few degrees during the night the change was enough to wake me up.

Since you do not overheat from underneath I use one even if it is warmer out to avoid the middle of the night wake up and to prevent mosquitoes from getting me from underneath.

[TominMN]

C'mon Phantom, spring for a light UQ! The bug protection alone is worth it.

[BillyBob58]

70-75 seems to be about the limit for many folks, but of course people vary, wind makes a big difference, as well as clothing.

MS is mighty hot and humid most summers. I remember sleeping in a JRB bridge with pad pocket, using nothing in the summer. But it might have been during a relative cold snap. Cold for us maybe. Labor day, about the end of summer. I don't recall the actual temps, except I think we were cooler than normal for that time of year, but that can always happen, right? I don't remember any wind. Still, it is guaranteed that staying cool enough is the usual problem that time of year. But I remember I would wake up about 0400-0500 a bit too cool. So just get up and pee, slide a cut off torso sized 20" wide WM blue pad into the pad pocket of the JRB, and go back to sleep nice and toasty until the sun and my fellow campers coming out of the RV's woke me up.

I also remember sleeping in my air conditioned house, in a single layer HH Safari, with nothing under me, and getting too cool on my back before the night was over. Although, I still managed through with nothing. But 2 or 3 more degrees and I probably would have had to bail, or at least turn the AC off. Most likely house temp was set in the low 70s.

Of course, wind can make a huge difference, so that will need to be blocked with a tarp or UQP unless it is well above 75. If not bothering with a tarp/UQP, and enjoying the stars, then if there is wind just add 5 or 10 degrees to the temp at which you are going to need something.

Years ago, on the last night of a trip to Olympic NP, I chose to sleep in my warm clothes only, just stuff I had with me anyway, with my sleeping bag close by if needed. I had an HH Super Shelter under me. I think that night it only got down to maybe 48 or 49F. I did fine until I heard some of my tenting buddies stirring around and breaking camp. But once they woke me up. I realized that if I was going to try and sleep a couple of more hours, I would need one more than layer over me on top. The cold was not enough to wake me up, but it was enough to notice once they woke me up. This made me feel I could get by with those warm layers of clothing and nothing else if I was assured that the temps would not drop below 55 or maybe 60. This is, of course, only applicable to top warmth. Below 70, and maybe even a bit higher depending on wind and such, I will need something in a hammock. Maybe not much, but something.

[BillyBob58]

But, you can see as a bottom line in my previous post, that even in normally very hot in summer MS, I have been known to need a little something for my back, before sunrise, even with no wind. Whatever that low temp was, even if it was a cool spell, it is still something that can happen even way down south even in the summer.

And though poorly compressing fleece clothing might get me by for back warmth, that will probably be too hot on top to seep in. Besides, I might not have any fleece clothing with me in the southern summer time.