Originally Posted by
BillyBob58
I have on occasion used a a WB sil-nylon poncho/UQ protector all in one as an UQP on my WBRR bridge, with the AHE RR specific UQ. It fits fairly loose on sides and bottom, which might be a benefit for potential condensation I suppose. But, I also remember the breezes seemed to get inside the UQP somehow, I think getting in the gap on the sides. But, I think maybe I was also going tarpless on those hangs, so maybe the wind would have a harder time doing so if it had to first come under the tarp, then back up over the hammock/UQP edge, then back down into the gap between UQP and hammock? Not sure. I have not yet bothered to try to fix that, not certain yet if it is enough of a problem to decrease potential warmth.
I don't remember noticing that problem when using my HHSS with or without a tarp. I think that is because the elastics in the HH under cover snug it close to the hammock edges, plus it comes up pretty high above the hammock edges, even providing some extra wind block for the TQ. Actually, since I often use it without the HH side tie outs, I can just rotate the UC so that on the windward side, it goes all the way up high enough so that it contacts - or nearly contacts- the HH asym tarp. Now that is some wind protection right there!
But, MikeKim, your post got me to thinking: maybe the under cover AKA UQP is the main reason why some of us users - a few of us anyway - have always found the HHSS surprisingly warm for it's weight and far warmer than it looks like it would be? After all, 1/2 or more of the weight is that sil-nylon under cover with the form fitting elastics. The open cell foam pad is only 5/8" thick and weighs only about 10 oz or so, not much for full length. So to just look at the puffiness- or lack thereof - it does not look very warm. But maybe the UQP equivalent - along with the space blanket - fixes a lot of potential heat loss areas? As you say: "Leaks were gone. It was pretty breezy and I felt nothing. Nice and cozy. Most certainly added a few degrees of warmth". I know for certain, and from experience, that when high winds are a problem, it has literally saved my butt. Even with a wide tarp pitch. But maybe it helps out more than I have realized during normal conditions where high winds do not appear to be an issue?
Do mainly to my experience in the high Wyoming Rockies one Sept 2006, I have been touting the advantages of the equivalent of an UQP since I joined here in early 2007. But my becoming a fan of that approach was all by accident, since me getting the HHSS was all a bit of an accident, because I knew no better. I knew of no other approach. I knew of no other hammock systems for backpacking. So I sometimes wonder who was touting them around here before me? Had to be some one? Maybe JRB?
Regardless, I have always been a big fan of UQPs, used with smaller tarps if weight/bulk is a big issue.
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