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  1. #1
    Senior Member 509-T203-KG's Avatar
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    Zenbivy: Comfort at the Lower Limit?

    Wow. Really impressed with the performance of the Zenbivy Light Bed 25°F. I've had it since April, 2020 and have spent 10 or so nights in it, but last night was the coldest I've taken it to by itself...

    The 25° rating is the EN lower limit. The comfort rating is 35°. For most of the gear I've tried, the comfort rating is BARELY warm enough for me. So when I went out for the night to test the Zenbivy at it's lower limit wearing only base layers, warm socks, and a balaclava, I fully expected to either be cold all night, or to
    have to bail and go inside.

    Instead, I slept great, only woke up a few times, slept through my morning alarm, and was perfectly warm all night. I had already been impressed with the performance of the Zenbivy at my previous low with it near the comfort rating of 35° back in Spring when I got it, and wondered if it could go lower, but I was honestly kind of shocked to have no problems last night at the 25° lower limit.

    I've done a ton of testing in the 30°s, 20°s, teens, single digits, below zero, and to a low of -10°F, with various gear combinations. So I know what it is to be too cold, too warm, to make adjustments during the night, or from one night to the next. I'm probably acclimated to the cold better than most, so my results would likely not be yours, but from my experience, the Zenbivy outperformed my expectations.

    Maybe it was a fluke... further testing will follow, but I'm very encouraged.

    Under insulation has always been a 5.7 R-Value Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm. Still haven't found its lower limit yet.






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  2. #2
    Senior Member 509-T203-KG's Avatar
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    Gave this a go again last night:

    Forecast: low of 30°F, calm
    Hammock: REI Quarter Dome Air
    Tarp: None
    Top insulation: Zenbivy Light Bed 25° lower limit, 35° comfort
    Bottom insulation: Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm MAX large 5.7 R-Value
    Clothing: mid-weight base layers and socks, with & without balaclava

    Given that the night before I was perfectly comfortable with this *same setup at 25°, I figured I’d be fine. And for the most part I was, but when I woke up around 6am, I was just a little cool. Not so much so that I wasn’t able to fall back asleep even though I had to pee... just not as comfortably warm as I had been the previous night.

    I found this a bit odd and discouraging until I considered several likely factors, namely:

    1) The actual low temp according to my thermometer was 26°.
    2) *No tarp. I haven’t tested this much as I usually go no tarp if I can, but it seems it can make a several degree difference even with a tarp without doors (I’ve never used a tarp with doors).
    3) I got in with the balaclava on, but took it off before falling asleep for comfort. Also didn’t think I’d need it. I put it back on around 6am which helped.
    4) for some reason I put my lightweight down hoody on the ground rather than over the quilt in the hammock.
    5) When packing up in the morning, I noticed my pad wasn’t quite as fully inflated as I usually have it.

    All things considered, I’m still extremely pleased with the performance of the Zenbivy. I haven’t actually measured the loft but it’s noticeably greater than other down sleeping bags I’ve used with similar temperature ratings. Still have yet to try a quilt from any of our many seemingly excellent cottage vendors.


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  3. #3
    Senior Member 509-T203-KG's Avatar
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    Going to test this setup to a projected low of 20°F tonight.

    Base layers, socks, balaclava, XTherm pad (5.7 R-Value) , 25°F(EN)/35°(comfort) Zenbivy Quilt with hooded sheet, no tarp.





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  4. #4
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    More of your usual good reports! Interesting. I was not familiar with this brand. What is "the hooded sheet"? Do I see some sort of silver colored reflector?

  5. #5
    Senior Member 509-T203-KG's Avatar
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    Yes, I have a piece of Reflectix laid across the hammock under the pad. It gives enough insulation if my shoulders or arms touch the side of the hammock.

    The Zenbivy is a modular system with a sheet that fits to the pad and has a built-in down hood. The quilt can be connected to the sheet with a series of small hooks and loops.

    I’ve really liked it so far. I discovered them through a video add and learned they are based in my hometown of Spokane, WA. The owner met me at a local park to demo one and I learned that he worked as a product developer for Therm-a-Rest and Sierra Designs for 20+ years before starting Zenbivy. It’s legit.






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  6. #6
    Senior Member 509-T203-KG's Avatar
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    I may get more than I bargained for tonight. It’s already 22°F at 9 pm, and I just went out to set up some new lights and found frost on my quilt.

    May want to take some extra insulation out with me later...






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  7. #7
    Senior Member ofuros's Avatar
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    Great pics...and interesting hooded design feature.
    Last edited by ofuros; 12-06-2020 at 13:24.
    Mountain views are good for the soul....& getting to them is good for my waistline.

    https://ofuros.exposure.co/

  8. #8
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    Who makes the bridge hammock? How far apart are your trees?
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  9. #9
    Senior Member 509-T203-KG's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ofuros View Post
    Great pics...and interesting hooded design feature.
    It works great in the winter. I can kind of tuck the quilt into it. If I don’t need it, I can just put my pillow on top of it, or sometimes I don’t use the sheet at all.



    Quote Originally Posted by cougarmeat View Post
    Who makes the bridge hammock? How far apart are your trees?
    It’s an REI Quarter Dome Air with added secondary lower suspension triangles for stability. The trees are 16 feet apart. The apex-to-apex distance on the suspension triangles is set at 12 feet 3 1/2 inches with an adjustable ridgeline.


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  10. #10
    Senior Member 509-T203-KG's Avatar
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    Zenbivy temperature test report:

    Having already tested and been comfortable at the EN LOWER LIMIT of 25°F, I decided to see how it would fare at a projected low of 20°F...

    Top Insulation:
    Zenbivy Light Bed 25 L (quilt and sheet)
    (25° EN Limit, 35° comfort)
    Mid-weight synthetic hooded jacket laid over top

    Bottom Insulation:
    Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm MAX L
    (R-Value 5.7 rated to -40°F, tested comfortably to -10°F)
    Piece of Reflectix for when/if arms touch side of hammock

    Hammock:
    REI Quarter Dome Air bridge hammock

    Tarp: NONE

    Clothing:
    Thick wool socks, light/medium-weight top & bottom base layer, fleece balaclava

    Personal stats:
    5’9” tall, 190 lbs, medium build, experienced winter camper with multiple nights in the 30s, 20s, teens, single digits and below zero to a low of -10°F

    Weather:
    Actual low of 16°F, no wind, “humid” air, frost falling from pine trees

    Went to bed late around midnight, woke up around 7 as it started to get light out and I started to feel like I needed to pee. Finally got up around 9:15 because I couldn’t hold it any longer.

    I slept well, switching side-to-side-to-back throughout the night as I normally do. When I first woke at 7 I could feel a slight chill mostly around my hips and buttocks. The chill was mostly from underneath. I think I may have lost some air pressure in the pad throughout the night. In my experience the pad performs best when inflated to max pressure.

    During the coldest hours, while I wasn’t “toasty” per se, I was warm and comfortable enough to continue sleeping off and on between 7-9:15, and any chill was coming mostly from beneath, while the top was still noticeably warm.

    For a quilt that has an EN lower limit rating of 25° to be warm enough at 16° is seriously impressive to me. My recent experience with several Sierra Designs mummy bags was that I wasn’t even this warm at the lower limit, much less almost 10° below it.

    As far as the under-chill, in addition to the slight under-inflation of the pad, it is also my belief from my experience that the pad seems to accumulate and store your body heat, so the more you produce, the more it has. So if I’m only getting just enough heat from the quilt, the pad is not going to be as warm.

    If I wanted to be a little warmer, I would add either warmer base layers, additional clothing layers, or one of my Costco down throw blankets over top. I have yet to experiment with an underquilt in addition to the pad.

    One thing I really like about the Zenbivy system is the down hood built into the sheet. No matter what direction you are laying you can really get the quilt tucked into the hood and around your neck and shoulders and get just the right amount of your face exposed. Also, the way the quilt clips to the sheet keeps everything in place and keeps drafts out.

    Because I didn’t use a tarp I had frost fall from the trees onto my quilt, but this had no impact on warmth comfort etc. Some melted/beaded but not enough to get to the down. When I got up I just shook most of it off.

    I had condensation within about a 1-foot radius of my mouth from my breath. The quilt was a little damp on top and the sides of the hammock and the hood froze. Again, none of this was enough to cause me any problems. I’ve kind of gotten used to the breath condensation as just a part of winter camping. It even started to dry as the sun came up and it got warmer.

    Overall very pleased with an excellent night of sleep and with knowing the capabilities of my Zenbivy.















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