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  1. #1
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    Low temp for hammock and ridgerest pad - thoughts?

    It's in between seasons and still fairly cold most nights in the Georgia mountains. I'm headed out on a three day backpack next weekend and I'm thinking about the gear I'll take. I bought a new backpack which has a small volume and there really isn't a lot of room in it for my underquilt so I'm thinking about taking a thermorest (ridgerest) pad instead of my underquilt. My hammock has a sleeve to hold the pad. I know I can always tie the underquilt to the outside of the pack and I just might do that if it fits. The rolled up ridgerest makes a great cooler for the frozen steaks I'm taking though .....

    What I'm wondering is about how cold can you go with a 3/4 length foam pad and a 20 degree top quilt? I know there is no definitive answer to this because everyone is different. It doesn't take a lot to keep me warm (self insulated with blubber). I take the pad in the summer and its fine for summer temps. I took it once in the fall and froze because it was below 40 at night, it was extremely windy and my hammock at the time didn't have a sleeve so my pad kept falling out.

    Guessing overnight temps is difficult but my best guess is that it will be in the mid 40's to low 50's at night up at elevation.

    So what do you guys think? Is mid 40's to low 50's too cold for a foam pad?

  2. #2
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    @litetrek,

    Morning. Ive used my thermarest pad at those night temps and it was fine. Id suggest bringing one extra layer of say lite or midweight poly pro pants and long sleeve shirt, as well as a head cover, just in case.

    If you do take the pad, check for condensation on the pad, each morning and dry it out. Thats the only thing I had going on.

    Im not a scientist put I think the heat your body generates creates pockets of warmer air. I think the exposed bottom of the pad is cooler. Where the two temps meet is where the condensation comes from. The water vapor ( though minimal ), collects in the dimples of the pad.

    There were discussions on this very topic, here about 7 ish years ago if you want to dig into it. I did the pad route as I was just beginning my hammock journey and didnt want to commit to spending lots of money, on quilts, until I decided to stay with hammocking. Short version.....I stayed. Best camp sleep or any sleep for that mattter.

    Have fun.

    Bob

  3. #3
    Phantom Grappler's Avatar
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    Test hang in backyard on a night with similar temperatures to your three day trek
    That would let you know before you go

  4. #4
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Check the R-Value of the pad for a ballpark idea.
    If it is going to be cool in the mountains I know I would bring the UQ.
    Shug
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  5. #5
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Draketake View Post
    @litetrek,

    There were discussions on this very topic, here about 7 ish years ago if you want to dig into it. I did the pad route as I was just beginning my hammock journey and didnt want to commit to spending lots of money, on quilts, until I decided to stay with hammocking. Short version.....I stayed. Best camp sleep or any sleep for that mattter.

    Bob
    Thanks, you reminded me of some good points about the back up clothes. I always take a polypro outfit and hat when its cold but never consider it when it is fairly warm. Right now in Georgia it is hot and humid (mid-80's) during the day and cold at night.

    The worst night sleep I've ever had was in the hammock with a ridgerest with an unzipped sleeping bag on top because I woke up every 15 minutes freezing. My wife was using my good stuff. Enclosed Clark hammock, 20 degree underquilt, 20 degree top quilt. I neglected to elaborate in my original posts that the camp spot was at the top of an exposed ridge the day a hurricane blew through the area with 50 mile wind gusts all night and the low pressure system (cold air) the hurricane brought with it. Other than that I agree ...its much better sleeping hanging in a hammock than on the ground.

  6. #6
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shug View Post
    Check the R-Value of the pad for a ballpark idea.
    If it is going to be cool in the mountains I know I would bring the UQ.
    Shug
    Thanks Shug. The underquilt is the obvious choice to be sure but I'd like to go lighter than that plus use the pad to insulate a couple of steaks and two beers. I'm asking the question to see what is possible with a thermarest pad. One way to find out is to just do it and see what happens. But, I'd rather be comfortable if its a choice.

  7. #7
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    I'm curious myself. I was playing around in the backyard to see if I could do a 'going to the ground' setup with a cut Ridgerest. I'd rather bring something lighter versus my heavier insulated inflatable pad that I may never use on the trip. At least the Ridgerest would have multiple uses. If I were to guess, I'd probably be cold if it got below 50 deg on the ground, but I'm generally a cold sleeper. But in a hammock, I assume I'd be a bit warmer.

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  8. #8
    psyculman's Avatar
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    I was out on the northern slope of the Presidentials NH Tuesday night. It was 25. The Klymit insulated V Ultralite pad needed a extra thermal insert to be warm enough on the Ridgerunner in the double bottom. It did fine with that, but I also have a DIY under/over cover. This was my coldest with a RR so far. That was with very lite weight bottoms/top, lite weight puffy, and only regular socks. A large windshield sun protector is a highly useful addition, lite weight, low volume.
    Last edited by psyculman; 05-12-2023 at 15:51.
    Since I retired, some times I stay awake all day, some times all night.

  9. #9
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    Others have pushed a bit further- but I found the ridgerest foam pad to tap out for me in the 40's. Basically- summer use in my experience. With the caveat that if you can do it you can go to ground and pick up about 10* or so if you get an out of season evening. That's the wider one too. The narrower pads tap out much sooner unless you make the speer pad wings.
    I sorta thought I found the elcheapo bridge solution with that wider ridgerest but was a bit disappointed to find I couldn't stretch it much past summer use.


    With air pads- they run about a season 'off'. Something like the Uberlight is nearly useless in the air. The 3 season pads are summer... and the Xtherm taps out around 20* for me in the air. But again... take the xtherm back to ground and I can go to zero and lower with no issue. If there is snow on the ground... the ground ain't that bad when you can mound up your own mattress to put under your pad
    Long story short... my go to pad remains the Xtherm Max (rectangular shape for the 2 ounce ding). Most of my colder stuff is around 20* so it works, packs small when seasonal pack space is tighter and it's cold enough out to naturally keep the beer and steak cool enough too!

    Keep in mind- if your top quilt has a sewn footbox and your pack isn't over full... you can just drop in your beer/steak into the footbox of your quilt- wrap/roll the bundle and put it in your pack too. So foam cooler isn't the only potential cooler you can pack if that's all that's holding you up from the air pads.

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