I have been considering selling a lot of gear- which I almost never do- to make room for new gear! I am a gear head and just like to play with new designs, but the closets are too full- according to my wife anyway. Also, I could use the money to make relatively guilt free purchases of new gear which I don’t actually need.
Then again, I always regretted selling my 900FP Speer Pea Pod, which ALWAYS worked, never cold at or above the rated temps. And so easy to augment for even colder temps. I finally stopped trying to find one after I decided that my Superior Gear insulated hammocks were pretty close to the Pea Pod. But lately I have been having the urge to go on a selling spree and then replace every thing( I have so much gear that most goes unused most years) with some shiny new gear, that may or may not work even better. Thus, I have been discussing maybe selling my classic JRB MW3 convertible. I am copying a post here from that thread. This comes from the JRB guy DGrav:
This may be my rarest piece of hammock gear, and it is a gem! Not only did it convert from a short UQ( 13 oz I think? ) to a full length, but it was a 900FP model. I have rarely used it overnight. I have used it on a lot of cold day hikes, in short mode. I hike in for an hour or so, then take a break hanging in my hammocks, either GE or bridge(JRB or WB). It never failed to keep me toasty those times. The only time I used it over night (that I can remember) was on the JRB UL bridge hammock(before the JRB James River which I also have now). It was a 25F night, and it worked to perfection. It was amazing to me to not have to worry about changing position, unlike sometimes with a GE hammock where a gap might appear. Wherever a body part landed, torso, head or feet/legs, there was always gap free insulation waiting for that body part. My only layers were cotton PJs( plus of course a JRB hood), and I slept snug all night. I had luxurious warmth, in all positions, head to toe, at 25F. And with very light weight which compressed down very small. Hard to beat!Originally Posted by DGrav
I don't think it weighs much over 21 oz(? not sure) full length(EDIT: probably more like 23 oz) or 13 oz in short mode, and compresses down tiny what with the 900FP treated down. That is one reason I usually chose it(in short mode) 1st for day hikes, it was so quick and easy and light to stuff in my smallest pack. Also, once or twice, since this was back when Pea Pod use dominated for me, I would use the shorter, lighter foot section(EDIT: 10 oz?) to drape over my torso and a bit more inside my Pea Pod. This was to make up for the tendency(varied with hammock width and depth) of the hammock edges to lift up the top layer of the Pea Pod, leaving a gap of 1/2" to several inches. This little section of JRB would fill that gap flawlessly, making the pod actually a lot warmer on top than it's 20F rating. Or, if I was already plenty warm on top, I would hang the pod a bit looser and place that JRB layer under me between hammock and pod, increasing the loft from 2.5" to at least 5". Talk about abundant loft and warmth, Wowza! All of that loft inside a draft free pod, Guaranteed warmth!
Another classic that I still own after all these years is the very first model of the WB Yeti, which was synthetic. I consider this a superb piece of equipment, which came with removable layers of Climashield XP( one perm layer of approximately 2.5 ox of CS, with 3 more I can add or remove.) Past moderator Cannibal/Grant(RIP), before he got the down model, took this down to about zero or a bit below and was just fine. First 5º night was with no tarp in a snow storm(his net kept the snow off apparently). I have rarely used this, except with just the 1 perm layer of 2.5 oz CS( entire UQ weight was about 10 to 12 oz), sleeping in jeans and cotton T shirt(plus 45º synthetic TQ) and was plenty warm in the mid to high 40s. My son, however, used it(with a couple of additional CS layers installed) on his 1st ever night in a hammock, high in the Wind River Mountains, on a 27º night, and was toasty, as he was for the rest of that week long trip. And several nights since then at similar temps. How often does that happen for a 1st time hanger, in the wilderness, using an UQ and hammock for the 1st time? I was a bit worried, but he was toasty every night.
If being able to add/remove layers is not enough, there is a zip closed compartment, used for adding/removing layers, but there is a gap of several inches when done. So guess what you can stuff in there if desired? Almost anything puffy, for a huge amount of insulation. A parka, a thick vest, or the above mentioned foot section of the JRB convertible. Whatever might fill up that several inch gap under the 10 oz/sq.yd of CS. I can only guess that the warmth rating then would become WAY below zero F.
Lastly, I still have my Speer SPE(Segmented pad extender) as well as Speer hammock. This consisted of a nylon sleeve, in which you could stack up to 3” of 20” wide pads. The bottom layer had a small layer of some sort of material like shelf liner or what you put under rugs to keep them from moving. On the sides were separate sleeves for arms and legs, to which you could add either cut down segments of closed cell foam, or anything that you had- like clothing not needed for sleeping. PLUS, if you knew you would only be laying say feet right and head left, you might only need insulation in the sleeves on 1 side. I only used this(over night) 1 time, back around 2007 when I was still in a learning curve about how to get my HH Super Shelter to work up to it’s potential. I stacked a full length 5/8” thick CCF Thermarest Ridge something under an early 80s model 1” thick TR self inflating UL torso sized pad. Each pad had a 2.6 R value. It was a bit under 20F that night, and that was my 1st time ever sleeping- all night- truly toasty in a hammock at well below freezing. Plus, it never moved from under me and I rated over all comfort as not too shabby. Even if not quite as comfy as my HHSS or an UQ, way better than on the ground. And windproof, waterproof warmth.
I would add my HHSS as a classic, but I think you can still buy those. You can’t buy any of the above, at least not new.
So, what do you guys still have? Is it still working good?
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