suggestions for a Rookie

[Festus Hagen]

I think the setup you describe would keep me comfortable to the mid-30's at night, probably with 30 as a lower limit before I'd be an unhappy camper. My only thought is that I'd hate to have to carry any Slumberjack 20 bag that has ever been made any significant distance. Even their "backpacking" line is still quite heavy.

Just a few numbers so you'll see what I mean...

My Eureka Casper 15 bag in size long is 3 lbs 1 ounce. This is also heavy according to the standards of many on this forum, but you will have a hard time finding a lighter bag with a comparable rating in synthetic fill (although I'm sure they are out there). This is my go-to backpacking bag, my winter backpacking bag is an EMS Borreal 0 bag which weighs 4 lbs 5 ounces in size Long.

Slumberjack Ultimate 20 in size long (from their backpacking collection) 5 lbs.

Slumberjack Lattitude 20 in size long is from the "camping" collection and oddly is lighter at 4 lbs 3 ounces. <shrug> At least it's not heavier than my zero bag

A Kelty Lightyear 20 bag size long with 650 fill power down is 2 lbs 10 ounces (no great savings over my Eureka which has synthetic fill and costs half, but quite a bit lighter than the SJ bags I know of)

A Mountain Hardware Phantom 15 weighs only 1 lb 15 ounces, a substantial savings over my Eureka, but costs well over 4x as much.

Hey man hike your own hike and hang your own hammock, but if you find your pack is heavier than you would like, this is definitely an opportunity for improvement... have fun out there!

[dakotaross]

I get what you're asking in part because I'm not too far removed from being a rookie even though I've been doing it for a number of years now - just don't get out enough. You don't know what to ask if you don't know what you don't know, right?

Anyway, the foam pad all but eliminates the cold butt - I assume its at least 24" wide? Should be at least that to keep the shoulders/side off the hammock sides. Bag should be fine, just unzip 1/4 to halfway (for footbox) and use as a quilt. You will fiddle with the pad anyway, unzipping the bag will allow you more flexibility and you should be warm anyway with temps in the 50s. You might feel like you're not getting good sleep due to having to fiddle some during the night, but you likely will feel noticeably better when you're up in the a.m.

Other than that, things to think about are...
-straps? what are you clipping (since its ENO) it to
-tarp tie outs? rope, stakes, figure9s
-if you're keeping pack underneath, I always bring a little something to put it on so its not directly on the ground

Experience is the best knowledge - have fun!

[Kukri]

My only advice is to have fun!