Stretching the UQ Temp Limit

**Buckeye Dave** · 10-17-2010, 21:48

Hello, all. Looking for some cooler weather advice. I have a AHE/KAQ Lost River 3-season 2/3 UQ with my Speer hammock. The AHE site says it will get most users into the 30s. I had it out on Friday, and I am estimating that the temp got down to about 40. I had "medium weight" long johns on with a fleece vest, and was using a sleeping bag as a top quilt. It's a down bag and let's say it has a 20 deg. limit (my top was pretty warm and I had to vent from time to time during the night). For the most part, the UQ worked well. A couple of times, my butt (and really, nothing else - my torso and feet stayed warm) got cold as I was mostly sleeping on my back. It wasn't bad enough that I actually got up and did something about it, but I was getting pretty uncomfortable.

So this weekend, I will be out again, and temps are looking like they will be a little cooler, and I am trying to figure out the best strategy for CBS (cold butt syndrome, of course). Is this a problem that you have dealt with? Is it a problem with how I am hanging the UQ? It seems tight around the shoulders, but it's harder to tell what is happening at the foot end. Would it help to lay a CCF pad in the UQ? Fleece pants instead of long johns? I carry an Adventure Medical "Heat sheet." Will it help to lay that between the UQ and the hammock? Other options without increasing weight too much, as this weekend I'll be backpacking. Thanks for your thoughts.

**Javaman** · 10-17-2010, 22:08

Have had a lot of success placing the Heat Sheet or even lighter weight emergency blanket between hammock and KAQ. It acts as a vapor barrier and works well. On my Hennessey I also use the Super Shelter along with the KAQ down into the 30's quite comfortably, again adding the emergency blanket between the hammock bottom and any insulation.

**hangnout** · 10-17-2010, 22:10

Try loosening the UQ up a bit. The insulation is losing it's loft in the butt area due to UQ being too tight. A small pad is a good idea to help when you get these cold areas and don't want to get out and mess with adjustments

**JohnSawyer** · 10-17-2010, 23:57

x2 on the CBS... I had my lost river a bit tight, loosened it up some and it worked better. If you look on AHE's site, paul has the triangle-thingie. I had an issue where the UQ was pulled really tight just to get it to pull up to my butt... I rigged something similar and it worked better...

Any thin, light insulator will work to help stave off CBS... I've used a scrap of insultex in the quilt, it helped some. Space blankets help, but are too darn noisy. On dry nights, you turn into a leyden jar and keep getting zapped. Insul-Brite worked, too, and wasn't as noisy.

I've also used a super-thin piece of polyethelene foam. It's often used as a bag to protect electronics, and it's used as a laminate floor underlay... A small (2x2) piece kept my backside just a bit warmer. This is similar, but thicker than the active component of Insultex, and worked like an ultra-thin foam pad.

Best of luck!