whats your lowest known temp you have in your hammock

[hangnout]

I think I will be "hangnout" tonight I could leave Murfreesboro and go to Monterey to get a better shot at those single digits!

[Risk]

Looks like you beat this group in temps alone But how do we factor in the wind chill ...... Looks like Risk holds the record for members of this forum. Do you think we will get another shot at single digits in Middle Tennesse this year?

BTW, the coldest I have ever been in a hammock was a windy night just south of Montebello, VA on Veterans Day (Nov) It got down to about 40. I had a single layer hammock with a nice quilt. I just about froze and slept very poorly. It was when laying awake that night that the concept of the Travel Pod was born. I could feel the wind robbing me of heat all night long and knew there had to be a way to windproof the hammock.

[BillyBob58]

Well I finally got some temperatures in the teens to continue my experiments with the HH super shelter. I put my sleeping bag out at about 7 p.m. so that it can get good and cold, just like if I was carrying it in a cold pack. This is a 5° synthetic North face bag. I used the HHSS undercover plus pad including the additional torso/kidney pad and space blanket, but no overcover. In addition, I put a Garlington Insulator ( about 4 oz. total) with space blanket under the pad lower leg section, and a fleece jacket under the upper body pad. I had my Speer SPE with Ridgerest standing by, fully expecting to use it.

For clothing, I layered up pretty good, but with nothing that I wouldn't have on a cold weather trip. I had on light wt. long johns top and bottom, exp. wt. capilene bottoms, and mid wt. fleece pants, plus a very light wt. northface fleece with a mid wt. fleece jacket over that. I have rediscovered my fleece skiing neck gater(sp?), so I had that very useful item plus a fleece hat. For socks I had very thin liners, vapor barrier and smartwool. ( I had a lot on my legs feet because previously I have suffered from cold lower legs and feet).

When I finally went to bed at 11pm, it was 26* with a light wind that kept ruffling the stock HH tarp. I went thru the usual struggle to get into the bag, which generated some heat. I sealed the neck draft collar, and partially sealed the hood, and closed my eyes attempting to go to sleep. The ice cold hammock bottom and NF bag took about 1/2 hour to warm up, after which I realized I was actually a little too warm! I did not expect that. So I opened up the hood and slipped it under my head as a pillow only, an later I opened the left side zipper just enough to allow my elbow to barely stick out. I sometimes was on my left side, or fetal position, or partially on my side with my back leaning against the rt. side of the hammock. I was plenty warm until 230am, but, as usual when I try to sleep in the back yard, sleeping poorly, when I had to get up to take up to answer nature. It was 22*, light wind. I decided to go in and try to fall asleep. Inability to sleep soundly in my yard always interferes with my tests. I don't have that problem on the trail.

My wifes alarm woke me at 0630, so I headed back out at 18*. This time, since I had been so warm previously, I had on fewer layers. No fleece pants or top outer layers, though I did tuck them under the hammock pad. And no vapor barrier socks. Without those layers, the bag and hammock bottom cold was a bit more of a shock than earlier. But after a little while, I was just as warm as before, enabling me to open up the hood and a little bit of the left zipper again. I was plentywarm for the 2 hours I laid there!

I couldn't believe it! Just the HHSS with kidney/torso pads, a trash bag/space blanket under the legs and a fleece jacket under the OCF pads, and I was comfy to 18*, at least for a couple of hours! Al least under ideal backyard conditions. Pretty much just like Tom Hennessy says it works for him. No sense of cold back or butt or legs the whole time. Though I would feel an occassional small cool spot if my knee or some other part would compress the insulation against the side of the hammock. But it really wasn't a problem. Not bad for 15oz plus a couple more for the space blanket, a few more for the extra small ocf pads, and 4oz more for the Garlington Insulator. And all very compressible, too!

[Coffee]

Interesting test report. Let us know how the rest of your testing go.

One difference I see between my backyard tests and field tests is my temps when getting in the hammock. You touched on this. I find that my body is warmer when I get in at home vs in the field. Usually when I am out hiking I try to wait to the last minute to get in my hammock. That usually amounts to me being pretty cold before I get in. At home I usually set up while it is light out, then go inside until I am ready to sleep. This usually equates to me being a little colder in the same setup in the field for the first 30 minutes or so. After that I am usually fine.

I need to start working up a sweat before I get in. I usually did this in my HH just be getting in and getting comfortable.

[BillyBob58]

hammock engineer

Interesting test report. Let us know how the rest of your testing go.

This may be near the end of my backyard testing, due to my inability to sleep. And I had fully expected to need to test further adding my SPE once I reached the bottom limit on the SS. But I doubt we will get lower than 18* here this year, and I was perfectly fine at that temp, so I may not test further.

One difference I see between my backyard tests and field tests is my temps when getting in the hammock. You touched on this. I find that my body is warmer when I get in at home vs in the field.

Exactly. Not to mention the exhaustion, dehydration or near hypothermia that, unfortunately, can sometimes be present at bed time, when things haven't gone quite right in the field. But these extra demands need to be accounted for when looking at any sleep/shelter system. I think I will arbitrarily add
10* to my results at home, though that's just a guess. But that will still get me comfortably at least to the hi 20s in the field, which I think is pretty good for the SS. I had no faith in it being able to do this well without a pad. My 1st night in the field, in Wyoming, I woke up shivering hard at 2am ( 23*) and had to abandon the system, get my back up pads and sleep on the ground, where I was at least not outright cold. But I now realize that shivering was not so much the fault of the SS, but operator error due to inexperience with the complicated system and due to a case of the high altitude stupids. And a bag that was a little inadequate for those temps and worse than that was my inability to get all the way in that bag in a hammock and cinch the hood up( something that is no longer a problem--- skill finally learned!). It was not, apparently, the fault of the SS. Unless you want to count steep learning curve as the fault of the SS.

I need to start working up a sweat before I get in. I usually did this in my HH just be getting in and getting comfortable.

I'll second that! Hammock gymnastics/aerobics trying to get in a mummy bag! At least it generates some heat! A quilt sounds nice, but I worry about the seal around the shoulders. I find that whenever I'm anywhere near a bags temp limit, the neck draft collar and hood cinched down to a blowhole can make a huge difference. I worry about drafts with a quilt. But it sure would be easier to use.
Bill

[Peter_pan]

First and formost it is important to test your system in the saftey of your backyard or other convient spot...Keep doing it.

Understand that the back yard is only a start.....

You have not been in the open air constantly for hours or days.... you are full of real food.... you often set up a and then go back in the warm house until 11PM.... so the night is short and cold hands etc are re warmed.... (read the test is of limited value, understand it as such)....Saying you were warm enough for 3 or 4 hours is a long way from 12-14 hour winter nights.

Further, when you bail at 3 or 4 or 5 as is often discussed here, even when citing simple convience you miss many lessons.... sticking it out and spending 20 minutes in the dark rerigging, adding insulation, restyling pads etc is how to learn...( yea, I know, one does not need to whip oneself to know it hurts) But one does need to practice overcoming adversity to posess the confidenence they know how to make adustments in the "Field" when needed.

I encourage all new hangers to make your "back yard testing" as real as possible.... Pack and put on your actual hike gear....take a walk in the afternoon... cook on the ground and eat ramen or whatever... pitch with cold hands at sundown.... and hangout the 14 hour night... Get resettled and rewarmed after the couple of Bio breaks....Then, tear down and repack completely before going inside....prove to yourself that your system is easy enough to deploy, warm enough, simple enough for the mid night breaks and packable enough in the field wet and wind blown vs the comfort of your living room.... And by all means test in the rain and wind.

True knowledge and confidence are great companions in times of adversity.

Pan

[slowhike]

First and formost it is important to test your system in the saftey of your backyard or other convient spot...Keep doing it.

Understand that the back yard is only a start.....

You have not been in the open air constantly for hours or days.... you are full of real food.... you often set up a and then go back in the warm house until 11PM.... so the night is short and cold hands etc are re warmed.... (read the test is of limited value, understand it as such)....Saying you were warm enough for 3 or 4 hours is a long way from 12-14 hour winter nights.

Further, when you bail at 3 or 4 or 5 as is often discussed here, even when citing simple convience you miss many lessons.... sticking it out and spending 20 minutes in the dark rerigging, adding insulation, restyling pads etc is how to learn...( yea, I know, one does not need to whip oneself to know it hurts) But one does need to practice overcoming adversity to posess the confidenence they know how to make adustments in the "Field" when needed.

I encourage all new hangers to make your "back yard testing" as real as possible.... Pack and put on your actual hike gear....take a walk in the afternoon... cook on the ground and eat ramen or whatever... pitch with cold hands at sundown.... and hangout the 14 hour night... Get resettled and rewarmed after the couple of Bio breaks....Then, tear down and repack completely before going inside....prove to yourself that your system is easy enough to deploy, warm enough, simple enough for the mid night breaks and packable enough in the field wet and wind blown vs the comfort of your living room.... And by all means test in the rain and wind.

True knowledge and confidence are great companions in times of adversity.

Pan

good advice pan. hard for us civilians to discipline ourselves into fully following (military people too i'm sure), but none the less, excellent advice.

[Just Jeff]

Good words, Pan. Another good thing about repacking as part of the test...figuring out how to do it when you're shivering and just want to get walking, but having to stand still long enough to pack up. Teaches you how to do it faster, with cold and wet hands and gear, which shortcuts are ok to take and when, etc.

And especially about the time spent in the hammock...3-4 hours is barely enough time for your metabolism to slow down, compared to a full winter night where you barely even want to stick your nose out of your insulation. Speaking of that...we have a winter weather warning tonight!! Testing weather...

[n2o2diver]

BillyBob
I also use the HHSS. I have had good results to the low 30's. I just switched from a bag to a quilt. I went with a JRB Mt Rogers which is quite large. It Velcros into a sleeping bag and has draw strings top and bottom. I slip it on outside my hammock with my feet sticking out the bottom, sit in the hammock and pull my feet up, then pull the draw string to close off the foot end. Much easier than wrestling into a bag. At night I can loosen the draw string, pop my feet out the bottom, get out of the hammock still wrapped up, make a nature call and go right back in without getting out of the bag. Not sure what temp I will get with the quilt but soon as I get a chance I'll let you know.

[BillyBob58]

First and formost it is important to test your system in the saftey of your backyard or other convient spot...Keep doing it.

Understand that the back yard is only a start.....

You have not been in the open air constantly for hours or days.... you are full of real food.... you often set up a and then go back in the warm house until 11PM.... so the night is short and cold hands etc are re warmed.... (read the test is of limited value, understand it as such)....Saying you were warm enough for 3 or 4 hours is a long way from 12-14 hour winter nights...........................

Pan

Very wise words, Pan. And that is part of the reason I keep emphasizing that all of this was under ideal conditions. And it's part of the reason that I feel that I need to add at least 10° in any results I get. And I do hate to bail out after just three or four hours, but I just can't take it! Not because of being cold, but because of being unable to sleep! Now had I been anything other than toasty warm, I probably would have endured long enough to fuss with the set up, maybe add my pad which was on standby, etc.. But if I'm toasty warm, then I have so far been unable to talk myself into were laying there staring at the tarp over my head! And I do realize that this somewhat invalidates the test. It's really irritating not to be able to go to sleep, because that would add the element of my metabolism slowing down, and not to mention it would be no problem to stay out there for a good eight hours. Because I'm very very comfortable.

Although I'm new to the Hammocking experience, I have a huge amount of experience at backpacking long distances in both mild and very cold conditions. And I have surely learned how to keep warm on the ground or in a snow cave. 30 days on the trail consecutively always above 9000 feet in the Rockies, is my record so far. And I know the added difficulties of hiking all day on trailess (SP?) wilderness crossing high mountain passes in the Rockies and then trying to set up camp near sunset and get a hot meal in me as the sun is setting. There is no doubt all of this can greatly decrease the ability to stay warm. If you are a bit hypothermic and/or wet to start with, then what ever kept you toasty at 15° may keep you shivering all night at 25°! Been there, done that.

And that in fact is sort of how my experience with the Hennessy Hammock Super Shelter started. I have some posts to this effect over at the White Blaze website where I was reporting on a series of experiments with the Super Shelter. My first night in the field with the Hennessy hammock Super Shelter was a disaster at a dry, windless 23°. This of course is the same system that I slept quite toasty in the backyard at 18° the other night. But the difference was that I had only been able to fiddle around with my new Hennessy hammock and my new Super Shelter in the backyard for a few days before the trip. And it was the last few days of August in Mississippi! In other words, very hot. Then we arrived in Pinedale Wyoming on the second day of September, where the low that night at 7000 feet was 27°. We drove to the trailhead at 9000 feet and started hiking. I was suffering far more than usual from altitude sickness and the decreased mental capabilities that go with it. We hiked till just before sunset and set up camp at 10000 ft. I got my buddy -- the one who talked me into trying Hammocking camping in the first place -- to help me set up the Hammock and the complicated (when you're not used to it) Super Shelter. Everything looked kosher. For a little extra insurance, I slipped my three-quarter length Thermarest ultralight into the undercover. I later realized that was a mistake, because it only pulled the undercover away from the under pad. Then I tried to eat supper, but the altitude sickness had killed my appetite, and I wasn't able to force down but about half of what I had planned on for supper. Which is not a good thing after hiking all day long with a pack and altitude. Though intellectually I was well aware of this, it never even occurred to me that might be a problem since I didn't seem to be thinking very clearly.

Then I got inside and started gaining experience in the art of trying to get inside a 15° mummy bag inside a hammock. It turned out I was a total failure at that, though I can accomplish it handily now. On top of that, it turns out that all of the wild gymnastics of trying to get in that bag so I could cinch the hood up around my face got the Hennessy hammock somewhat sideways, so that I was not on top of the under pad as I should be. I did not notice this until about 2 a.m., when I woke up shivering violently. At which point I fought my way out of the hammock, got my backup pads and slept on the ground under the stars. Where I was not very comfortable, but at least I wasn't shivering.

The rest of the trip was much less eventful. For one thing I became more skillful at setting up the hammock and Super Shelter, and I'm pretty sure it was not quite as cold on the following night though I didn't measure the temperature. Anyway, I didn't have any more cold nights. But, if anybody wants an example of how field conditions can be different from the backyard, and an example of how NOT to try new gear, my first night in the Hennessy Hammock Super Shelter can be an example of that. Plus, it could've been much worse. It could've been raining or snowing and blowing. But thank goodness I at least had the sense to carry the extra weight of some minimal pads as back up!

Bill