Originally Posted by
BillyBob58
Wow, a lot of data and maybe my mind is getting slower, but I am getting confused. I don't have a lot of pad/hammock experience, not counting the open cell foam(very compressible) pad of the HHSS. I have always used that HHSS, PeaPods and MWUQs, all quite successfully to at least their rated temps(except an JRB MW4 on a bridge, which I only managed to get to 10F, was toasty though, could have gone lower for sure).
My only real pad/hammock experience was stacking a Thermarest inflatable( 2.6R) UL 1" thick torso length on top of a 2.6R full length TR CCF RidgeRest classic. Held together with a Speer SPE with strips of Walmart blue pad in the wings. I was very toasty in a Speer hammock at 18F. (but I don't think wind was an issue) Other than that I have only added a torso length WM blue pad to my JRB bridge if I found myself getting chilly(using no under insulation for most of the night) a bit before dawn during late summer nights in the south, when cooler than normal. But that also worked great. So I don't have a ton of hammock/pad experience, but I am thinking more about it since I have started experimenting with a 90* Hammocktent.
I notice that MogollonMonster was recently plenty warm using a Downmat 9 in the pad pocket of a 90* Hammocktent at minus 3F. Does that sound right per folk's experience? But a long/wide weighs 44 oz, so a fair bit heavier than a zero rated full length UQ. And from what I am reading here, that pad would be warm to way below zero on the ground or snow, so it is still losing some warmth when being used in a hammock? IOW, it is rated to minus 36(R8), but no way in a hammock?
This business about the outer side tubes not being insulated sounds like a deal breaker, and I was not aware of it. But I am confused regarding exactly which pads are insulated in all tubes. Are the Downmats? The Synmats? would it be quicker to list the ones that are not fully insulated, or the ones that are? Or, maybe is this correct: it is only the hyperlight Downmat series that lack the insulation in some tubes?
Re: pads not being built to handle convection. I've already commented about the Downmat 9 apparently being fine to at least zero, assuming wind is adequately blocked. But are CCF pads any better when dealing with convection? Again, I was toasty at 18F(could have obviously gone a good bit lower) in a hammock by stacking pads not weighing much more than a zero F full length UQ, but I don't think there was much wind reaching me, if any. Would convection/wind chill have made a major difference with that CCF pad on the bottom?
But, the more I think of this, it seems to me wind chill would be an even bigger problem with UQs. No doubt, unblocked wind can make a zero rated UQ inadequate at 30F. I can't help but think it would be an even bigger dif with an UQ than a CCF pad. What with the UQ being way more breathable. A good breeze can blow the warmed air right out of a down filled chamber, and replace it with cold air. High enough wind can even compress that chamber. It would seem not so much with CCF. And again, are the inflatable pads more vulnerable to wind chill than the CCF? Any dif? Thoughts?
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