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  1. #1
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    Default Insulation question

    I now have a tent and use a down blanket instead of sleeping bag. Can my blanket be used in a hammock without the hammock insulation that is normally underneath?

    Thanks

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    Not if it's even a little cold. I am assuming you use a ground pad in the tent,
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

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    You can certainly use the blanket on top, but it will help A LOT to sew the footbox area closed to keep feet warm. You MUST have some bottom insulation. Underquilts are the preferred method. Eno makes a sleeve called the hotspot for use with regular ground pads. Klymit makes an inflatable hammock pad but for the price you can probably buy a used underquilt. There are others. Google is your friend. You can also DIY a closed cell pad like a zlite or the blue ones from WM. They aren't wide enough though so you have to cut a few extra pieces to make "wings" around the torso and shoulder area.
    Last edited by 4eyedbuzzard; 03-11-2018 at 22:56.

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    Quote Originally Posted by NCC1701 View Post
    I now have a tent and use a down blanket instead of sleeping bag. Can my blanket be used in a hammock without the hammock insulation that is normally underneath?

    Thanks
    Sure.
    But your a$$ will be cold.
    Literally.

  5. #5
    Registered User egilbe's Avatar
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    It's called Cold Butt Syndrome, or CBS.

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    No, not even at an ambient temp of 70°F! You will suffer CBS after a short while.

    At that temp a thin piece of closed cell foam might suffice, but you will still need something.

    Best bet IMO is to get a very light 40deg shortie underquilt because UQs are far less hassle than any air mat or CCF pad and can weigh as little as 10 oz or so.

  7. #7
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    In the summer I often hammock with just a 3/4 length Ridgerest closed cell foam pad. It has enough insulation under my torso and butt that I can stay mostly warm into the 50s, though my legs and feet get cold. If I don't have any bottom insulation, I'd get very cold even in mid summer.
    Ken B
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  8. #8

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    Bottom insulation is essential. Can't stress that enough.

  9. #9
    Registered User scope's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NCC1701 View Post
    I now have a tent and use a down blanket instead of sleeping bag. Can my blanket be used in a hammock without the hammock insulation that is normally underneath?

    Thanks
    What about the insulation that is normally underneath in a tent? What are you doing with that? Use that on bottom and said down blanket on top in hammock.

    A tent pad's primary use is for insulation. With all the pads designed for comfort these days, I guess its easy to forget that.
    "I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
    - Kate Chopin

  10. #10
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    Default Insulation question

    I second the 3/4 ridgerest. I find it very comfortable in a hammock and manageable down into the 40s. 20s and 30s, I know I won't freeze to death but I'm not going to get a very good night's sleep.
    You can walk in another person's shoes, but only with your feet

  11. #11
    Registered User scope's Avatar
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    I used a pad in my Hennessy (former hammock) for years and was immediately more comfortable than being on the ground. Took me a while to fully understand the UQ. Immediately more comfy than the pad, but cooler in some cases. A light breeze can be a huge factor with an UQ, not so with a pad. Another UQ issue is fit and gaps. Took me a while to figure out to hang it tight and let the bungies to their job. So, pads are easier in some respects and no reason to think you can't get comfy with them in a hammock. I still take a light Klymit pad with me to supplement my UQ as needed, and as a just in case if I have to sleep on the ground.

    Lots of folks lose track of the importance of a pad in a tent as they attempt to transition to hammocks, begetting a lot of questions like the OP's, and some comments about how hammocks are cold - which, of course, they are if you remove the insulation you were previously using in a tent. Duh!
    "I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
    - Kate Chopin

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    Remember, in a tent you have the entire Earth for insulation beneath you. In a hammock, you're letting it all hang out
    Bottom insulation is, in some ways, MORE important that top insulation.
    ________________________

    Mike
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by it_mike View Post
    Remember, in a tent you have the entire Earth for insulation beneath you. In a hammock, you're letting it all hang out
    Bottom insulation is, in some ways, MORE important that top insulation.
    Depends. Sometimes there's this white coating twixt one's backside and Mother Earth.

    duomid winter tent.jpg

    But I agree that whether tenting or hammocking the importance of bottom insulation is often not fully appreciated.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by NCC1701 View Post
    I now have a tent and use a down blanket instead of sleeping bag. Can my blanket be used in a hammock without the hammock insulation that is normally underneath?

    Thanks
    Unless the temp is above 70 degrees, you need bottom insulation in a hammock, be it a foam pad or an underquilt.
    Time is but the stream I go afishin' in.
    Thoreau

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by MuddyWaters View Post
    Sure.
    But your a$$ will be cold.
    Literally.
    hehe Exactly

  16. #16
    Registered User scope's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by it_mike View Post
    Remember, in a tent you have the entire Earth for insulation beneath you...
    especially in, let's say, Hawaii.
    "I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
    - Kate Chopin

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