Hammock hangers-Staying warm in late fall through early spring?...

[Spirit Bear]

I am new to hanging, I went for an overnight hike a couple weeks ago down here in Georgia on the AT.

Sleeping system
Grand Trunk Ultra Light hammock
Big Agnes Inulated Air Core mummy
Marmont 40 degree ultra light down bag
Sea to summit Thermolite Reactor Sleeping bag liner
Eno Pro Rain Fly

The temp dropped to about 40 but the wind was blowing around 5-10MPH. Around midnight I started to get a chill and most of the night my feet stayed cold. I put on 2 pair of wool socks. polyster thermal pants, a top, a light weight fleece top and a down vest. I also had my gloves on and my beenie hat.

I stayed overall warm and toastie except for my feet.

Any advice on how to keep my feet warm? Should I get a colder sleeping bag, an underquilt and dump the big agnes air pad?

Any help would be much appreciated. I like having my pad in case there are no trees and it adds comfort in the hammock.

Would a space blanket thingy help if I put that under the hammock?

What if I wrapped the rain fly ends down near my feet touching each end to keep any wind from getting in?

My butt stayed warm, my upper body was warm, my face was cold but I put my camp towel over it. I would have slept like a baby if my feet were toasty.

Any help? Im guessing with teh wind the temps felt much closer to low 30s.

[G-FOURce]

what about one of those hand-warmer packets? just open, shake it, and drop it in the bottom of your bag in an extra sock and your feet should stay toasty for hours. the only other thing i can think of is carrying a compactor bag as pack liner and slipping that over the end of your sleeping bag for warmth retention around your feet.

[Feral Bill]

Down booties?

[BrockLeigh]

I use a pair of Thinsulate liners from an old pair of boots from Clover around the late 90's. Still have the boots but they are a bit too clumsy to use on a trail. I just did a 30 deg night with blankets and a pad with a 35deg bag. My feet were the only thing toasty all night. I still plan on using them now that I got a 3/4 underquilt. Prior to digging them out of the closet I just used a super thick pair of wool socks. Have any old boot liners?

Wind coming from all directions? Based on this photo if you pull down that front porch it could cut down on some mid night chill.

[Spirit Bear]

Thanks for the advice, yea I pulled it all down before I went to bed. This was the only pic I took of my set up and at that time I was enjoying a nice fire.

I keep hearing an underquilt is the way to go, if that's the case then I might ditch the air core.

I was thinking for my thru hike though there are times when I would need the air pad, when I stay at a hostile or in the whites. It seems to be a nice piece of equipment to have on a thru hike. However I am open to other options, if I can get an underquilt that keeps me toasty and I can solve the feet problem I don't mind ditching the pad. I never sleep well on the thing anyway when on the ground. Not like I do in my hammock.

[SouthMark]

I have a Gossamer Dear Sleep Light foam pad that I use as pack frame. It serves as an emergency go to ground pad and I put it in inside the foot of my top quilt under my feet at night for insulation. I wear wool sleeping socks and most nights I have to take them off because my feet get too hot. In hammock camping the under insulation is more important than the top insulation. In other words the better your bottom insulation the less top insulation you need.

[bannerstone]

Just guessing here but the tapered foot end of your pad may have been an issue, if your feet were rolling off the sides of the pad and compressing the insulation against the hammock. Guaranteed cold spot everytime. A hanger with some cold weather experience might have used a trick like wrapping a puff jacket or a vest around the outside of the foot end of the hammock. Just zipper it up with the gathered end sticking out through the neck opening of the jacket.

Others have suggested down booties and I have them but they don't come out till we get into deep winter temps, single digits.

Lots of hangers like to keep a piece of reflectix handy for cold spots (usually under your butt) it works great under your feet too and it's light, cheap, doubles as a sit pad.

David

[Dr. Professor]

My advice: underquilt and these (four sew one, one ridgeline) -- http://www.outdoortrailgear.com/feat...e-quilt-hooks/

[Dr. Professor]

My above advice works for overall warmth; with my double-layer blackbird I just put extra stuff between layers or in footbox if needed for warmth above and beyond that provided by the quilt. Different hammock....

[rhjanes]

Under Quilt. I learned on my first hang. ALWAYS hang it (it dropped to 60 and I had CBS....Cold Butt Syndrom). Getting up at 1 AM to deploy the UQ....not fun.
I now have two UQ. A three-season 3/4 length and a zero degree full length.
You can then add a CCF pad if you need more. Hang the UQ, then regulate using the top quilt, silk liner, your clothes etc....and never even have to roll over, let alone get up.

[kayak karl]

i use a 2/3 under quilt (Te-Wa 0 degree winter coat) in winter. i have a golite pinnicale pack. i swapped out the 1/4" pad in it for 1/2". the pack (or you could take pad out) goes under my feet. it has worked down to 20. you could give it a try.

[beachbunny]

underquilt and drop sides lower to block wind

[Sherpa Master]

Another thing to be aware of is if you get into your sleeping bag don't push your feet all the way down into the bag. Give them a little room to have an air pocket to warm up. The underquilt will add a load of warmth. Also look at a closed cell foam pad instead of an inflatable.

[1azarus]

Even if you get an under quilt, you might not get a full length one, so foot comfort can still be an issue. I am a fan of torso length underquilts for summer use and slightly longer for winter use AND really agree with the advice to use a sit-size pad, possibly part of your backpack frame system, inside your sleeping bag or foot box and under your feet. Multi-use and works like a charm. I must admit I am interested in using a jacket as described by banner stone above, but never have any extra clothing - my guess is I'd be wearing that vest or jacket if it were that cold... Good luck to you.

[Grits]

Check out Jeff's site for some great tips http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockCampingWarm.html

[l84toff]

Spend a couple nights hanging with temps at 30, wind chill brought it down quite a bit more. First night my feet were cold at about 5am. Second night I went to sleep with a bottle of hot water between my thighs and feet were toasty warm. I remembered reading about this a while back, putting the bottle right by your femoral arteries. Seemed to work well for me.

[JaxHiker]

Under Quilt. I learned on my first hang. ALWAYS hang it (it dropped to 60 and I had CBS....Cold Butt Syndrom). Getting up at 1 AM to deploy the UQ....not fun.

Amen! Hanging at the lake in SC in Sept the day was so hot I took the UQ off. A storm blew in at 2am and I was sitting in the hammock teeth chattering. As soon as I got it back in place I was wrapped in downy warmth and crashed hard I was so comfortable.

I just added Dutchware quilt hooks to my Light Hiker and they do a great job of keeping the UQ from slipping off your shoulders during the night. Well worth it imho.

For foot issues I'd look at down booties myself. They've been on my radar for a while but I haven't dropped the dime yet.

[Hoop]

Spirit Bear,

Check out Hammockforums.net

[bwburgin1015]

Put the hand warmers between sock layers. If you just put them in the foot of your bag you'll wake up in an hour with toasty butt cheeks! I'm too poor for an under quilt. My pad with an extra foam pad cut in half and wrapped around my upper body is the ticket. Then the only problem is getting too hot!!