Hammock under quilt

[greenwood]

Do you use a under quilt or not?

How do you attach them to the hammock?

Worth getting one and are there different seasons/weights.

Do you like them or find them just to much effort?

Whats your views please.

If i have missed the post on this or link could you please post it for me. Many Thanks

 

[JonathanD]

An absolute necessity during inclement months. You don't need different weights as you still use your sleeping bag. The underquilt just provides that extra baffle that you usually get with a matt on the ground and makes life in a hammock great at even -15 degrees. No more effort to carry them than a mat is. Infact, it can be more compact and lighter than most mats. Very easy to attach to your hammock in just two karibiner clicks.

The Snugpak ones are great and I used it during last years Winter without being cold, coupled with a Woodlore Golden Eagle bag and bivvi bag for the most severe cold.

 

[PDA1]

Here's a really good primer for keeping warm in a hammock

http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockCampingWarm.html

Personally, I find a closed cell foam pad to be at least as effective insulator as any quilt. Only costs about a fiver for a blue one, and it can be used should you be forced to sleep on the ground (which a quilt can't). Quilt users say they are more comfortable, which may be true, but a pad is not uncomfortable IMO. It depends on your budget. I have a strict one, so I cannot justify spending large amounts on luxury items when a cheap alternative like a CCF pad has the same or better functionality for 1/10 the price. I use the risk's overlap sccheme to get the best effect.

 

[Shewie]

An underblanket offers a bit more protection from draughts blowing under the tarp and helps if you move about in your sleep. Mats are fine if you're fairly static when you sleep, for the colder months a UQ is far warmer in my experience. If you think about the parts of the sleeping bag that get compressed by your knees, arms, backside etc, with a mat you don't have any insulation apart from underneath, with a UQ you're toasty all round.
I still use a half inflated 3/4 TAR in summer sometimes but getting into autumn and it's a UQ of some kind.

See if you can borrow one before you buy, I think you'll like it

 

[mountainm]

I'd do a trial run with a mat - if it works for you then great - if not splash out on an UQ. I got a 3/4 length UQ. It cost a fair bit and tbh I think a mat would serve me just as well. I got caught up in what I thought was must have kit - but with the benefit of hindsight I wish I had tried the cheaper option first.

 

[JonathanD]

Pads and mats are great, but they only cover a third of your body as they don't wrap around you. They are great for late Spring, Summer and warmer Autumns. A quilt encloses at least two thirds of your body and provides greater insulation to that part it protects. You can then use it during extremely cold parts of the year. The difference between the two is immense and you really can't say a pad or mat is as effective, because it really isn't. It's not designed to be.

 

[PDA1]

@JD - The overlapped pad(s) (Risk's scheme) or the "wing pads" SPE wrap the CCF pad around your shoulders and hips. That's why they work so well. I am not suggesting that the OP just use a single, 20" wide pad. Read the article in the link provided. BTW there are other advantages - the CCF can be used as a sit pad in camp and at lunch breaks; It is completely water proof so you won't have to abandon your trip if it is dropped into water.; and for the ultimate in multifunctionality, it can provide emergency buoyancy in the event you fall into deep water
Used properly, a 3/8 CCF pad system will protect you to under freezing used in conjunction with a SB or top quilt.

 

[spandit]

I'm using both this weekend. Made the UQ from an old sleeping bag I was given - it's suspended with 3mm bungee (or it will be!) but it's not very thick hence the pad as well. Looks like being a chilly one...

 

[sandbag47]

deleted

 

[sandbag47]

I slept with and with out my underblanket and I do notice the difference when I use it

 

[JonathanD]

@JD - The overlapped pad(s) (Risk's scheme) or the "wing pads" SPE wrap the CCF pad around your shoulders and hips. That's why they work so well. I am not suggesting that the OP just use a single, 20" wide pad. Read the article in the link provided. BTW there are other advantages - the CCF can be used as a sit pad in camp and at lunch breaks; It is completely water proof so you won't have to abandon your trip if it is dropped into water.; and for the ultimate in multifunctionality, it can provide emergency buoyancy in the event you fall into deep water
Used properly, a 3/8 CCF pad system will protect you to under freezing used in conjunction with a SB or top quilt.

I have read that article. The problem with going so far in using pads is that you are changing the very thing most people are using hammocks for, which is the natural comfort a bare, naturally slung hammock gives you. With that much padding, it moves away from being a hammock and becomes a suspended bed and changes the way you sleep in it. It's also really really bulky and still doesn't give that complete cocooned coverage an underquilt and sleeping bag/quilt gives you against chill winds. It also restricts your movements moreso than an underquilt, as it is between you and the hammock and pressed in against your body. I think the disadvantages of this method far outweigh the advantages. If you are really worried about dropping your kit in water, a rucksack liner or waterproof bag should be adequate for that. My hammock and sleeping kit are bagged in those anyway as a rainforest environ keeps your kit permanently wet. I honestly can't think of any advantages of a foam pad over a quilt, except if your hammock rips apart completely and you are forced onto the floor. But then, if you have a quilt, the hammock should be reparable using that, unless you've set fire to the whole lot, in which case, it's a moot point anyway

 

[mountainm]

The advantages of the foam mat are cost - simple as that. I you want a cheap UQ you'll need to mod a sleeping bag - not too tricky. I don't think there's a right way or a wrong way personally - only what works for you.

 

[charleslockerbie]

I like my UQ a lot more than i do pads in a hammock.

 

[spandit]

I'm wondering if an emergency foil blanket between the hammock & the UQ might improve things... I'll try if I get too cold...

 

[Bucephalas]

I've bought a metalic sleeping mat (to reflect some heat back to me) and under that a self inflating mat.
Will this be any good?

I also have an couple of old sleeping bags I could use but which would be best?

 

[JonathanD]

I've bought a metalic sleeping mat (to reflect some heat back to me) and under that a self inflating mat.
Will this be any good?

I also have an couple of old sleeping bags I could use but which would be best?

Try them out and see what is good for you. It's already been said, but what works for me, may not work for you.

 

[greenwood]

thanks guys, i have tryed a foam pad and find it "rides" up the side of the hammock, and is also very hard to get it central.
Think i might look into getting a U.Q. thanks all
we good to know how you get on with emergency foil blanket under foam pad