I took my Hammock gear UQ out for a test run yesterday. I ordered it a while ago but never had it out under 23*. Here's the results from yesterdays 9* hang. I used my most minimal gear in the test to really see what it could do. First of all, the gear: -Warbonnet Blackbird in 1.1 fabric with a double bottom.I figured it was breezy and I wanted to not block any wind and without using my heavier fabric 1.7oz hammock -Marmot Pinnacle 15* down bag loose on top of me like a quilt. -I had on a baselayer only with a knit cap. No gloves, no down booties and just a normal pair of socks. -I had my Hammock Gear 20* incubator (full length) with a 2oz. overstuff. Weather: - Sunny, nine degrees with a steady breeze making it 1-3* above Zero for the entire test. - No tarp used because I did not want the wind blocked. I wanted the worst conditions knowing how wind robs the heat. Now, I'm a cold sleeper normally and usually take along extra for the weather knowing this. I've been a pad user down to 10* for ten years and this is my first UQ. I spent almost 3 hours in the hammock and had no trouble settling in. The UQ went right to work as they do sending up the warmth. Once in a while I felt that cold blast that comes in from the foot or the head end. In this case, it was just down my neck. This would take a simple adjustment of the draft collar on the UQ to fix and if I was dressed for an actual night out, I probably would have been fine. It has been my long experience of over 3 decades of gear that you get what you pay for. I've been lucky at getting gear that has always functioned flawlessly with just two exceptions in that time. This piece of gear from Hammock Gear is one of the finest. There is no doubt that I could have stayed out all night with little more than I set out with on my test. I liked it so much, I ordered another one yesterday. I now have a 0* incubator on order as my average nights out are usually below 40* and with proper UQ venting, it could be used for most of the year or dead of winter camping, which I also enjoy.
I used my Marmot Pinnacle 15* down bag loose on top of me like a quilt. I have such light down sleeping bags, I see no reason to buy dedicated quilts. I wasn't toasty warm during the test, but I was able to sleep and stay asleep. Had I had my regular gear, I could have easily made it through the night. My goal was to go with as little as possible to really test it.
Great review Lorax! Before running out to purchase an under-quilt, I just wanted to clarify that you had no pad beneath you. The idea of just a sleeping bag and an under quilt sounds perfect! I saw a guy with a Cuben fiber tarp hanging last February on the AT. He enjoyed the visibility through it. Any thoughts?
I have an ENO doublenest that is my backyard and canoe camping hammock. The UQ works well with that model.
No pad beneath me. In the proper temperature range to use an UQ, I've had people try it and ask where the batteries go in. It feels like you are laying on a full body heating pad in about 10 seconds. You never realize how much of that heat gets robbed from you with air moving underneath you. As for the cuben tarps. Yes, I have seen them in use and heard them during a rain. Light but very noisy in a steady rain. Think......trying to sleep inside a bag of microwave popcorn.:tinysmile_fatgrin_t They do let in a lot of light and I believe they are in the 7-9oz. range for a pretty decent sized tarp.
I started out using pads with my hammocks and as long as a stayed on the pad, I wasn't cold. When I switched to an under quilt (a Hammock Gear Crowsnest, now known as the Phoenix) I went from being not cold to toasty warm. Unbelievable the difference between pads and under quilts.
My very first hang was 20* with a steady wind. I had a 20* bag and threw the hammock on the shelf, swearing to never use it under 70* again. It was miserable. Then I went to pads and other little tricks and got down to the 10* mark with some work, but slip off that pad and in an instant, you were right awake as a shoulder touched the side. I can't believe it took me over ten years to get a n UQ
I love my hammock gear 0*. I have a 20 degree cats meow bag, but I really want something lighter, maybe a 20* burrow instead. I used my UQ in 30* weather. It felt like an electric blanket under me.
