Clearview + Thinlight temp rating

John,

Last year I used this combination on a trip in the WA Cascades, and on a couple of nights that reached the low 30s I was feeling rather cold. I was in a Contrail tent, using a WM Caribou bag, with light silk thermal underwear on. As the night progressed it got to the point where I had to break out a handwarmer packet to keep from shivering.

I definately felt heat loss to the ground. FYI, I had the Clearview on top of the Thinlight. Since that trip several posts on the topic of which layer goes where have popped up, and they suggest it would have been better to put the Thinlight on top of the Clearview. I may do that if I don't pick up a Neoair…

Thank you Dave, that's really helpful. I have a sinking feeling that even with the Thinlight on top of the pad it wouldn't be enough. There's just too much air circulation possible. A 3/8" pad would probably do the trick but negate the weight savings, and you'd still have the air circulating issue. I may just have to get another BA insulated aircore (a friend lost my last one while on a hike…lesson learned) and grin and bear the extra weight. I sure wish the NeoAir would have worked out, but for some reason i would wake up with a very painful back. I tried my wife's BA the following night and had no back pain. Seem odd that a seemingly small design difference would create such a big discomfort difference, but the horizontal baffles just wanted to dig in to my low back all night. Alas, I'd rather get a good night's sleep than wake up in heavy back pain.

For those temperatures I would go with a 1/4" pad on top of the clearview. I used this combo recently in around 35f-40f and was toasty under a 17oz quilt wearing a 1lb down jacket and man tights.

10f lower and the tallbloke temp rating would have dropped from toasty to temperate.

Given that a 1/4" pad is recommended by one of the outfitters for use with the neoair, there is still a weight saving.

I have been wanting to try the same set up, but have no practical experience with it yet. I plan on taking a second Thinlight for the top, as I think the extra 2 oz. to make a sandwich may be the ticket for snow use.

Aaron, sounds very sensible, and will give some protection fom puncture too.

Better yet, would be to wrap the sides + ends as well. I don't think this would add more than a half ounce, depending on how it were adhered together.

John, I've used the Clearview with a 1/4" inch pad in temps down in the 30s. Quite comfortable. The pad was on top.

I posted my experiences with the clearview pad on another thread but this one is more to the point. Ive been fine sleeping on the clearview down to about freezing. At this temp Im wearing socks ,tights and a light cashmere pullover as well as a fleece balaclava. Below 32f down to about 25f I lay out any extra clothing on top of the pad. That slight stickiness holds them in place quite well. This eliminates the need to carry an extra 1/8th " foam pad. Below 25f I bring my BA insulated aircore. As a back up if you think you will be cold you can heat some water and fill a platypus or water bottle and put it in the bag. A friend who tried this said it helped alot.