GG thinlite with neo air for winter

I just recieved my GG 1/4 Thinlite sleep pad..I will be testing it next weekend in the Trinity Alps with a Large NeoAir..I really like the combo on paper but I will see how it goes in real mountain conditions…I like the Thinlite for puncture protection for the NeoAir and of course some insulation…Time will tell!
I also just ordered a pad from Steve Evans a BPL member.He sells a pad that is 25x74x1/8 that ways 2.2 oz..
I believe his companies name is Suluk46.Com

I used a Neoair small + 1/8" thinlite on snow at Horse Camp on Mt. Shasta last June. Lows went down to around freezing, if the frost inside my tent are to be believed. I think it was okay. My feet were cold b/c I only had the thinlite + my pack underneat them, but my torso felt okay. Probably wouldn't try to push it much colder though.

I had my thinlite underneath the Neoair, but from what I've read since here, it might have been better to put it on top.

Thank you both, I appreciate the info. I'll check out Steve's website as well.

Jay- would you let me know how your system on the Trinty trip works out? Enjoy the mountains, I used to live in SF and love the Trinitys.

I just used a 1/4” ThinLight (20”x60”) under my regular NeoAir near Tahoe. One of the nights it was 29 F and I was fine sleeping right on the pad wearing just some lightweight long underwear.

I put the ThinLight even with the top of the NeoAir and stuck my pants under the Neo near the bottom.

I will be trying this combo all fall and into winter to see what it is comfortable to.

I was fine at 25F without the foam pad last weekend…

Just wish we could have stuck around longer, would have enjoyed sitting in the hot springs in the snow.

I don't know which is more interesting, that everyone is putting their thinlight under the pad, instead of on top, or that Ray has gone bagless! Talk about a warm sleeper..

The only reason I even bought the ThinLight pad was to give some protection for the Neo as I am in areas that have the sharpest pine needles you have ever seen. I figure any extra insulation is just a bonus. Had it gotten too cold for me (and this will happen at some point this winter) I will put the ThinLight on top to see if it makes a difference, or if by negating the "reflective" nature of the middle layer of the Neo, it makes me even colder.

At which point I shall break out the BA Dual Core.

I am actually a cold sleeper Joe. I have always taken a bag rated at least 10 degrees better than what I expect to see. A lot of that has been because bags are rated for people sleeping on their back so the hood can be used to it fullest effect.

Yeah, I may just be done with bags. I have sold almost all of my quiver. My gear room looks funny without a couple rows of bags. I am down to just three sleeping bags now.

Of course I am thinking about buying two more quilts… Woe is me.

I had the JRB quilt with me last weekend, and if I'm going to be doing much more ground sleeping I think I will be getting wings for it to make it easier to tuck.

Next time, taking the Ray Way Alpine – it's wider. I might be able to tuck the edges under the NeoAir, even.

Hey Cat Woman,

Did you get hit by the snow storm? Where did that come from?

So you were down-to-earth this trip, huh? What is your quilt rated to? Is that one synthetic fill?

JRB quilts are all down filled… and the 3 season ones are generally rated to 25F. I did notice being less toasty than usual but was surprised to find the thermometer indicating I should be freezing.

The trouble with car camping is, you don't get to choose your trees. I could have gone uphill for more sheltered hammock sites, but probably would have been fined by the campground host. There were dead branches over the hammock-able spots in the spot we had, and the wind blew through the campground like we were in a wind tunnel (65mph according to NOAA), so I felt it was safer to jump in a friend's 3 person tent (pitched in an open treeless sandy area) than to hang out under the widowmakers.

So I had to settle for the NeoAir instead of being sandwiched between toasty down quilts in a hammock. Four hours of sleep instead of my usual eight – oh, well. It was fun listening to the wind and snow (pattering down for hours, once the wind died down).

The hot springs were totally cool, too. Nothing like a Newport in a nice deep hot tub on a hillside in the Sierras.

I thought about doing the same thing: Using a thinlight under a NeoAir to provide puncture protection and a bit of extra warmth. Folks said that more warmth could be provided by putting the thinlight on top. Basically, you lose less heat through the edges that way (otherwise, it would be exactly the same). I'm sure that putting the thinlight on the bottom still adds warmth, just not as much as putting it on top.

A couple of nights ago I had a 1/8" thinlight under my size regular neo-air and a 1/4" thinlight above it. The low temp the next morning was 19F (I left my single-wall tent door open to get the lowest temp I could), and I was comfortable in a 20F WM down bag. From this I tentatively conclude that I'm likely to be comfortable with this combo down into the lower teens, and at least "survivable" into single digits.

I should add that I was wearing cocoon pants, ID hotsocks, layered thermawrap jacket and vest, but from what I've read various places, it's tough for warmth layers to compensate if the padding underneath isn't enough thermal protection.

Like one of the previous posters, I have the 1/8" thinlight in part for abrasion and just general "protect the neo-air" use as well as some thermal benefit, with the 1/4" thinlight doing (I would guess) more thermal benefit on top.

"A couple of nights ago I had a 1/8" thinlight under my size regular neo-air and a 1/4" thinlight above it."

Brian,

That sounds like a pretty nice combo. I've considered it off and on for about a year now, but the two of them together always seemed to me a bit bulky. I don't like to lash things to the outside my pack if I can help it. How do you carry them when you're on the move?

This was a test-the-gear trip so I car camped …
In general my plan is to roll the two pads together as one unit, about the same size roll (of course) as a 3/8" pad that I carry strapped externally (vertically on back).

Rolling them together was a bit more hassle than just rolling a single 3/8" pad, however, as there's a lot of friction and the one pad sort of creeps relative to the other as you're rolling them. I've read (probably on this site somewhere) the idea of folding the 1/8" pad, which probably works fine — in that scenario I guess the folded 1/8" pad could go internally or external to the pack with the 1/4" pad strapped outside somewhere.

I might go that route as when the average temps go up I'm thinking I'll mail the 1/4" pad home, and with less clothing taking up volume inside the 1/8" pad should certainly fit in there somehow.