Ultra-ultralight sleep system for summer heat

I've found 1.1 nylon for $3-5 yard on line (usually seconds, but just a minor cosmetic), if a guy combs a few Walmarts evidently they carry some 1.1 ripstop that sells for a $1.50 a yard! $5 puts the fabric at just $30

In mid summer in Spain, where I hike, I used to use a heavy fleece, a thermarest full length pad, a goretex bivy and slept with my legs in my backpack, a Summit Gear daypack. i was comfortable and warm, although the Tramontana was blowing, I was in a cave and out of the wind. I have since updated this set up with UL gear, and have a Hagaloffs LIM inslulating jacket (8.8 oz or 250 g) and a MLD Climashield 3/4 length quilt (9.9 oz or 281 g) with a thermarest 3/4 prolite (10.6 oz or 300 g) and a MLD Superlight Bivy (6.7 oz or 191 g). I'll take a poncho tarp or a 10 x 8 tarp depending on the trip and forecast.
I hope this helps with ideas.
Cheers,
Fred

60 degrees isnt hot, 75 is hot, 60 is downright cool in some parts of the country.

Below 75 or so I take a 30 degree bag, its all that I find I need. In warm weather I sleep on just the pad in tent well ventillated, use the unzipped bag as quilt, pull a little bag over my midsection leaving feet and upper body exposed when I first go to sleep. Usually I will wake up much cooler several hrs later and cover with a bit more bag. Can shift the down to one side, top half for instance, and basically have option just cover with the bottom half without much down if want too. very flexible bag with continuous baffles.

Others use a bag liner , simple sheet. When it gets really hot and humid and sticky, use nothing at all, but still bring the bag cause you never know, and it makes a good pillow.

I got one from Cabela's, thinking it'd be a good mid-west-southern solution to summer overheating.

I slept in it one night, on my couch, in my climate-controlled home (70F), and was COLD. Its claims of bumping up sleeping bag warmth seemed especially silly after this.

The material was sketchy – reminded me of cheap black dress socks.

I took it back. I still don't have a good summer weight blanket/quilt/bag/solution.

Silk sheet – always = 118g

UL nirvana – custom Nunatak Arc Edge for my 5'1" = 254g = sensational! Skimpy dimensions but perfect for our (subtropical) summers and shoulder seasons, and four season tropical use. Very flexible – drape as required, pull up to cover more in the wee small hours as temp drops. Easy to vent, incredible warmth to weight ratio for those with deep(ish) pockets.

Warmer option – WM Highlite (short) = 439g

Thermolite Reactor would not be warm enough for me unless it was really hot, but may suit some. One friend is happy with this.

Another friend uses a length of micro fleece as a blanket – but down is far lighter and more compact, but of course more expensive.

Cheers,

KK

I'm just starting out into backpacking and came across this thread, anyone has more experience since 2011 to give more insights into the gears used for the weather?

So far I've decided and ordered the REI half-dome 2, Therm-a-rest NeoAir Xlite Small(still debating if I should switch to the woman model, I'm 5"5, 138 lbs) & Exped Air Pillow.

I need to decide on a cover, so far I've looked into Thermarest Tech Blank, Sea to Summit Thermolite Extreme liner, and couple of warm weather sleeping bags. I'm expecting the temp to be below 60 in the summer at night(east coast), and I generally like to sleep in cool temp.

Any suggestions? thanks!

Lows in the 70's or up I just use a silk sleeping bag liner (dark color). When it gets down to around 65F, I start to get cold.

The S2S liners work good for warm nights. I used one in a hammock with just a foam pad and was fine.

I use the MB Thermal Sheet, and it is perfect for the summer application.
Tested good down to 50*F, and it has a full zip for use as a quilt if you want.
Mine weighs in at 13.8 ounces.
I use it with a 6.1 ounce Klymit X-Lite pad, a 2 ounce groundsheet, an 11 ounce SMD Gatewood Cape, and a 2 ounce GG RikSak pack.
That's just over a 2 pound base weight, and it works.

I also use a Sea 2 Summit reactor bag on top of my NeoAir. I just like having something sheet-like on me when I sleep. My kids use one of the fleece bags you can get at Dick's for like $10 when I take them in the summer.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll probably just get the S2S Thermolite Reactor Extreme then. This was also my initial choice because it can be used in conjunction with a sleeping bag to add warmth, but I've seen several reviews saying the temp rating on it is much overrated. I guess I'll check it out myself.

The 50-55 degree travel / hostel sleeping bags turn out to be the ideal solution for many of the local guides here in the Maryland / Virginia area. Ie 70 degree humid nights following 100 degree humid days.

Even the cheap synthetic ones pack down small and only weigh about a pound.

My 40 degree bag is a little warm, even when used as a quilt until about 1 am when it cools down sufficiently.

This! Beat me to it. LOL

If it is real heat in the desert also remember you might want to be protected from the heat of the ground, so you may still want a pad.

The Thermarest Tech Blanket is a great hot weather option. It makes a good sleeping bag extender and camp cape/serape style insulation too. I use mine as a lap robe around the house in the winter.

The smaller one is the one to get. It has snaps to form a foot box and you can get stick-on snaps to mate it with your sleeping pad. If you are going to get the blanket and want the snaps, order them at the same time. They aren't available in any retail stores and the shipping will nearly double the price.

I know nothing of this vendor, but it looks like they have them on sale for $30; others are about $49:
http://www.kitterytradingpost.com/product.php/pid/4/sid/79/tid/349/prodid/28086

For really hot weather, add a light hammock with an insect screen. You'll need a pad or underquilt if it cools off at night. With the hammock and a light quilt or even a fleece blanket, you'll be cool and well rested.

great thanks! yea that's a good deal, ordered it.

"Silk sheet – always = 118g"

Karen,

What brand of sheet do you have and where did you get it? I need something for Florida summer hikes as my 30 degree ZPacs bag is too hot to even sleep on top of.

Thanks

Wal-Mart has Texsport fleece bags for 15 dollars. If you cut off the zipper and trimmed it down it would be a pretty good deal. I just bought one and it packs small and I think it weighs 18 ounces as is. Definitely beats the sea to summit liners that are like 60 dollars.

So having just turned thirteen, I decided I take my son on his first "father son" backpacking trip. And while preparing for this trip, I was thinking about this thread, given our choice of venue.

Since I knew the weather was going to be hot & humid (White Oak Canyon in the Shenandoah NP), I decided to bring one semi-rectangular down sleeping back to drape over the two of us, but decided to try out only using a cotton bag liner for myself, and snuggle under the sleeping bag if the liner failed to keep me warm enough.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find the bag liner, so I ended up grabbing a cotton fitted bed sheet from a child’s bed (I believe it was a definitely a smaller bed size than a normal twin.)

Either way, the elastic in the fitted sheet seemed to fit quite snugly around both myself (up to my shoulders) and my pad, and was downright comfortable for the first portion of the evening. But then the temp dropped to about 64 degrees by around 2 or 3 in the morning (and I am certain I was burning less energy by then), so I put on a long sleeved shirt for some additional warmth. Now, I also brought along a Golite Bitterroot down jacket, which I simply love using as a pillow and an extra layer, and would have put that on if it were to get any colder, but my son was using it as a pillow and I would have been a pretty bad dad if I had resorted to stealing my son’s pillow, all in the name of "comfort."

Anyway, the trip was wonderful, he came back loving backpacking, and I actually got some pretty good sleep from a kid's fitted bed sheet!
Now I am not sure where I am going with this thread, other than to share with you my interesting “experiment” with a the fitted sheet. But during the summer months here in the mid-Atlantic, moisture control and bug/tick control are typically much bigger issues than insulation. Not to go too off topic, I sincerely hope that moisture performance/control in sleeping bags/tents/ground pads will someday be quantified and measured with the same level of scrutiny & detail as outerwear (like a "permeability" rating to look at next to the "temperature" rating.)

(Fwiw, I don’t know how much the bed sheet weighs. My hanging scale isn't very accurate when things are a few ounces, and my wife’s jewelry scale is just too small. I can try to weigh it if anyone is interested.)

Here in NE Texas, july and august can be in the mid 80's and 90's at midnight and later, so as someone said earlier, it depends on the area. But another big factor is the humidity. Someone said 65 isn't warm, but with 88% humidity, I don't want a fleece bag on me. I have learned that a cotton sheet helps your body breath in humid warm weather. When the temp is forecasted for the 50's I take a Snugpak_ jungle bag…awesome.

Bumping for any new ideas or gear for almost 10yrs later

The stars aligned so that my usual hiking cohort and I were vacationing in HI at the same time, so we did the Kalalau Trail. I carried a GT Nano hammock, a S2S bug repellent liner and a Golite poncho. I did have a tiny sleep pad, but that stayed in the pack. It didn’t happen to rain that night. Slept like a rock.

Sleeping in our kind of heat (humidity and nighttime lows in the 80s) is just a bad idea. There is really no way to sleep comfortably, the bugs (including chiggers) are terrible, and hiking during the day really isn’t that much fun. Once May comes, I am only going to sleep at higher elevations.

For warm, but not hot nights, a light synth quilt seems perfect, along with an uninsulated blow up pad. I am not a hammocker, but a hammock with no bottom insulation seems like it would be nice.

.. in Hawaii at the same time, so we did the Kalalau Trail

I posted a Kona “Z-trail”trip report when I first joined.  Still going to say that on the beach with a constant almost 60°F low, having at least a fleece and silk liner handy was helpful.   Think it’s almost psychological that hikers sleeping above 70°F would need a silk liner just as a psychological blanket (i.e drape over the shoulders and maybe face).

The big problem can become bugs.  Remember reading a British military survival book about more serious jungle (like Belize which was British Honduras) where hammocks or wood frame structures lifting off the ground were recommended with bug netting of course. Having an air space underneath may help cool too (reversing the principal that 3-season/winter hammock fans use in “under-quilts”)

16OZ Costco down quilt with kam snaps added. $30-40. Good to about 55F give or take.