Difficult Sleeping Pad Question- Will I be warm?

Did you have?

I dont think a regular neoair is r4.9.

NeoAir All-Season, this one to be exact:

http://www.rei.com/product/830684/therm-a-rest-neoair-all-season-sleeping-pad

I apologize, forgot it was part of a whole line.

Do you have an under-quilt, or is the ZLite Sol it? If just the pad I think you will freeze. ;-)

> If I was warm with a 4.9 R-rated Thermarest NeoAir, will I be warm with the 2.6
> R-rated Thermarest Z-lite Sol
Unlikely.

Cheers

My guess is no, but thats based purely on R-value and my experiences with cold weather ground sleeping. Ive never slept in a hammock.

I have a torso length SOL and also a NeoAir. I know that I (who sleep average to a little warm) would freeze my but off on the ground with just the SOL and a mylar blanket at anything below the high 20's mid 30's…and that's using a bit of animal willpower. Maybe try getting one of the Lawson equipment CCF pads to supplement under the SOL ….or a Gossamer gear thinlight pad..

Ok, great info so far. Looks like I'll get a second pad, but if I can safely sacrifice, you know I want to.

Does it make any difference that both my sleeping bags are bags, not quilts, and both are synthetic? The Mountain Hardwear Ultralamina doesn't really compress like most baffled bags do, so I feel like between the perforations in the sleeping pad and the construction of my inner sleeping bag, it could have an impact on my warmth.

Hmm….

Any reason you don't want to stick with your original plan and get an All Season M??? I find my All Season really comfortable FWIW.

-Mark in St. Louis

Several reasons:

1. Comfort-wise, I'm more than satisfied with the Z-lite.

2. I like the Z-lite for it's simplicity, the ability to take quick naps, the durability, and the multi-use as a splint.

3. The thermarest takes a good minute of blowing every night. I did it for 30 days straight on a long bike tour, and filling/compressing that thing every night and morning got very tedious.

4. The pad develops a smell after about 15 days of use. Don't know if the Z-Lite does as well, but it lacks the texture of the All-Season.

5. It's nice having the $140 in my pocket. If I don't have to buy a new Thermarest NeoAir, I won't.

What kind of hammock are you using? I had cold shoulders from the hammock wrapping around me/squashing the sleeping bag when I used a pad and now I'm on a mission to buy a underquilt to resolve that issue.

Are you attaching CC wings to your pad?

I'm in a Hennessy Hammock. The Hennessy has an asymmetrical shape, and with the pad, I never get squashed in. I can turn from side to side, and lie on my back without ever touching the sides, really. I am not a fan of underquilts, just because it's a large item to carry around (practically another sleeping bag) when my experience tells me a good pad and a windproof liner will be just as good. I do not use pad wings.

I just don't know if my pad is good 'enough'.

I am a thin guy, 160lbs at 6'2", so my experience may be different from the broader shouldered hammocker.

I really only do 3 season walks using a quilt and silk liner rather than a sleeping bag. My experience is that below about 5C (40F) with an old Neoair (R 2.5) I start to feel cool in the early morning – around 0C (32F) I know the pad does not provide quite enough insulation. Having moved to a new Neoair Xlite (R 3.2) I no longer find any problems at around 0C. Below that I have no real experience.