Heaviest insulation on the bottom or the top? Which is more efficient?

[Mitchell Ebbott]

I'm primarily a ground sleeper, but I'm starting to dabble in hammocking as well. I have a Hammock Gear Burow 20 on order, and I'm planning to make a summer quilt with 2.5oz Apex in the near future. Besides giving me a wider temperature range on the ground, the idea is that if I want to hang in moderate temperatures I can use one as a top quilt and one as an underquilt.

So my question is this: would it be warmer to use the Burrow on top and the Apex quilt on the bottom, or the other way around? Where is the most heat lost?

[icefest From Australia]

The initial warmest is the less dense insulation on top of the more dense insulation. This limits compression of the insulation.

This results in condensation where the temperature gradient in the insulation drops below the dew point. Usually this is in the outer layer.

In the long run, having the down on top will result in wet down and a cold night.

Thus most hikers prefer synthetic on top – as it will dry faster and be warmer when wet.

[Mitchell Ebbott]

Ah, I think my question was unclear. I'm aware that synthetic on top is best if I'm layering the quilts one of top of the other. My question is about hammock camping in more moderate temperatures, using one as a top quilt and another as an underquilt.

[icefest From Australia]

I'm sorry, I can't help with that. :/

[Kattt]

I use a good warm underquilt and I often need very little on top. It helps if the underquilt is wide enough to go up the sides a bit.

[Bob Gross]

Kat, you ought to see about fabricating a quilt liner out of mountain lion fur.

–B.G.–

[Rick Reno]

With a warm U/Q, you'll be surprised how little you need on top. For 3seasons I usually use an Xtherm under me, and a light quilt on top; works great on the ground, too.

Check out https://hammockforums.net/forum/content.php

[Michael Gunderloy]

Try sleeping in the hammock without any insulation on a 65-degree night (in your backyard, so you can bail out). If you're like me, you'll find that your bottom side gets cold much faster than your top. I went with underquilt first, and that was definitely the right decision.

[D C]

I love my 20* Burrow but, the Incubator underquilt was the game changer. If you have the DIY skills to make your own top quilt, cancel the Burrow and get an Incubator underquilt instead.

My 20* Incubator gets me down to single digits in the winter and is comfortable into the 60-70 degree range. The design/ differential cut of the Incubator makes it super easy to fit with very little fiddling. I find that heat radiates back up from the buttom quilt and on mild evenings I need nearly nothing on top.

I started hammock camping with a pad but, I will never hammock camp without a HG Incubator underquilt again.

[Mitchell Ebbott]

Thanks for the tips everybody! Looks like down on the bottom is the way to go. This should save me some painful experimentation—apartment living means no backyard testing, so my gear tests are overnight trips at least.

DC, I'm getting the burrow primarily for ground dwelling (will be using it on the JMT this summer), and I have absolutely no confidence in my ability to sew a down quilt. A 2.5 Apex quilt looks simple enough (and cheap enough) for a stitchwork neophyte like myself to try, but down is a totally different animal.

The underquilt functionality is really just an afterthought. I haven't yet done any hammocking at all, but I'd like to give it a try so I picked up a Grand Trunk Ultralight and some whoopie slings. I'm not in a place to spend money on hammock-specific insulation, I'm just looking to multipurpose my ground gear.

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