Cold B/A pad, adding insulation?

[Lee Retzlaff]

I'm new to this site. Maybe/probably this idea/concern has been addressed… I have used my '15* BA Ranger' pretty extensively and for me it is at-best a +40 bag. I'm a cold sleeper and the B/A insulated air pad that fits my BA Ranger just doesn't provide radiant warmth, which I want. What good is 'top-warmth' if the pad is cold… and vice-versa?

I'm considering sewing a light-weight separate sleeve for the B/A pad with a layer of thinsulate, or primaloft, or similar insulation material. (like a 'mattress cover') The air-pad sans thinsulate layer (up) will slide into the Ranger's sleeve.

A closed cell foam option is too bulky. I'm not a minimalist but do want to squish the bag, pad, clothes and etc into a 30L dry bag (preferably 20L) with room to spare. I've noted some forum ideas that use an emergency 'bivy' or similar mylar-type material, but I want something more durable and substantial, at least in my perception…. Secondly, if its hot I can remove the pad cover, or place thinsulate side-down.

Ideas and discussion are much appreciated. Buying another bag is not in the cards, at least until I mess with this one for a while….. Thanks

[Gerald L]

Which BA insulated pad model are you using? I too am a cold sleeper and have used the 0 degree synthetic and then a 0 degree down BA bag. I love the extra shoulder girth that these bags provide but there is no doubt that the bag ratings are wayyyyy over exaggerated. I have tried several different pad combinations and now run the newer blue version of the BA Insulated Air Core @ 3.25" thickness and this pad has worked well for me. I have recently begun to use a quilt and the pad continues to work well as a bottom insulator.

[And E]

The problem with adding a layer of insulation under you is that most of it will be compressed. Although it will add some warmth, you won't be getting the most warmth for the weight/bulk that you'll be bringing.

I know you said you want to be able to pack it all up, but a 1/8" ccf pad like the ones Lawson Equipment carries (or similar) is a really good option. You'll add another R 0.75 and they're extremely durable and rolls up quite small. You can roll/fold it up and put it in your pack like a framesheet or just strap it to the outside.

When I sleep on snow, I usually have my sleeping pad on the bottom then the ccf pad on top of that and sleep directly on the ccf (I use a quilt and Exped Synmat UL7).

[Franco Darioli]

You should be able to fit in that Ranger sleeve either the Exped DM 7 or maybe even the DM 9.
The 7 is rated at R5.8 so it may or may not feel warmer to you but the R8 Exped 9 should be.
Combine the weight and bulk of your BA mat and the intended cover and you may find the Exped to maybe be better than that. (apart from the cost…)
you could take your mat into an Exped dealer , lay down on yours then the Expeds and see if you can feel the difference.

[Jeffs Eleven]

Admittedly I sleep cold, but in my experience my original neoair is warmer than my baiac. Noticeably warmer

Neo is stated at 2.5r and baiac is called 4r but I think that is horribly overstated.

I remember bender's cross section pic of that a pad and is ain't much primaloft up in there.

Personally, now I use the neo xlite large and I don't give a damn about any other pad.

[Anthony Huhn]

Th real problem is that the insulated air core from bg agnes only has insulation at the bottom and top of the air chambers. This is insulation is only about an inch wide strip and is maybe 1/8 inch in height.

I don't know how well it would work resealing the big agnes pads but I know people chop down neos airs.

It wouldn't really be any harder to cut off the sealed edges at the bottom of your pad, slip in tubes of some 5.0 oz apex, and re-seal the pad.

Anthony

[And E]

There is a post floating around here somewhere on shortening an IAC, as I had thought shoot doing that when I used to own one.

As Anthony said, the insulation doesn't fill up the whole chamber so there's a lot of space for the air to move around and get cold.

For re sealing, you'd have to trim back the baffles and insulation from where you're resealing and add strips of heat sealable double sided tape where the baffles used to be before you iron the cut end shut.

[Anthony Huhn]

There is actually pretty good write up about how to do what was described.

I was thinking about it and it would probably be easier to insulate the pad with down rather than synthetic as you wouldn't have to figure out what width to cut insulation or anything like that.

If you did add down you'd probably want to inflate the pad with some sort of big agnes pump house inflation bag, or with the thermarest 2oz electric pump.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=42859

Anthony

[Lee Retzlaff]

20 x 78 x 3.5 insulated Q Core.
I'm going to try some sewing projects with the pad before I invest in a new bag, and/or an expensive pad, although I'm watching the 0* bags, as my Ranger is also 'pre-super down' and I'd like that water resistant feature.
Might try the 1/8" pad on top too.
"Necessity is the mother of invention"

[Gerald L]

If you have a Q-Core that is 3.5" then is it the Q-Core SL? I believe the standard Q-Core is listed as 4" thick. There has been some discussion on this forum about the first run of SLs being up to 2" narrower than the advertised 20" width. This could possibly result in you having an air gap between the pad and the outside baffles on your bag which could be allowing a loss of heat to the ground. The bag and underside sleeve is of course designed for a full 20" width pad.

[Author]

Posts