pad/underquilt combo

[RS Cope]

Does a pad add to the warmth of a underquilt in a hammock? I mean, not including the quilt insulating your sides where the pad does not, just the bottom. I've read and experienced lately how less seems to be more when it comes to using down insulation – the less I have inbetween my skin and the down the warmer I am. It also seems to prevent me from getting too warm, as if there is better regulation of body temps that way. So, with a pad inbetween my torso and the down, seems to me like I would be getting less out of that setup than more. But, that's not what I'm being told by some folks who should know. What would be the consensus here?

[Steven McAllister]

A pad can add warmth, if you can get it to stay under you.
I've always had problems getting a narrow pad to stay in place, even inside of the two layers of a double layer hammock.

People do use various methods to hold the pad in place, but it would have to be a pad with a good 'R' rating to add noticeable warmth to an underquilt.

[Kevin Babione]

My experience with under quilts comes from hammocking in Pennsylvania in temperatures from the upper teens through the 70's. For me the underquilt is the most important component of my sleep insulation. My ratio is just an estimate, but for me I'd say that 70% of my comfort comes from the underquilt with the remaining 30% from my top quilt. It's when the underquilt shifts that I notice a cold spot. I've found I can carry a very light top quilt (I have a BPL UL 60 quilt that I've used down into the low 40's) as long as I have a warm UQ. I've also been known to lay my Montbell Ex Light down jacket over me if I get cold on top.

I tried sleeping on a pad once in the hammock and then tried a second time with a double-layer hammock and found just too many cold spots to be comfortable. Since my first UQ I haven't looked back.

[Jesus Cardenas]

But in my small play time with a Women's XLITE and an underquilt I was extremely hot in not so cold temperatures, I felt more heat on my back with the xlite than without.

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