Thinking outside the box mattress
It's winter here.
Zero degrees Fahrenheit with a -18 wind chill tonight. (That's -18 and -28 for y'all metric folks.)
That's not what it feels like inside, but the dry air certainly helps make everything feel colder than the same sixty-ish room temps (15-18 C) when it's humid.
I am cold.
And I sleep in a hammock.
Hammocks aren't like beds in so many ways.
For one, the insulation a hammock offers all on its own is about on par with a fitted sheet. (I specify a fitted sheet, because y'all sleep on top of it, as opposed to other sheets, which you sleep beneath.)
You know what else you sleep on top of that provides you with insulation?
Your mattress.
Whether it's a cheap twin, one of those purple grid things, or a several-thousand-dollar slab... it provides you with insulation.
For me... there's just air down there.
I'm hanging in space.
Air is pretty good at stealing heat.
Most of the year, (except when it's uncomfortably warm) I sleep with a large down blanket folded over me, half beneath and half o'er top. But down doesn't do so well when it's compressed.
Fortunately, there is a way for me to get some sub-body insulation:
I hang it underneath the hammock.
In that position, it's usually referred to as an "underquilt".
The best way to add insulation to a hammock is almost always to add it to the outside instead of the inside. Underquilt, overquilt, mylar tarp or rainfly...
But it just doesn't beat the feeling of curling up swaddled inside a blanket.
Leave a comment or continue reading: other Sunday posts or continue hanging out with my hammock.
