I'm currently hiking the AT and am having a little trouble with cold from the ground. I have a Klimit inertia torso length on top of an 1/8" pad with my gear and a sitpad under my legs. I'm looking for something to add to this to help until the weather turns. Would a reflective blanket help or that reflective bubble wrap from the hardware store?

My bad is a WM 20 degree and the temps are in the high 20's.
I'll be in Hiawassee in a couple days and hope to make adjustments there.

Thank you.

What clothing are you wearing in bag? What shelter/tent?

1. Make sure head, torso and feet are insulated well (wear most/all clothing)
2. Try heatsheet (better version of emergency blanket) under klymit and on top of 1/8" pad, or under both to see if any difference
3. Consider full length closed cell foam under klymit

Some may debate whether closed cell foam should be on top of klymit in those temps.

Edited by jshann on 03/09/2013 04:22:22 MST.

http://cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/mattresses/fast-and-light/z-lite/product

I had a lot of trouble with my body heat leeching to the ground. i noticed a marked improvement in comfort when I added in a reflective layer. I was very sceptical if it was going to work or not but I usually end up wearing all my clothes in my sleeping bag and still have issues from time to time. I am now looking at a down jacket to wear in the sleeping bag. The problem I think comes from your bodyweight compressing whatever is below and thus reducing th e effectiveness of down in the sleeping bag, and the reduced width of the sleeping mat.

I'd also recommend using the HeetSheets thermal-reflective groundsheet.
And put the Klymit pad inside your sleeping bag, because it stays warmer that way.
You can use the CCF pad under the sleeping bag, and on top of the groundsheet.

With the Klymit pad inside the bag, it stays as warm as you are. It allows the bottom of the bag to give some loft in the "loft pockets" of the Klymit pad, and it also dramatically reduces any convective heat losses or conductive heat losses to the cold air outside.

The main problems with air pads is that they are too thick, causing convection losses, and they are too exposed to the cold outside air, especially on the sides of thick pads, causing conductive losses.
And you squash all the down loft underneath you that is in the bottom half of your bag, so it doesn't insulate well.
Putting the Klymit pad inside your bag addresses all of these issues, and there will be an improvement.

the Zlite is THAT GOOD. Highly recommend. Say Hi when you go over Greylock in Massachusetts, I'll hike it with you.

I don't think the Klymit has enough warmth. I like Tom's advice of putting it inside the bag and buy, at minimum, a ZRest when you stop.

Maybe try (from ground up): 1/8" pad, ZRest, WM bag with Klymit inside. If that doesn't work for you, maybe mail the Klymit ahead for the warmer months and invest in something with an R-value of 4 or higher and use that on top of the 1/8" CCF. You won't have to carry it for that long and any added weight should be offset by decent sleep.

Good Luck! You're are almost there! Heh Heh

Edited by saparisor on 03/09/2013 10:19:10 MST.

I'm in Hiawassee and will go to the outfitter and see what my options are. My options may be slim here but I could wait till franklin. As long as I can get this taken care of by the smokies I should be in fine shape.

Thank you for the suggestions I will post back with the outcome.

We grabbed a couple of space blankets and will try them out for a couple of day. This will give us the opportunity to switch to something more drastic if need be when we get to a larger outfitter.
Thanks