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Re: [RC] [RC] questions! - Ed & Wendy HauserI guess I can speak with some authority on sleeping in the cold. In the '70's I invented Thinsulate (R) thermal insulation. In the course of this work I consulted with the US Army Quartermaster Corps at Natick Mass. There are a bunch of things to consider. Sleeping bags are designed to stuff small for carrying. Underneath you they compress until they are very thin (say 1/4" or even less thick). Now this insulation is relatively efficient, it is just not very thick. Add an air mattress. You have created an air space. This air space is good insulation, but since there is nothing in it the thickness really doesn't matter. It's like a storm window. If you add foam that doesn't compress completely, you have added say 1" of relatively good insulation. This inch of foam (from a backpacker pad) will be 4 or 5 times the insulation of the air mattress. Back packer stores, like REI, have a whole bunch of foam pads that work quite well. They also cost a bunch. If you have room to store it in your truck, a piece of extruded polystyrene house insulation covered with a thin layer of plywood (to protect it), would make an excellent ground pad, and be much cheaper than a good backpacker pad. Ed Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower Road Victor, MT 59875 ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx 406.642.6490 ============================================================ The two best drugs to have in your kit are Tincture of Time and a Dose of Common Sense. These two will carry you through 99.999% of the problems associated with horses and endurance competition. ~ Robert Morris ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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