Thoughts and questions from a night in the rain

[SilvrSurfr]

I have an HG Winter Palace and anytime there's a frog-strangler storm with splash I always hang my pack on the hammock ridgeline. The Winter Palace is similar in size to the Warbonnet Superfly and I just don't feel that an UQP is warranted, no matter what weather I've encountered. Close the doors and the pack stays relatively dry (but I don't mind if it gets wet anyway since I use a compactor bag to store my stuff in the pack).

I doubt seriously the splash you felt in your hammock was from the ground, probably condensation from the tarp. You'd have to be hung pretty low for a raindrop to hit the ground then bounce up over the hammock and down onto you. It just sounds theoretically impossible that a raindrop could hit the ground at the perfect angle under your tarp then jump into the hammock.

[Singingcrowsings]

I'd say you're right about the ground cover. Having all that taken away gave the rain something to bounce off of. I know you were at a site, but when not, site selection will fix this for you. They say an UQP can help.

Oh, and windy hard rain, down tight. Light rain with no wind, nice and open and high.

[SilvrSurfr]

I was at a drive-in campsite a couple of years ago and saw not one, not two, but three different people with brooms sweeping the pine needles and duff away. I've never seen that before. However, I have seen people sweeping snow out from under their tarp, which is usually a bad idea since the snow is an excellent insulator that keeps the ground from freezing.

[Frodo]

I have known some car camping people that sweep the pine needles away just to avoid having them catch fire. If you are going to rock a fire every night and have beer around a fire, it may be a good move to help reduce the risk of random ember catching the pine needles on fire.

[johnspenn]

I was at a drive-in campsite a couple of years ago and saw not one, not two, but three different people with brooms sweeping the pine needles and duff away. I've never seen that before. However, I have seen people sweeping snow out from under their tarp, which is usually a bad idea since the snow is an excellent insulator that keeps the ground from freezing.

That doesn't make any sense to me. IMO I'd rather walk on a bed of duff around camp that just bare dirt, which will turn to mud if there's any precip. Takes all kinds I reckon, HYOH!

[GadgetUK437]

You don't say what size your tarp is.

--
Gadget.

[hitec4you]

i hang my pack on the suspension also under my Superfly. Sometimes I hang it on a tree with the rain cover over it if it is not suppose to rain. (always put the cover on the pack just in case the weatherman is wrong) hehehehe

[Gqgeek81]

The tarp is the HG winter palace. Size is not an issue.

I do hang VERY low as a general habit when alone as it makes it easier to use the hammock as a chair and cook between my feet. The trade-off is that it makes it harder to get out of the hammock with sore legs and feet.

I wish I could have easily grabbed a pile of leaves and tossed them on the ground where the main spatters were coming from to see how/if that helped any.

Apparently I need a back yard and a few sprinklers setup.

[WalksIn2Trees]

I bring a full sized gear hammock, which shares my suspension and hangs just under me. It gets splattered on sometimes, but my gear inside of it, and my hammock and quilts above it does not, plus if for some reason my hammock fails I can use the gear hammock instead... Granted I'm on a bicycle so the extra gear doesn't affect me much

[piknchikn]

I live in Kentucky and totally understand what you are describing. That ground is down right vicious if there is not any ground cover. I would just stick to better site selection and not overthink it. That gorge ground is literally a trampoline for water when bare.