Just got my HH dialed in since finding this forum. Now I want a WBBB XLC. Looks sleek and love the shelf but I’m worried about the setup taking a lot to get right....
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Just got my HH dialed in since finding this forum. Now I want a WBBB XLC. Looks sleek and love the shelf but I’m worried about the setup taking a lot to get right....
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Fear not; the basic tips -- a lower hang angle and a higher foot end -- while they may not be immediately intuitive to the XLC newcomer, are easy enough to follow and become second nature with a little first-hand experience. The dialed-in XLC provides a great night of sleep and tons of functionality, and the latest generation is much improved, providing extra convenience and a more modular hammock system.Quote:
Originally Posted by UL_Goose
I received my new XLC in the mail today.....cannot wait to sleep in this hammock !!!!!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...85cba6c40a.jpg
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Thanks, I think I’ll give it a try as soon as I get a few extra dollars. It looks like an awesome hammock. Now I got to save a little cash.Quote:
Originally Posted by kitsapcowboy
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4) Netless Mode: One of the benefits of the convertible XLC, in addition to its ability to stow the net/cover, rolled and tied out of the way, is that when the net/cover is zipped off it becomes a standard 11-foot gathered hammock, great for casual lounging or for shoulder-season weight reduction during months with neither bugs nor snow.
zippered entry, and all the interior features in easy reach. Occupying one is efficient and enjoyable.
The new Eldorado seems like a nice priced setup. I understand that the Eldorado is built on a xlc body & from what it appears is the footbox is created by the excess of net fabric. When in netless mode what happens to the footbox & is there excessive material flop near the head once net is completely removed?
IIRC the El Dorado hammock body is still a typical symmetrical rectangular gathered-end design just like the XLC; all the magic is in the cut of the top so it reverts to the shape of a Traveller XL.Quote:
Originally Posted by ShortRound
It would be similar to any end gathered hammock in that the amount of excess material would largely be determined by how you are laying in it, if you are laying on most of that fabric there would be little excess left, if you are laying more down the middle there would be alot of un used fabric on either side of you.Quote:
Originally Posted by ShortRound
The footbox fabric that is above your feet (netting) comes off when the top is removed (XLC and ELD)
Good gosh you can write Cowboy! I hope someday soon you’ll gather your extensive hammock and related experiences together and publish a book.
Your post #31, the 3 tips to hang a WBBXL, is very useful.
I also appreciate this: “Fear not; the basic tips -- a lower hang angle and a higher foot end -- while they may not be immediately intuitive to the XLC newcomer, are easy enough to follow and become second nature with a little first-hand experience.”
I’ve applied these hanging techniques to the 10’ WBBB and they’ve worked. I’ve not know what the heck I was doing with the WBBB and still found my sweet spot. I’ve never had a bad hang with WB. Maybe being exhausted while hiking and learning on the fly over several weeks helped.
I’m looking forward to your next review. About anything.
Slack Packhiker, thank you so much for your kind compliments; I am very glad you found this review and the information and advice it contains to be useful.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slack Packhiker
I am currently experiencing some challenges to my pursuit of the hammock hobby as I await the resolution of deliberation by the HF staff regarding my membership status and restrictions on my DIY activities, so your encouragement gives me hope that I may be able to continue to gain knowledge and experience in all aspects of hammocks and continue to share it here.
I want very much to continue to contribute to this community, to support it in any way I can, to foster its harmony and unity, and to see it flourish as a direct result.
Note to admins: I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do (to resurrect an old review basically and add my own experience) or if I should post a new thread instead. Please let me know/move into its own thread if that's better.
Anyway, here goes: Hi everyone!
I've been lurking on the forum for quite some time now and after a brief excursion into "cheap (probably Chinese) Amazon hammock" land I splurged and got a BB XLC. That's a big splurge considering the USD to CAD rate, so don't tell the SO :scared:
Same for me actually, three nights so far, one of which I awoke to some heavy rain on my tarp that really wanted to make me go pee :lol:! Now we're having thunderstorms and not just rain, so for now, no further testing. Anyway the tarp is not a WB one so let's leave that out of this. I've set this up between two trees in the yard for trials (and Covid ...).
Just like the original reviewer here, I definitely like my WBBB XLC a lot and I will keep it, don't get me wrong. I just wanted to mention a few things that may help others and maybe someone has some tips for me on how to deal with some of the things I found so far.
- Awesome service from the Warbonnet folks! They answer emails promptly and are a breeze to deal with, especially considering the times we live in now.
- Awesome fabric and quality of workmanship. There was nothing wrong with the first cheap hammock we got but when we wanted a second one with a bugnet included we went wrong twice and sent them back to Amazon. Then I ordered my BB XLC ;)
- I really like the fabric (did I mention that? And I'm not well versed in that regard - I know there's different kinds but my choice was basically whatever was in stock in the color and lightweight double). Might be because double layer too but it really helps in that I don't have to go as high up the tree so that I don't sit on the ground when I get into the hammock. Not a big deal in the yard because I can use the trampoline stepladder but still, easier and faster.
- I find the shelf really is as awesome as everyone says. Especially since I have less space to hang stuff in here vs. my cheap add-on bugnet, which I'd hang from the tarp ridge line which created lots of airiness. How do you know you have too much stuff in it tho? Especially when I put my battery pack in there with other stuff, it sags down quite a bit. Do you guys just not use the shock cord and use regular tie out lines?
- the bugnet is really good quality vs. the cheap one I got for the other hammock. Much better to see through.
- I won't hold back on the not-so-great things here and I kinda gotta say that head right layers like me seem "underserved". Here's what I mean:
- no instructions on how to reverse lay. I checked YouTube but everyone seems to just time lapse through it coz it's so easy (it's not when you're as dumb as me :tongueup:). So I put it on the wrong way and ended up with zippers that wouldn't go all the way because I had the short head side zippers zipped to the long side zippers of the hammock. Yes if you really look at the videos you can see that they only reverse it one way, not both but hey... that stumped me for longer than I care to admit :lol: *oops* ;)
- the bugnet tie out attachments at the head are different depending on lay direction (different type of loop sewn on one vs the other side). I'm not sure it makes a difference tie out wise but it confused me even more during setup and I thought I was doing something wrong - which I was but in a different way than I thought. I guess it's one if those "not a big deal on its own" kinda things but if it compounds it's weird.
- Now this is something that happens whether I lay head right or left. I feel like I need two tie outs to keep it off the face instead of just the one. Using just the shock cord to pull it to one stake it falls in between the attachment points and onto my face, especially when I use a pillow and double especially when I use the pillow fully blown up for reading during the day but with the bugnet on as my head comes up higher then. Since I've tried laying the WB preferred way for one night, it seems to me that I naturally go lower in the hammock that way somehow and it's less of an issue even though the 'head box' is still 'falling in'. Is this something anyone else has experienced? Is there a special way to tie the shock cord out to avoid this and have a properly straight bugnet in the 'head box'?
- theres nothing to tie the bugnet back on one side of the hammock, which means I gotta fully remove it during the day if I don't need it as it or hang the hammock the other way around (which I might not want to do at a given location - hint: my yard)
- I am trying to get used to head left now and am noticing that with the double layer it also makes a big difference because the opening is now no longer where my foot is. Can I turn the hammock itself inside out to reverse that or is that not supported/makes no sense because of the two different fabrics and maybe some other things?
- Entering from the side with the bugnet tie back fabric strips is harder. It flops around and makes opening and closing more cumbersome because you have to be careful that it doesn't catch on the zipper. How did you guys solve this? A slippery half hitch on each kinda works for me so far to keep out of the way most times but those do sometimes pull out when they shouldn't and it still catches sometimes, even with the hitches intact
- it's much harder to close the zipper on that side because the feet are in the foot box there pulling on the fabric and the bugnet starts hitting my head too (I'm 6'0"). I have to put the feet on the other side as much as I can and/or pull the bugnet toward the zipper. Then it's smooth. Mostly a head right and enter same side as footbox problem for me.
- Back to really great things about this hammock: I went with a double layer so that I could just reuse the accordion foam pad I have from tent camping. I still manage to push it into the wrong place sometimes while wiggling into the sleeping bag but it is soooo much better than having it directly under you within the hammock. The double layer keeps it flat and mostly in place. And if it does shift it just makes the hammock fabric stick out a bit and I don't even necessarily have to get out and adjust it. Awesome until I can convince myself about a UQ. On the rainy night I mentioned it was also much warmer so I left out the pad and just put a little self-inflatable sit-pad under my back and it stayed in place awesomely!
- having zippers on both sides is awesome, as it allows access to more stuff outside as I can use both sides now!
- I went with the webbing suspension and it is a breeze. The tree straps I had before are much wider though which I really liked (they're basically car seat belts). I might just use the BB suspension biners to hooking into those.
- I'm still having ankle pain in the morning. I thought getting an 11' would solve that on its own (had a 10' before - as mentioned I'm 6'0"). Weirdly enough it's better if I lay in the WB standard lay direction, though I still get it in my right foot then. I do have a pillow under the knees. This is not calf ridge, it's the outer foot ankle that hurts, I suppose from pushing against the outside hammock fabric too much. I think it might have to do with how much higher the foot end is set vs. the head end too? Can someone confirm that and how do you guys figure out you have the recommended 12"-18", especially on the trail where you set up again every night?
Phew! That's it for now, I might update/post again once the weather is better, though it's heading into fall here in Canada now. Good time to test out the 0F sleeping bag and get started on making a tetrahedron for the garage in winter (as mentioned, not ready for a UQ and hanging in -40 in the yard yet. Kudos to Shug for doing that - and on the trail too with no 'backup' of just going inside the house *brrrrr*)