Klymit Hammock V, a good idea or not

With a higher R value I can see it working in a bridge hammock.

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Originally Posted by Dutch

I tried this out and I thought it was too heavy and too expensive. But it would be good if you had to go to ground.

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You get all the cool toys! :cool:

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Originally Posted by Texas Hanger

Completely agree about the R Value. 1.6 is too low. It's good to see a company innovate in the Hammock camping market. But I think they missed the mark. They should design thier own hammock with a sleeve (on a diagonal) for the insulated V Luxe. At 30 inches it provides insulation for the sides and has an R Value of 4.5.

A really smart engineer would design the system with ground sleeping options in case your adventure takes you to an environment with multiple terrains/hanging opportunities.

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Originally Posted by Passinthru

Yes - this is what the world needs...preferably a double layer bridge hammock with integrated tarp with the capability of being pitched without poles. Just in case...

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OH UH AH ME! (kid with his hand raised in the back)

I have that hammock! Doing some final prototyping now specifically for those of us who do mixed camping and or may own backpacking gear but not hammock gear.
Attachment 137047Attachment 137048

The green one- 36" bars shows the basic bridge in single layer. That fits a Neo-Air Large (or xtherm) as well as most any pad of that size or smaller. It works well in single layer as is, but I also prefer a double layer.
The micro bridge is the tarp design I plan to scale up to match it (no stakes needed) as that is a functional ground tarp as well.

As to why (to answer some others)...
I enjoy the AT out east, I enjoy hammock camping but come from a SUL ground dwelling background. But no matter what anyone tells you about the shelters... If it's pouring all day and you can get three walls and a roof- you probably will take it, lol. Rather than being a jerk and hanging in the shelter- you can just spread your pad and go to bed.

Also- shelters aside. There are many beautiful places like Max Patch, the southern balds, above tree line up north or dozens of places that you should camp at in your lifetime that are impossible for a hammock. There are also hostels and other places that you may stay in towns that makes sense to ground out. You may simply want to cowboy camp (or sleep behind the bushes at the Post office) in town as well or along the way. There are places like the smokies you are not supposed to hang.

Anywho... being free to do what you want is nice... pads with gathered ends are not a ton of fun, but a bridge works pretty well at minimal weight penalty for the extra convenience (vs and UQ).
If you plan to ground out often- tossing a piece of window shrink wrap serves well as a WP groundsheet. Otherwise just put the bridge body down with out the poles in it to protect your pad... though many of us have used Neo-Airs right on the ground with little issue.

On the Kymit mat itself...

http://www.exped.com/usa/en/product-...-hyperlite-duo

this mat is same weight- R3.3- has split chambers- and is a much better shape for hammocks I think.

It can be comfortably tossed into the bridge above when I share it with my kids- and it is acceptable if not pretty decent in a wide body gathered end.

Kudos to Klymit as always for trying new things... but I think they tend to get a little too clever sometimes and this appears to be the case here.

Here's two pics I found-
The Exped mat in an 11' Hex 70XL and in a 36" recessed spreader bar bridge prototype

Attachment 137049

Attachment 137050

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Originally Posted by Just Bill

OH UH AH ME! (kid with his hand raised in the back)

I have that hammock! Doing some final prototyping now specifically for those of us who do mixed camping and or may own backpacking gear but not hammock gear.
Attachment 137047Attachment 137048

The green one- 36" bars shows the basic bridge in single layer. That fits a Neo-Air Large (or xtherm) as well as most any pad of that size or smaller. It works well in single layer as is, but I also prefer a double layer.
The micro bridge is the tarp design I plan to scale up to match it (no stakes needed) as that is a functional ground tarp as well.

As to why (to answer some others)...
I enjoy the AT out east, I enjoy hammock camping but come from a SUL ground dwelling background. But no matter what anyone tells you about the shelters... If it's pouring all day and you can get three walls and a roof- you probably will take it, lol. Rather than being a jerk and hanging in the shelter- you can just spread your pad and go to bed.

Also- shelters aside. There are many beautiful places like Max Patch, the southern balds, above tree line up north or dozens of places that you should camp at in your lifetime that are impossible for a hammock. There are also hostels and other places that you may stay in towns that makes sense to ground out. You may simply want to cowboy camp (or sleep behind the bushes at the Post office) in town as well or along the way. There are places like the smokies you are not supposed to hang.

Anywho... being free to do what you want is nice... pads with gathered ends are not a ton of fun, but a bridge works pretty well at minimal weight penalty for the extra convenience (vs and UQ).
If you plan to ground out often- tossing a piece of window shrink wrap serves well as a WP groundsheet. Otherwise just put the bridge body down with out the poles in it to protect your pad... though many of us have used Neo-Airs right on the ground with little issue.

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I love the design. It's just exactly what I had in mind when I was thinking about the perfect hammoc...a cross between a bridge and a gathered end hammock that would work well with both a pad and an underquilt since all other options work best with one or the other. I am very interested to see how this progresses and if there is a design option to incorporate hiking poles instead of spreader bars for the bridge...like a pocket on one side for the handle with a grommet on the other for the pole tip.

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Originally Posted by DuneElliot

I love the design. It's just exactly what I had in mind when I was thinking about the perfect hammoc...a cross between a bridge and a gathered end hammock that would work well with both a pad and an underquilt since all other options work best with one or the other. I am very interested to see how this progresses and if there is a design option to incorporate hiking poles instead of spreader bars for the bridge...like a pocket on one side for the handle with a grommet on the other for the pole tip.

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Thanks... had a feeling I wasn't too by my lonesome in pursuing the idea.
I don't use hiking poles (and use the bridge poles for other things) but first thought is that I don't know why anything Grizz has put out on the subject would not apply to this design. I'm just not familiar enough with poles and conversions though to say for sure. I do plan on getting a version to another member here though to test and that was something they wanted to sort out... so hopefully soon.

The other thought- as UQ's fit a bridge so well- I've been debating an UQ style pad sleeve. Instead of integrating the double layer it could be hung like an UQ. That would let it do triple duty in a sense.
You'd keep your base bridge single layer and then:
Add a normal UQ- no attachment
Add a pad attachment layer if you wanted a pad (which then you could more easily replace if you use it on the ground or in shelters and it wears)
As a bonus- you could put the pad attachment over your UQ as a wind/splash shield if you go that route (as in it's not a total waste to own even if you will rarely use a pad).

If your UQ is much wider than 40", you'd probably want a bridge specific UQ- you can hang a normal one well enough- but it's hard to close the gaps at the midpoint well in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by Just Bill

Thanks... had a feeling I wasn't too by my lonesome in pursuing the idea.
I don't use hiking poles (and use the bridge poles for other things) but first thought is that I don't know why anything Grizz has put out on the subject would not apply to this design. I'm just not familiar enough with poles and conversions though to say for sure. I do plan on getting a version to another member here though to test and that was something they wanted to sort out... so hopefully soon.

The other thought- as UQ's fit a bridge so well- I've been debating an UQ style pad sleeve. Instead of integrating the double layer it could be hung like an UQ. That would let it do triple duty in a sense.
You'd keep your base bridge single layer and then:
Add a normal UQ- no attachment
Add a pad attachment layer if you wanted a pad (which then you could more easily replace if you use it on the ground or in shelters and it wears)
As a bonus- you could put the pad attachment over your UQ as a wind/splash shield if you go that route (as in it's not a total waste to own even if you will rarely use a pad).

If your UQ is much wider than 40", you'd probably want a bridge specific UQ- you can hang a normal one well enough- but it's hard to close the gaps at the midpoint well in my opinion.

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Some great ideas there. I was thinking like a pocket similar to this, or something with a velcro wrap to hold it in place:

http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/bl...1-1024x794.jpg

And I just realized I totally high-jacked this thread...my apologies.

Or this: https://www.tarptent.com/store/trekk...handle-adapter

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Originally Posted by Just Bill

Add a pad attachment layer if you wanted a pad (which then you could more easily replace if you use it on the ground or in shelters and it wears)
As a bonus- you could put the pad attachment over your UQ as a wind/splash shield if you go that route (as in it's not a total waste to own even if you will rarely use a pad).

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I did exactly that with my WBRR diy UQ. ....added a sleeve simply to extend the temp range of the UQ..
But in a pinch I guess I can crawl in between the pad and the UQ (being on top) for ground sleeping.