I carry 2 medium-sized binder clips as part of my standard emergency kit. Thousands of uses. I side sleep mostly on my left side. So I simply clip one edge of the quilt that will mostly be my back...
Type: Posts; User: Grumpy Squatch
I carry 2 medium-sized binder clips as part of my standard emergency kit. Thousands of uses. I side sleep mostly on my left side. So I simply clip one edge of the quilt that will mostly be my back...
If your tarp doesn't have reinforced edges on the doors, reinforce them. The light fabrics we use can't handle the strain of pulling the doors open. If you don't have a grosgrain edge to set the snap...
I've been hiking the Whites for more than 25 years and I"d add only 1 caveat: while hammocking (and camping) is permitted in areas not under special restriction (like in the krummholz and above...
I guess I'm opposite of most people: with rare exception I refuse to sleep outside if the overnight temperatures are above 60° F (my hiking partner and I refuse to sleep outside in July or August)....
Tarp worms from Dutch all day long. I've used Atwood 1.2 mm micro cord for more than 5 years as tarp tie-outs and have worms on every tarp. At the stake end I use a Marlin Spike hitch when I use a...
Lots of people have trouble sleeping in a hammock. I often have trouble sleeping in my bed at home, and the strange environment with all the noises in the woods often makes things worse. It was no...
My friends with boats recommend this: https://thinkobex.com/products/obex-boat-wash. Bleach can harm fabrics, and vinegar works only when the mold os fresh. This is the stuff they break out in Spring...
I was in Arizona for a weekend last September. Stayed there after a business trip to Phoenix and Tucson ended on Friday and I had to be in California on Monday. Didn't camp, but did rent a motorcycle...
In parts of Massachusetts and New England where the white pines bloom we suffer from the yellow scourge for several months a year. I've lived in New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and...
I think this might offer some insights, but I think there are far too many variables in a real-world test like this. Thru-hikers experience different weather so some bags are soaked and others...
Big question is whether or not you want a display while it's in use. If you only want historical data or to check after testing, then a data logger without a display works fine. I use a Senonics...
Snow can often set up pretty hard over night and after a day or two freeze deadman anchors pretty tightly. I wouldn't risk having to chip my trekking poles out of ice. Plus, poles are pretty thin - a...
The sort of standard watter bottle setup for winter hiking is a Hunersdorf 1L HDPE wide-mouth bottle in either an OR Bottle Parka or (my preference) a Forty Below neoprene Bottle Boot. Both...
I would seriously re-think using mukluks. In 25 years I have never seen them in the mountains of New England for two reasons: first, you can't attach crampons to them and our freeze-thaw cycles often...
I really have no idea what kinds of experience you have, but the questions you're asking give me significant concerns. Without hyperbole, you may be risking death or losing fingers/toes or worse...
I measured this in a backyard experiment a few years ago: https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php/121734-Experiment-How-Much-Warmth-Does-an-Overcover-Add
TL;DR - a topcover adds between...
Do you mean Scotchlite reflective fabric? Like this: https://www.ebay.com/p/3M-8910-Silver-Reflective-Tape-Fabric-13-X-109yd/1000236364?iid=272356323175
This is correct. Achieving "bang for the buck" is easier by reducing the price since cord is pretty much cord and for tie-outs there really aren't any features to differentiate one from another. It's...
Nope. I can only fall asleep on my side, whether in my bed at home, on a pad on the ground, or in my hammock. I always use a pillow under my head, never my knees. The head pillow allows you to put an...
Can confirm both Black Rock's quality and Shug as my source of discovery. I like my Black Rock hat for activities where I"m not sweating buckets, so usually late in the day in camp or after a while...
The Northeast is a big area. Western MA is a long way from northern Maine or New Hampshire both geographically and climatologically, so narrowing down where you want to go will help.
Most of my...
I actually think this is incorrect for the exact reason you mention. The ability to compress and recover seems to be a property of down and the structure of the fibers themselves, particularly how...
Some years I might chance it, but we have had an exceptionally wet late Summer and Fall, so the ground is pretty saturated and trees more likely to uproot in high winds. I think I'd skip this one.
This FTW.
I've used several varieties of buckles and whoopies down to -15° F with no issues. The problem is when you have warm wet days and freezing nights. While I've never had a whoopie become...
The short version is probably this: it's not Jacks R Better's fault.
Almost no VPN service that is affordable assigns a dedicated IP address to a specific user, instead, they have a pool of IP...
After years in regular width hammocks, my latest is a wide Chameleon for one reason: so the floppier fabric reduces pressure on my outside foot. I agree that the lay is no flatter, but the increased...
Several threads discuss that here. Not aware of anyone that has a definitive cause, but there are some physiologic changes that heppen with temperature, including what's known as "cold diuresis"...
As a lifetime denizen of the North, I try to avoid camping when overnight low temps are above 50°. I've done it ... but I hate it. For New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, that means that only July and...
If you want to add to that appreciation, read Tall Trees, Tough Men by Robert Pike: https://www.amazon.com/Trees-Anecdotal-History-Logging-Log-Driving/dp/0393319172.
Not that many threads on Hammock Forums that hold my interest for 6 pages like this one has. I've enjoyed re-reading it, taking something new away every time. It keeps generating new thoughts, which...
This:
I am an olny child and a true introvert. I really dislike groups of people. The only person I backpack with is my best friend of 42 years. We met when we were six. I can tolerate him by...
For years if I was using my 70-liter pack I did the trash compactor bag thing, especially in Winter when the chance of rain is 0. But I really hate this method. I hate fighting to squeeze the air out...
Nylon is impervious to most things, but not bleach. Be very careful with even a mild bleach solution. Also note that the coatings on somenylon fabrics react differently than the fabric itself. There...
Easiest is probably Hough's Neck in Quincy at the Maritime Center. It's a little over 1/2 mile to the end of Peddocks and 1.5 to the camping area. See...
Like everything it depends on factors. Shug is right as usual - wind is the biggest. I hike in (black) bear country mostly and they are becoming more of a problem in recent years, so I will usually...
Here's an Osprey Exos 48 set up for an overnight w/ 20º quilts. Quilts in compression sacks is the only way I can fit into 48 liters. In my 70 liter pack I can leave them loose and use a trash...
Generally agree with this thread. My usual hiking partner is my best friend I've known since we were 6. We have only once (I am proud to say) spent a single night in a shelter, tentsite, or other...
Hung with OutdoorInk rainbow straps I assume. I'll chip in if you order the fabric printed with this:
167269
Sure, Ashley first warned of its unsuitability for use as a bend in the beginning of the book (nice quote BTW), but we are talking about tarp tie-outs here and not rigging pianos over sidewalks. Do I...
The answer is no one knows because there are too many variables to test without spending tens of thousands of dollars that no user or manufacturer cares to invest for no real return. So, like "which...
I know many people love splicing for fun, but I never understood the fascination with "dogbones" when a well-tied square/reef knot will yield nearly 75% of a rope's full strength. Especially for...
As others have said, Zing-It and Lash-It are both coated ropes so they slide better which reduces their holding capability. Over time this coating can wear off and the knots will hold better, but it...
Don't think I ever photographed it. Nothing special at all - just use a set of Dutch's with Reflect-It. I have several tarps so I like having one stake pouch with everything I might need and then I...
I'm sure I'm in the minority but I don't like keeping line attached to either my stakes or my tarps. I like to stuff my tarp and go and not worry about rolling up 10 dangling lines. And where I...
Although having a "really long dogbone" could be handy, when I played with a CRL I never finished the end and just attached the hook with an anchor hitch (https://www.animatedknots.com/anchor/)....
IMHO, an ordered list:
1: Good video (clear, concise, good sound, short, well-filmed, nicely narrated)
2: Photos
.
.
.
99,999: most videos I see (shaky, waaaaaaaaaay too long, too much...
Coldest night I ever spent in a hammock early in my hanging was on a small hill east of the Shoal Pond trail just south of the junction of the Ethan Pond Trail in May. Forecast for the higher summits...
Many of us who have tried pads or similar systems came to the same conclusion: condensation just isn't comfortable. These days I only carry a pad if I believe going to ground is a very real...
What they said. I'll second somniferous' comment though: in 25+ years I have never once stayed in a designated site, and I've never failed to find a legal or other heavily used place for a tent or...
I've hiked the Whites for 25+ years and feel your pain. During parts of the Spring/Summer/Fall we might as well be Pacific Northwest rainforest.
When I got into hammocking years ago this was part...