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  1. #1
    New Member ezwicky's Avatar
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    set up my new hammock and tarp this weekend. 1st impressions (WBBB XLC & superfly)

    hi all,

    i received my first hammock / tarp late last week, and set up in my backyard to try to get the "hang" of things. i will add some pics at the bottom of this post so you all can critique or correct anything you see that i am doing wrong.

    so here's a few first impressions of my warbonnet blackbird XLC and superfly tarp, as well as a 2nd-hand enlightened-equipment 20-degree top-quilt i purchased from an inmate, also last week.

    the trees are 14' apart. i started with the webbing right at the level of the top of my head, and adjusted the buckles to get a 30-degree hang angle, using my hand as a guide (thumb straight up, palm facing sideways, as in the ultimate hang book). i also set it so the head end was lower than the foot end, just a bit.

    then i made a continuous ridgeline and centered the tarp over the hammock. staked everything out as per the video on the warbonnet site, except the doors.

    i sat sideways in the hammock and it was a bit low, so i raised the webbing a bit higher on the trees. got back in and laid down with my feet in the foot-box and my head off to the other side, diagonally. it was kind of weird. i found that i had to stick my left elbow out to the side in order to tighten the fabric so that my head was not dropping off to the left.

    i also noticed that zipping up the bug-net tensed things up for the better, making the left-elbow jab less necessary. this is with the sides staked out, left and right, to keep the bug-net off my face and to also effect the "shelf" on the right-hand side.

    with the sides staked out, the lines were in the way of me getting in and out of the hammock and out from under the tarp. i am going to replace the mitten hooks with something else, maybe dutch hooks. something where i can real quick un-clip the side stakeouts when i want to exit.

    the double-layer arrangement is kind of loose and sloppy, maybe by design. i'd like it better if there were a small zipper or even velcro, to keep the inside layer attached to the outside layer just below the bug-net zipper. as it is now, the interface is gaping all along its length, except for a small, maybe 4" section in the middle, that is sewn shut. like i said, maybe it's supposed to be that way for ease of pad insertion.

    since i haven't received my underquilt yet, i slipped a thermarest neo-air pad between the layers. i laid out there for a couple hours this afternoon in the mid-40's, and at first the breeze was annoying. then i replaced the bug-net with the top-cover i bought and man what a difference. with the EE top quilt i was really warm. i can't wait 'til i get the underquilt. with the pad i had cold spots where my shoulders or legs or feet moved out beyond the pad coverage.

    as for the tarp, i am not sure if i really need to have it low to the ground since i have the top-cover on the hammock to resist the wind. i would like to raise it a bit higher because i have to stoop over to get under it the way i have it now. i'd really like to be able to stand up. maybe that defeats the whole winter-tarp thing though.... in order to get full coverage against the wind, i need to have the tarp extend as far down as possible and also keep the doors closed, which i haven't done yet. i imagine that in less-cold seasons, when i'll be doing the majority of my motorcycle camping, i will use the tarp way up high just to keep the rain off. maybe rig it in porch mode assuming there's suitable tree locations.

    here's some pics so you all can see what i have done. please let me know if you have any suggestions or corrections.

    thanks in advance,

    -eric

    tarp1a.jpg
    tarp2a.jpg
    hammock1.jpg
    Last edited by ezwicky; 12-28-2014 at 20:51. Reason: fixed multiple typos and fat-fingers

  2. #2
    Senior Member Koolranch's Avatar
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    Looks like a proper setup. You will be amazed at what a bottom quilt can do. Enjoyed your review.

    Steve

  3. #3
    Senior Member Red Cinema's Avatar
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    Lookin' good!

    regarding mitten hooks: I've seen people nip off the flexi-bit to make it an open hook; so long as there is tension the hook works as intended and it is much easier to use.

    In times of warmth and low wind, having the tarp high is no issue. As just last night I was up on the AT here in NJ, on the Kittatinny Ridge (sp?), it is important the tarp be close to the ground to keep the wind from sucking the heat out of one's underquilt (uq's not being famously wind-proof). As you've got the XLC you've got the top bit covered, no worries. My solution to stooping issue is to go "porch mode" until bed time, then snug things down. (I also find that using a rock or heavy stick to secure one of the doors helps speed up night time visits to useful trees/bushes/privies etc.; just move the heavy object and out you go.)

    Keep on hangin'!
    //
    “Stories set in the Culture in which Things Went Wrong tended to start with humans losing or forgetting or deliberately leaving behind their terminal. It was a conventional opening, the equivalent of straying off the path in the wild woods in one age, or a car breaking down at night on a lonely road in another.”
    ― Iain M. Banks, The Player of Games

  4. #4
    Tacoma96's Avatar
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    Looks good to me. I just like using the porch mode.
    Straight out of Clayton.

    Most physical hike: Grandfather Mountain, NC. Aug 13.

    I don't need to make my pack lighter. I need to make my (_*_) lighter.

  5. #5
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    Don't try to find one solution to all problems. For example, You can use one or two collapsible poles (REI) to lift the edge of the trap for easy entry/exit during the day, then remove the pole/s and stake down the edge at night if the weather demands it. Looking a the size of your tarp, if you position it against the wind, you could have one side and at least half the door against the wind and still have an open "porch" on the other side.

    GatheredEnd.jpg

    When it comes to sleeping comfort, for me, the first night (or two) in hammock after I've been out of one for a while, usually feels a little weird. It takes a night or two for my body to learn to relax into the support of the hammock. Keep playing around with it. Also, remember that 30 degrees is often a starting point and that what you measure with no one in the hammock will probably not be what you have with someone (you) in the hammock. As I have to do these things by myself too, I handled it by measuring the hammock length, multiplying it by 83%, then making a ridge line of that length. I suspend it using the tautness of the ridge line as a guide. Not so loose that it droops; not so tight that it could double as a bass guitar string.

    I have double layer hammocks for the pad option, but I mostly just use the UQ. Problem is, I've been places were there aren't trees and have had to go to ground. If there are no bugs, I can just use a light ground cloth, pad, and tarp (with TQ or sleeping bag). If I have critter concerns, I use the hammock (on a pad and ground cloth to protect the hammock bottom) as a bivi bag, using some sticks or tarp poles to guy out the bug net.

  6. #6
    New Member ezwicky's Avatar
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    thanks everybody for the input and good ideas. snipping off the retainers on the mitten hooks.... easy and fast and effective. i will do that tomorrow in fact. good idea too about tying out one of the doors to a rock or something moveable.

    as for the ridgeline and tautness, i forgot to include in my initial post that when i was laying in the hammock, i "torqued" the ridgeline between my thumb and fore-finger as in the warbonnet setup video, and i had similar results to brandon's. as designer notes above, "Not so loose that it droops; not so tight that it could double as a bass guitar string."

    one more thing i wanted to mention is that while i found the flatter diagonal lay comfortable, i also did thoroughly enjoy the "banana" position of being in-line with the hammock. i also tried the fetal position on the diagonal and that was nice as well.

    i'm really looking forward to better sleeping on camping trips, which is the whole point of my hammock adventure in the first place.

    thanks again,

    -eric

  7. #7
    Senior Member hutzelbein's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ezwicky View Post
    the double-layer arrangement is kind of loose and sloppy, maybe by design. i'd like it better if there were a small zipper or even velcro, to keep the inside layer attached to the outside layer just below the bug-net zipper. as it is now, the interface is gaping all along its length, except for a small, maybe 4" section in the middle, that is sewn shut. like i said, maybe it's supposed to be that way for ease of pad insertion.
    I think the Warbonnet-way of connecting the two layers is genius. I own quite a few double layer hammocks; all of them have smaller openings - some have velcro or zippers implemented. This might look better aesthetically, but practically it sucks. With the huge opening as WB does it, you can easily access your pad, slightly changing its position or let out some air. With pretty much all other double layer hammocks I have to get out of the hammock first to make adjustments. With custom hammocks, I have even asked the makers to copy the Warbonnet opening.

    If it really bothers you that much, you could always sew on some velcro. This will make the hammock heavier, though.

  8. #8
    Senior Member MDSH's Avatar
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    You sound like a pro already, eric.

    Congratulations on an excellent start.
    Mike

    Learn to survive and thrive in any situation, for you never know what might happen. Love family and friends passionately. Suffer no fool. Know your purpose in life and follow it with all your heart.

  9. #9
    New Member ezwicky's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hutzelbein View Post
    I think the Warbonnet-way of connecting the two layers is genius. I own quite a few double layer hammocks; all of them have smaller openings - some have velcro or zippers implemented. This might look better aesthetically, but practically it sucks. With the huge opening as WB does it, you can easily access your pad, slightly changing its position or let out some air. With pretty much all other double layer hammocks I have to get out of the hammock first to make adjustments. With custom hammocks, I have even asked the makers to copy the Warbonnet opening.

    If it really bothers you that much, you could always sew on some velcro. This will make the hammock heavier, though.
    vielen dank hutzelbein. i am not all that worried about it now. i was at first wondering if that was a manufacturing mistake, but then i figured it must be intentional for pad-adjusting purposes. i will leave it alone and be satisfied.

    thanks,

    -eric

  10. #10
    New Member ezwicky's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MDSH View Post
    You sound like a pro already, eric.

    Congratulations on an excellent start.
    thank you sir! i am just getting started. i figure i will learn a lot by trying, then asking advice, then implementing suggestions. there will be more questions to come!

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