Originally Posted by
kitsapcowboy
I hear you; you're right that if the XLC has an Achilles' heel (other than the Gen 1 top cover blocking your ability to look out on one side completely), it is its mandate that you must pick a lay direction and stick with it (except when going netless in "Traveler" mode). When I first started looking at serious camping hammocks -- before the advent of your Raven, mind you -- I absolutely lusted after the Dream Hammock Darien. I even got a chance to see one in person before I had made my decision and was absolutely blown away by its dedication to detail, customizability, and craftsmanship. However, while I had an inkling, I was still too new and unsophisticated in my hammocking to feel secure in committing to a dedicated lay direction, so I wound up purchasing the ingenious ambidirectional SLD Trail Lair, which uses a hex-shaped net to facilitate proper diagonal lay in either direction. For some reason I thought I might want the ability to switch lay direction, even if it was because I might loan the hammock out some time. I still love the Trail Lair, but after just one or two trips in the backcountry with it I realized that, while I appreciated the ability to enter and exit on either side of the hammock depending upon where and how I set up camp, I am a 100% left-lay hanger. Right lay feels really wrong to me now. -- like underwear-on-backwards wrong. The Dutchware Chameleon struck my fancy fully because, while fully creating a crisp asymmetrical directional profile with the net/cover attached, Dutch's proprietary reversible zipper technology imbues the Chameleon with the ability to accommodate both left and right lay, albeit by requiring the net/cover to be unzipped, flipped, and reinstalled; regardless, this flexibility with minimal compomise remains the best of both worlds as far as I am concerned. That said, then the Raven brought on-the-fly switching back to the forefront of desired features, and today both Dream Hammock and Dutch are offering options or components geared toward allowing hangers to flip-flop direction on demand with little or no modification to the set-up (SLD style). While I don't personally see the need for more convertibility than what the Chameleon offers with the standard bug net, it's wonderful that the cottage vendors continue to innovate and keep every type of hanger happy.
The other important consideration I think I've gleaned from hanging in the direction-dedicated Warbonnet XLC is that, while generous in its 63" width (in standard fabrics anyway), the cut and the specificity of the hang with the net/cover in place do not really promote the occupant adopting a really radical, aggressively oblique diagonal lay. Properly hung with its shallow hang angle and foot-high bias, the Warbonnet wants you to put your feet in the footbox (where the triangle is added to the top half) and your head/shoulder right where the tie-out is located on the opposite side. At 6'2", I find the XLC particularly comfortable because I happen to gravitate toward a very moderate diagonal lay that is well suited toward the shape the hammock wants to adopt.
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