I became interested in hammock camping after seeing some random Facebook ads pop up -- luckily I found my way to this awesome forum and lurked for a while before making purchases! I have a WBBB with a Thunderfly tarp (w/ the Dutch pole mod), Wooki UQ (20 degree), and a Hammock Gear Econ Burrow TQ (40 degree). I used the hammock/tarp for a couple of one-nighter car campouts with the expected learning curve for how to set things up to maximize comfort. I cannot say enough about the comfort and quality of my WBBB - they are simply awesome. Weirdly, I look forward to setting up my gear with hammock camping. With tent camping, it always seemed like a chore.
This past weekend I took a 3 day/2 night trip to Northwest Arkansas and backpacked the 12-13 mile White Rock mountain/Shores Lake loop -- which I recommend if you live anywhere nearby. The first night we camped at an established site near a waterfall with no shortage of good trees to hang between. We were anticipating a cold front the second night, but this night (and the beginning of the second night) were incredibly dank/humid. Like 60-65 degrees and 100% humidity. This presented a bit of a problem with sleeping. My down products developed a funky/gamey odor -- especially the HG TQ made with duck down. Trying to sleep was a constant compromise between being warm and soaked with the TQ trapping moisture against me or being cold and slightly less soaked. I realize this is more of an issue with the conditions than with the products, but it was difficult and I would be interested to know if anyone has a solution for this.
The second night started the same, then the cold front hit at about 3 AM producing heavy rain, wind, and much cooler temperature. I stayed completely dry and the Thunderfly/pole mod worked perfectly. Same down stank, though -- maybe a bit less with the cooler air, but I did stay warm (temps around 45-50). I actually slept as good as if I were at home in my bed. I was a bit disappointed with the Silpoly Thunderfly holding onto the moisture -- I had hoped it would simply shed the water, but it seemed to get a bit waterlogged like silnylon. At least it dried quickly when I set it up after getting home.
I may consider upgrading my TQ at some point to something less stanky, but it got the job done. The smells completely disappeared after the quilts aired out at home away from humidity.
Overall, I am very happy with my gear, and can safely say I am DONE with tent camping and sleeping on the ground on my camping and backpacking trips!
Thanks to everyone on this forum -- truly an amazing collection of hammock wisdom around here.
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