Hey ya'll!
One quickie question, I have the Hennessy Expedition Asym Zip, and I have a set of snake skins. Just wondering if you think the snake skins should go on the hammock line or on the rain fly? What are your thoughts/experience with this? I'd love some input, total newbie here.
Thanks a lot!
Dave
I guess some might put them on the hammock, but I only use them on the tarp.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
They can be used for both. I had them on my hammock for half a year but found that to be impractical. I have never used them on a tarp, but that is what they are sold for now:
Tarp for sure. Makes deployment and securing of your tarp so much easier.
I use a double-ended stuff sack for my hammock, and that simplifies setting it up too. Skins would be a little overkill for the hammock IMO but they would work. As always HYOH, YMMV and etc. Try them both for yourself and see which one you prefer!
I have had a jungle expedition and a Hex fly for two years and I have used snakeskins on both from day one. I am impatiently waiting for a blackbird XLC that has a double ended stuff sack and ordered mesh skins for the superfly that is also on order so we will see how that goes! Like has been said, skins on the large tarp makes it easier in the wind for setup and also keeps the wet tarp separate.Originally Posted by daveeyb
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Prior to me picking up Dutch's Chameleon, I was using the original HH Expedition with companion tarp and used their snake skins to store both the hammock & tarp for backpacking together & it worked/works well. I just left the tarp secured to the hammock and slid the snake skins over the whole thing. Then when setting up camp at the end of the day, I'd deploy the hammock as usual with the tarp already secured to the ridge line & all that remained was to tension out the tarp & done.
While I have them, I'm undecided about snake skins for the Chameleon Xenon tarp versus a silnylon stuff sack or double ended stuff sack... guess I'm going to have to try both storage methods on the trail to figure out which I like best.
After a lot of trial I settled on using to ended Bishop bags for hammocks, and mesh snake skins for tarps. 2 pc mesh for small tarps, and 1 pc for my Winter Dream XL.
For me the bishop bag makes it easier, and the mesh snake skins really help when tarps are wet.
The fun has been tweaking into the best HYOH.
I use them on my tarps. Handy for windy conditions, and seems to make the setup process go smoother for me.
If you're using the stock diamond tarp, I'd keep that on the suspension clips and use the skins on the whole thing. That's the original intent. But with larger tarps and the desire to tie them out separately, then you can't do both and would only use the skins with the tarp. Could certainly use skins with the hammock, of course, just not something most do. Some, including me, do use something similar - a lazy slug tube as its called by WildernessLogics.com - to hold not only the hammock, but also the quilts.
"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
I used the skins on my Hennessy and original tarp together - BUT I NEVER HAD TO DO THAT IN THE RAIN. I'm guessing, when camping, you want to keep your dry things dry and your wet things separate from your dry things. For that reason, I would not put the hammock and tarp in the same skin or bag.
These day, I mostly use double ended bags for both hammocks and tarps. I tried using skins for tarps, but because suspension choice (CRL), there was no way I could get access to the tarp D-ring. And it was awkward finding a place to slide the skins on that suspension. I made a few dog bone extensions - sort of a tail - to attach to the tarp ends so it would stick out the narrow end of the skin. But still it seems more trouble folding and holding the tarp to get it in the skin without bunching. Gee, it looks so easy in the videos.
So now tarp and hammock are still in separate bags but I'm thinking of lashing the tarp guy lines around the tarp when it is folded/bunched up around the ridge line - sort of the way sailors might wrap a sail round a boom. That way, it is easier to deploy in the wind. And I can see the sky until I decide to use the tarp.
In a camp setting, I'd probably set the tarp up completely - so stakes are in the right location, etc. - and then unhook the guy lines and fold/wrap it about the ridge line. So when I feel that little sprinkle of rain, or start to worry about birds in the tree overhead, I can quickly hook it up. Of course one has to lean not to trip over the stakes.
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