Wet Weather vs. Weekend Warriors

[commanderkeen]

Took advantage of some moderate temps to get hanging this past weekend and get my sister her introduction to properly equipped hammock camping (as distinct from merely-trying-to-survive with just her ENO and sleeping bag). She picked up a Warbonnet Minifly tarp and Arrowhead Equipment Jarbidge UQ on Black Friday on my recommendation, and we got a chance to camp together when I was in town. This gave me the opportunity to provide some guidance on some techniques like continuous ridgeline setup, trucker's hitch guys, UQ setup, soft shackles for tree straps, and hammock asym lay.



We headed out around 2am since we got a late start. I really wanted to beat the rain so we could be sheltered from it, but about the time we got her tarp/ridgeline up, it started, right on schedule. We quickly tried to get her guy outs down so her tarp would be manageable and so her gear could stay dry. She's pretty hardy, and it didn't phase her much. As soon as I showed her the first (soaking wet) trucker's hitch, she took over and told me I needed to get started on mine. (As you can see from the photos, she did pretty well, especially given that 1) it was super wet, 2) this was her first go, and 3) it was dark and she forgot her headlamp)

My entire setup had to happen in the rain. Definitely my first experience setting up in this kind of wet. These conditions would have been nothing to some of you, but we're both some shade of new at this, so it felt like an accomplishment.



It rained buckets. Sheets, I'm telling you. It absolutely roared. A rain guage nearby indicated 1.25" in the space of less than 5 hours. I think her rain gear wasn't as good, so she got a bit wet and cold. My simple, aging Marmot jacket and my REI Screeline pants did admirably, so I was only a little damp, and not a bit cold at 50° when I tucked in around 4am.

Our Warbonnet gear acquitted itself nicely, keeping us as dry and comfortable as conditions permitted. We noticed some spray on our Jarbidges, but nothing that the DWR and Apex couldn't handle. This has gotten me rethinking my purchase of a down TQ, and weighing the value of a MYOG Apex quilt. I think it needs to happen.

The video clip in this Imgur album ( https://imgur.com/a/eJAOvhe) was the aftermath and the gentle "alarm clock" that greeted me at 9am. It was still coming down a bit, and the whole of the woods had turned into a swamp!

I fired up by brand-new-to-me Trail Designs Ti Tri Toaks 1.3 setup to make coffee, and since the TD 12-10 stove didn't want to go (because it had gotten wet with spray), my trusty cat can/fancy feast stove bailed me out without breaking a sweat. Bad news though, because as soon as I got the water going, I discovered that I forgot the coffee. Sad face.



All in all, it was a success, and much fun had by both parties.

---

For the curious, her setup is ENO Single, Atlas straps, Minifly with ZingIt I provided, Jarbidge 3S, and cheapo mummy bags.

Mine is Dutch Chameleon 1.6, Warbonnet Thunderfly with 1.7mm Dyneema lines with prussics, soft shackles, and TAC Toggles, Jarbidge 3S(for this trip given the wet), and a humble Kelty Cosmic Down 20.

[509-T203-KG]

Well done persevering through the conditions. Nice report and pics!

[zukiguy]

Awesome report!!

Last weekend I spent the night under an old Kelty Noah's 12 when the weather went south. Luckily....thanks to my phone and other campers I knew I was in for a rough night. I popped out of bed around midnight and rigged 4 additional guy lines (Normally rigged diamond with only 2 stakes). About 2am the weather finally got really bad with high winds and a soaking rain. However, in the morning everyone appeared to have slept warm and dry.

Hi winds are the only time I'm ever the slightest bit jealous of my ground-dwelling buddies. Tents just tend to shed the gusts better than a tarp no matter how well it's pitched.

Kudos to you guys for setting up in a swamp. I'm assuming it wasn't that flooded before the gully-washer??

[cmoulder]

Your sis is a trooper for hitting camp with you at 2 am and hanging out in the rain.

The only real disaster is forgetting the coffee.

[Mountain Gout]

Great pics!! Glad you got to get out together...

[W8lkinUSA]

I love room temperature water, but you've just made warm water sound absolutely wonderful! Good tidings.

[Lakerat]

Nice trip report! I think the Thuderfly must be one of the best all-around tarps. I've got my eyeball on one.

[commanderkeen]

Awesome report!!

Last weekend I spent the night under an old Kelty Noah's 12 when the weather went south. Luckily....thanks to my phone and other campers I knew I was in for a rough night. I popped out of bed around midnight and rigged 4 additional guy lines (Normally rigged diamond with only 2 stakes). About 2am the weather finally got really bad with high winds and a soaking rain. However, in the morning everyone appeared to have slept warm and dry.

Hi winds are the only time I'm ever the slightest bit jealous of my ground-dwelling buddies. Tents just tend to shed the gusts better than a tarp no matter how well it's pitched.

Kudos to you guys for setting up in a swamp. I'm assuming it wasn't that flooded before the gully-washer??

You guessed it.. It's not really a swamp at all: that's just the effect of a fairly wet winter, and then buckets of water overnight. It was kinda crazy.

And since that experience, I've now had the experience of high winds, like what you descibed. I'm impressed that you were able to stay out of trouble under the Kelty tarp. Nice work. My Thunderfly didn't seem to shed the wind well, but that's mostly due to my laziness and setting up in a familiar spot on the property with no natural windbreaks whatsoever from the north. The 30-40mph gusts and <30 degree temps were rough.

Thanks for sharing. Cheers.

Your sis is a trooper for hitting camp with you at 2 am and hanging out in the rain.

The only real disaster is forgetting the coffee.

Perfectly summarized. I was pretty dejected about the coffee, for sure. The only thing that made up for it was the nice ambiance that morning.

I love room temperature water, but you've just made warm water sound absolutely wonderful! Good tidings.

All I'm willing to say is that it doesn't taste as wonderful as coffee, haha. All good tidings in return.

Nice trip report! I think the Thuderfly must be one of the best all-around tarps. I've got my eyeball on one.

I like it. I yields pretty nice coverage, and the setup is only slightly more involved than a simpler hex tarp. And, most importantly.. it keeps me dry. Warbonnet guy's gear won't let you down.