Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 24
  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Maine
    Hammock
    Chameleon Hexon 1.6
    Tarp
    KC Cat Tangle 12
    Insulation
    LLG CR, Wooki
    Suspension
    Whoopie & shackle
    Posts
    752

    Visual cues for easier setup

    This ended up being longer than I intended... TL;DR: I do some things to try to make my setup idiot-proof. What do you do?

    I’m a fan of making things easy on myself. In fact, if I give myself the opportunity to screw something up, I will, and so I need to try to eliminate those opportunities where I can.

    With that in mind, there are a few things I do with my hammock gear to protect me from myself.

    For ease in setting up, I color-code everything. Head red, shoe blue. My hammock CLs are color-coded Amsteel. My UQ suspension has red and blue cordage and mini-biners. On double-ended stuff sacks and my catch-all sack, anything for which the head/foot orientation matters, I put red and blue cordage.

    I don’t remove my bugnet often, so I don’t color-code that... but yesterday I set up my Double Dutch bugnet and realized I could easily get that wrong if I don’t pay attention, so I put red zipper pulls on one side (seam down) and orange pulls on the other. Red, in addition to being my head end, also ends up indicating my right side. Chameleon bugnets, I realized, can be zipped on four different ways, with 50/50 odds of getting it wrong (which means I would get it wrong 90% of the time). To help me along, I stick to a convention.

    For zippers I don’t want to pull—like the one between my Chameleon and Sidecar—I remove the corded zipper pulls altogether. I leave the metal tabs, but when I look at them now, sitting there unadorned, a voice in my head says “NO!”

    I keep my tarp tie-outs on my stakes these days. Red tie-outs are standard-length. Orange tie-outs are longer, for porch mode. All of the cordage that goes to the ground is reflective so I don’t lose it or trip over it. That includes my shock cord hammock tie-outs.

    I have a little ridgeline light that I would lose if it weren’t attached... so it’s attached. 6” of shock cord will keep it connected to my ridgeline organizer until the battery dies, at which point I’ll cut it off, rinse, and repeat.

    My tarp doesn’t care which end of it I put my head under, so it is colorless and boring, as is its skin.

    Do you do anything creative with colors or have other hints on your hammock setup that I can shamelessly steal?
    Last edited by Snaps; 02-15-2019 at 10:23.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Smckinney0031's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    London Ky
    Hammock
    Juniper or Walhalla
    Tarp
    Trailheadz winter
    Insulation
    20° Etherial
    Suspension
    Straps/Breeze buck
    Posts
    1,214
    I love this and I am gonna shamelessly steal your ideas

  3. #3
    Member Swishwebb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    New York, NY
    Hammock
    Dutch PolyD
    Tarp
    HG DCF
    Insulation
    HG UQ / WL TQ
    Suspension
    Cinch Bugs
    Posts
    50
    Nice and simple! I have been using red/head and blue/shoe for years now lol. I do it to make setting up faster. I don't have to pull my hammock all the way out of the bishop bag. I just grab the blue end and hang it to the tree where I want my feet etc. My other gear has yet to give me any issue so no "idiot-proofing" on anything else yet.

  4. #4
    Senior Member MAD777's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    White Mountains, New Hampshire
    Hammock
    DIY, WBBB & Switchback
    Tarp
    HG cuben,OES Spinn
    Insulation
    DIY 3/4 UQ/TQ, UGQ
    Suspension
    Dynaglide / Dutch
    Posts
    10,950
    Images
    39
    Here's an alternate solution for color-blind folks like me.

    I keep my quilts, bugnet/sock, inflatable pillow connected all together, then always stuff the set-up in head first. That way it always comes out of the dry sack foot first.

    Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
    Mike
    "Life is a Project!"

  5. #5
    Member reznix's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Location
    Lehigh Valley, PA
    Hammock
    BB XLC
    Tarp
    Superfly
    Insulation
    Wookie and LL TQ
    Suspension
    Beetle Buckles
    Posts
    93
    This isn't so much for easier hammock setup but for organization in general.

    1. Stuff sacks/ditty bags in brighter colors. While the earth tones are nice, I lose them faster or take too much time looking for one in a pile of similar colored stuff. I also try to use the same colors for categories of items. An example would be that my stake bags are red so I know if I need a stake, start looking for red in the pile of gear.

    2. White Tyvek ground mat and everything gets tossed onto it as I'm setting up/breaking down. The white color gives a nice contrast to the gear laying on it. One pile of stuff, one place to look.

    While I very much like green and brown in nature, I have found the advantage of contrasting colors for gear just makes life easier. My tarp, hammock and UQ are earth tone so my overall campsite presence still blends in.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Los Angeles, Ca
    Hammock
    WBRR
    Suspension
    Beckett hitch
    Posts
    312
    Images
    1
    My dark colored top quilt is hard to distinguish which is in or out if getting back in the hammock in the middle of the night so I tied a short piece of brightly colored cord on the left corner tip of the quilt.

  7. #7
    Senior Member BuckeyeFan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Warrenton, VA
    Hammock
    Dutch Chameleon or DIY Robic XL
    Tarp
    Superfly
    Insulation
    DIY UQ & CDT TQ
    Suspension
    Whoopie Slings
    Posts
    480
    My head-end CL is black, while the foot is red. The bead on my whoopies (thru the sewn channel), head is green and foot is red. Colors keep things simple.

    Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    alt.thomas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Tokyo
    Hammock
    Blackbird (Single layer)
    Tarp
    Z-Packs CF w/ door
    Insulation
    Quilts
    Suspension
    Whoopie / Cinch
    Posts
    496
    A must for me is adding the MSR night glow zipper pulls on the bug net.

    For small items I try to buy them in colors that sticks out... orange lighter and phone case, stakes with red coloring, blue charging cable, etc so I can spot them easily on the ground.

    For tarp storage, I’ll use the company’s stickers on the bag cover.

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Saskatoon, SK
    Hammock
    Amok Draumr 3.0
    Tarp
    Amok
    Insulation
    Synmat 9 LW
    Suspension
    cinch buckles
    Posts
    1,702
    I really liked that Amok did this by default as well


    the carabiners are colour coded on the Draumr as well as the tarp (at least on the 3.0)

  10. #10
    Senior Member jeff-oh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    US- Ohio
    Hammock
    Dutch 12' Netless
    Tarp
    ProVenture Nylon
    Insulation
    HG Incubator
    Suspension
    Humming Bird style
    Posts
    1,023
    Images
    1
    Guess I’m more tactile than visual. I pack under quilt foot end first. Hook head end and deploy. Hammock is symmetric so does not matter. Same with the tarp. Top quilt no big deal just put my feet in and spread out over myself.
    For my netted hammock zipper faces me and foot to the left. If I hook it up wrong it takes 2 seconds to swap ends.

    Likewise suspension is symmetrical except I have a soft shackle on one. This goes on the bigger tree if needed.

    Never found head/ foot to be an issue. Except for under quilt.

  • + New Posts
  • Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

    Similar Threads

    1. Easy Setup Concept
      By Sterwee in forum Suspension Systems, Ridgelines, & Bug Nets
      Replies: 4
      Last Post: 07-12-2013, 13:15
    2. Easy setup?
      By bmwrider in forum Eagles Nest Hammocks
      Replies: 0
      Last Post: 04-17-2013, 00:12
    3. Easy Tarp Pole Setup
      By the_lorax in forum Do-It-Yourself (DIY)
      Replies: 6
      Last Post: 01-10-2012, 20:34
    4. Easy Tarp Setup
      By cosmicmiami in forum Suspension Systems, Ridgelines, & Bug Nets
      Replies: 5
      Last Post: 09-12-2010, 05:11
    5. Tips for easy entry/setup?
      By MichaelLomas in forum General Hammock Talk
      Replies: 28
      Last Post: 07-06-2008, 17:25

    Tags for this Thread

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •