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  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Portland, Oregon
    Hammock
    DIY 10.5'
    Tarp
    DIY Silpoly Hex
    Insulation
    CDT UQ/TQ
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    Whoopie Slings
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    51
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    Help with lightening my base weight

    IÂ’m trying to lighten up on my backpacking base weight. I usually avoid peak season backpacking, and prefer mid-late spring or late summer-mid fall trips. So lows around 25-50 degrees F in the PNW.

    HereÂ’s my current situation:

    1. Hammock: 10Â’ diy weighs gathered end is about 16oz. I have a kammock that I can deal with thatÂ’s about 8Â’ and 7oz. IÂ’m short, itÂ’s short, so I can make do if need be

    2. Bug net: 7oz outdoor vitals with a UQ protector built in. IÂ’d like to DIY a zip-on bug net, but am not feeling too confident on my DIY skills to make that work. Mostly, IÂ’m worried about my ridge line getting too tight and ripping the net apart. Thoughts?

    3. TQ: over-stuffed Costco quilt. 18 oz total; 12 oz 700 fill with a 6oz shell

    4: UQ: diy Costco overstuff. ItÂ’s 24oz with all the suspension. IÂ’d rate it down to roughly 30 degrees F.

    5: Suspension: I think IÂ’ve locked this down. 12Â’ dutchware spider with a few 6Â’ 7/64 amsteel dogbones (the trees in the PNW are huge). I use the becket hitch on CLs.

    6: tarp: diy hex 12oz. Or diy asym 8oz. Or diy winter tarp 16 oz All made with 1.1 silpoly.

    Anyone have experience with asym tarps in thunderstorms? They say you pack your fears, and I definitely fear getting soaked in the middle of the night in the back country. Any help with reducing weight or packability would be greatly appreciated!!

    HYOH- Forces

  2. #2
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Portland, Oregon
    Hammock
    DIY 10.5'
    Tarp
    DIY Silpoly Hex
    Insulation
    CDT UQ/TQ
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    Whoopie Slings
    Posts
    51
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    3
    Edit: A”hat” = oz. weird formatting thing, I guess?

  3. #3
    Senior Member sidneyhornblower's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    outside
    Posts
    1,500
    Reading over your list, my honest opinion is that you're already fairly lightweight. The only way to cut weight is to buy replacement gear that's fairly expensive. For instance, you could get a DCF tarp that weighs about 6 ounces or so, but you're going to spend a good bit for it. Silpoly is already nice and light. Your DIY hex weighs less than my Hammock Gear Quest.

    18 ounces for a top quilt is lighter than my JRB Hudson River. 24 ounces for an underquilt isn't bad at all. You could probably spend $200 and shave a few ounces, but would that really be worth doing?

    Perhaps something like a Darien with its built in bug net would weigh less than your netless hammock plus Outdoor Vitals bugnet. That might be the most cost effective purchase you could make to reduce weight and improve packability. You could make or buy a HUG style bugnet and shave an ounce or two if you can live with its partial coverage.

    The gist is, you're going to have to spend some bucks to replace gear that already works well and you won't see any dramatic savings, just small improvements here and there. Whether that's worth the money is something only you can answer. No doubt someone else with more experience than I will chime in after a while with a different take, but that's my thinking.
    "...the height of hammock snobbery!"

  4. #4
    Moderator
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    Aug 2012
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    VA, Oh, and FL
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    HH Expedition, HH Explorer Dlx
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    Please stay on the topic of hammock gear and not general camping gear.
    Deb
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    "The older I get, the more I appreciate my rural childhood. I spent a lot of time outdoors, unsupervised, which is a blessing." Barbara Kingsolver

  5. #5
    Senior Member Two Tents's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Hadley, Pa.
    Hammock
    Wilderness Logic Night OWL
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    Go with a netless hammock and just carry a head net. Bugs can ruin a trip if you can't keep them off you. I always, even in warm temps, have my top cover nearly up to my chin so a simple head net works for me. There is a learning curve with an asym tarp. They work and save weight but you'll get those who hate them and will offer other options and generally discourage owning one. Often I'll not even put up a tarp. On a trip where it's only a chance of rain or storms I carry an asym and not need to deploy it. That said I have weathered some serious storms under one. By under one I mean I'm in my hammock in storm mode. There is no real option to be protected in a storm and not be in the hammock. I can tell you they do in fact work.
    I like refried beans. That's why I wanna try fried beans, because maybe they're just as good and we're just wasting time. You don't have to fry them again after all.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Ga.(Macon area)
    Hammock
    11 Ft Dutch Hexon 1.0 Sidezip
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    12 ft HG Quest
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    3/4 Phoenix20
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    Spiderpolybeetles
    Posts
    1,442
    My Hennessey Expedition Asym was sufficient most of the time,until it wasn't.Some would argue I didn't have it pitched correctly and I have been told that in inclement weather if you "fudge" the 30 degree angle a bit on the hammock you can get the tarp low enough to get better protection.

    Anybody know? I have since acquired a 9 oz 11 foot Asym that I like but have not had the nerve to try!

  7. #7
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Ossining, NY
    Hammock
    DH Darien, SLD Tree Runner
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    HG hex
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    Quote Originally Posted by forces View Post
    IÂ’m trying to lighten up on my backpacking base weight. I usually avoid peak season backpacking, and prefer mid-late spring or late summer-mid fall trips. So lows around 25-50 degrees F in the PNW.

    HereÂ’s my current situation:

    1. Hammock: 10Â’ diy weighs gathered end is about 16oz. I have a kammock that I can deal with thatÂ’s about 8Â’ and 7oz. IÂ’m short, itÂ’s short, so I can make do if need be

    2. Bug net: 7oz outdoor vitals with a UQ protector built in. IÂ’d like to DIY a zip-on bug net, but am not feeling too confident on my DIY skills to make that work. Mostly, IÂ’m worried about my ridge line getting too tight and ripping the net apart. Thoughts?

    3. TQ: over-stuffed Costco quilt. 18 oz total; 12 oz 700 fill with a 6oz shell

    4: UQ: diy Costco overstuff. ItÂ’s 24oz with all the suspension. IÂ’d rate it down to roughly 30 degrees F.

    5: Suspension: I think IÂ’ve locked this down. 12Â’ dutchware spider with a few 6Â’ 7/64 amsteel dogbones (the trees in the PNW are huge). I use the becket hitch on CLs.

    6: tarp: diy hex 12oz. Or diy asym 8oz. Or diy winter tarp 16 oz All made with 1.1 silpoly.

    Anyone have experience with asym tarps in thunderstorms? They say you pack your fears, and I definitely fear getting soaked in the middle of the night in the back country. Any help with reducing weight or packability would be greatly appreciated!!

    HYOH- Forces
    Quote Originally Posted by dkurfiss View Post
    Please stay on the topic of hammock gear and not general camping gear.
    If you want to have a more detailed discussion about lightening backpack base weight — which involves a lot more than your hammock/tarp system — you will need to become a donating member.

    In my very humble opinion, well worth $10 for discussions such as this and many more non-hammock related topics.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  8. #8
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Portland, Oregon
    Hammock
    DIY 10.5'
    Tarp
    DIY Silpoly Hex
    Insulation
    CDT UQ/TQ
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    Whoopie Slings
    Posts
    51
    Images
    3
    Thanks for all the responses guys - glad to hear I'm not missing anything major. The vast majority of my set up has come from tips and tricks on this very website - and members who post videos to youtube. I think I may look into the head net for bug protection... bugs already aren't too large of a concern outside of the june-august months.

    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    If you want to have a more detailed discussion about lightening backpack base weight — which involves a lot more than your hammock/tarp system — you will need to become a donating member.

    In my very humble opinion, well worth $10 for discussions such as this and many more non-hammock related topics.
    Definetly worth considering. Already saved more than 10X that amount learning in the DIY forum alone!

  9. #9
    Member erric's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Location
    Seattle
    Hammock
    DW Hexon 1.0
    Tarp
    DW Asym DCF
    Insulation
    UGQ/Warbonnet
    Suspension
    Kevlar + Becket
    Posts
    55
    Two things that stand out: a partial length 20 degree underquilt can get down to ~14oz, so there are serious savings there, and a DCF tarp from HG is only ~5oz. If you are seriously considering an asym, dutch and mountain laurel designs sell even lighter asym dcf tarps. Dutch's is 3oz with the stuff sack.

    I second the headnet as a valid UL option for bug protection. Fronkey/half wit style bug nets work on the same principle (your quilt will protect your body from bugs) and they work great. Hardcore tarp UL ground sleepers will wear a baseball cap with a headnet over it as their only nighttime bug protection, the baseball cap bill keeps the net off your face. I would treat your hammock with permetherin for extra peace of mind.

    I'm down to 3.7lbs for my entire system; hammock, tarp, 20 degree insulation, stakes and suspension and I'm going to have a hard time getting much lighter than that. The only real target I have left is my top quilt, which is 24oz. I could maybe shave off around 5oz there with lighter materials. One thing you may start to look at is wearing all, and I mean all, of your clothes when you sleep. That will free you up to use lighter insulation. I don't bring a puffy down jacket until it starts to get into below freezing temps at night because I'm either in the hammock or on the trail hiking (which keeps me warm) but once you cross that barrier you can save a lot of weight by using your puffy to keep you warm at night and pick up some of the slack from using lighter quilts.
    Last edited by erric; 09-18-2019 at 11:34.

  10. #10
    Member erric's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Location
    Seattle
    Hammock
    DW Hexon 1.0
    Tarp
    DW Asym DCF
    Insulation
    UGQ/Warbonnet
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    Kevlar + Becket
    Posts
    55
    just adding that all up, assuming you're using your asym tarp now and replacing it with the HG DCF hex without doors, you'll drop 19oz if you do the above, which is pretty huge for a weight weenie like me.

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