Sounds like you’re trying to make a complicated system work when it can all be quite simple.
Strongly recommend you look at Shug’s videos on YouTube.
Also, see if there is a hang near you where you will find people just itching to help you out!
Sounds like you’re trying to make a complicated system work when it can all be quite simple.
Strongly recommend you look at Shug’s videos on YouTube.
Also, see if there is a hang near you where you will find people just itching to help you out!
You don’t have to connect the skins to the tarp. They slide on over the prusiks and tarp and slide off onto the suspension line between the trees. Many people slide the skins over the tarp, then unhook the line from the trees, fold up the skins a bit, and wrap the line around the skins, then put it in an outside pocket or pouch on their pack.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
I've actually been watching Shug's videos. I'm mostly through his beginner how-to series. What a character.
There's a hang coming up very soon in Tennessee but I won't be able to make it. Would be nice to make it to one this year though.
Regarding the snakes on the tarp, I mostly did that so they wouldn't accidentally slide off the line somehow where I'd have to thread the figure 9 or knot bone through there again. I guess with it all put together it's not very likely to happen. If I don't keep them hooked up to the tarp ends, I may use the little S-biners or whatever clips they have to connect my prusik to the tarp.
I think I have a setup that will work okay but it may be a little while before I can try it out. I've only maybe 1-3 spots on my property where I can hang and they could all use a little tidying up to get small limbs out of the way. I've got a post or two that would work if I could bury another nearby. I might try that later on.
I understand about worrying that the skins will side off the suspension line. That would be very improbable. But you could biner the narrow end of the skin to the tarp when it’s covering it, then unclip it once your ridgeline is up so you can slide the skin completely off the tarp and back on that ridgeline. Reclip to the tarp once it is covered again during your take-down.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
That's what I tried today. Had to get the snakes back to deploy the tarp fully, so it was either unclip them or turn them inside-out. Seemed to work okay. Moving the tarp on the prusiks isn't the easiest but it works. Getting the ridgeline taught took a little effort and I'm sure I could've done a lot better but it seemed okay. I believe I could've hung it lower though.
I learned from Shug how to do the marlinspike for my guy lines. I could use more stakes. I also got some trimming to do if I want to hang here. I got a tree that's dying and one dead branch in the vicinity.
I've attached some photos and a video. I know the alignment wasn't perfect. I should've tried double wrapping the tree strap to the right. Is the hang angle okay? What else am I doing wrong?
Last edited by assquatch20; 01-13-2021 at 21:46.
Not bad - you are making progressYes, the tarp is a little high but so what. If you anticipated raining/windy weather it would be more of an issue. Note that the ridgeline doesn’t have to be guitar string tight and it doesn’t have to be level. If I'm pretty certain I’ll have some rain, I might angle one tarp end up a little to better control the run off - especially if I pick one end up in porch mode. Usually the tarp connection to the tree is lower than the hammock connection because of the recommended angle (30 degrees) of the hammock coming off the tree.
Note that there is nothing wrong with using Marlin Spikes on your guy lines but that knot is mostly used on webbing that goes around the tree and a whoopie sling loop hangs on the knot - NOT on the stick/toggle in the knot. For guylines, many people use a tautline hitch to adjust the length or other devices - like figure-9’s.
Looking at the photos, it appears you have sort of a non-conventional setup - nothing wrong with that. It’s just that the terminology doesn’t match so much and that’s why there is confusion. For example, a usual way a whoopie sling suspension works is, the webbing is wrapped around the tree and passed through the loop at one end or attached with a Dutch Clip, EVO loop, or in your case, a carabiner. It’s handy to have some “release” hardware, like your carabiner, because in setting up, especially when just starting, you may need to move the hammock suspension up or down the tree a bit. But after that things are a little different - depending upon the distance between trees, and the length of the whoopie sling, and it’s minimun distance because of the sling’s bury length, a knot - the Marlin Spike hitch - is made in the webbing and one loop of the whoopie sling is place behind that knot (NOT on the toggle). So you can adjust where the knot is on the webbing and you can adjust the whoopie sling.
In your case, from what I see, the whoopied sling is attached to a loop at the end of the webbing. The loop at the other end of the sling is attached to the ring at the end of the hammock. So the only adjustment you have to the length of the webbing is the diameter of the tree. All your adjustment is done by the whoopie sling. Nothing wrong with that. It’s just not what people expect when they hear words like Whoopie Sling and Marlin Spike. So those photos are very useful to see what you are working with.
As far as the hammock - You want to come off the three at about a 30 degree angle and you want the hammock ridgeline loose enough so you can bend it a little with your figures when you are in the hammock. It doesn’t need much - just not guitar string tight.
Many like to set up so the foot end of the hammock is about a 8 inches higher than the head end. This might seem contrary to your ground sleeping experience where, if not level, you want your head up hill. The deal with the hammock is, the geometry is different and that higher foot end levels out when you are in the hammock with a bit of a diagonal lie. Without that elevated foot end, some people find they tend to slide towards the foot end and wake up, in the morning, scrunched towards the end of the hammock.
So the only thing I see missing in your setup is SNOW - where’s the snow. It’s January for goodness sakes.
If you have a sleeping bag, it’s easy to use it unzipped to about 2 feet from the bottom. That will give you a footbox for your feet and you drape it over you and tuck it in like a blanket. Yes, the hood might be in the wrong place. Don’t worry about it. It’s easier, in a hammock, to use the sleeping bag like a blanket than trying to squirm inside like a sleeping bag.
For underneath, you need a pad or underquilt. The underquilt is more comfortable but a pricy item if you aren’t yet sure the hammock is for you.
If you can go to that Hammock Hang, you will learn a LOT. Not so much of what is right or wrong but the different ways of “right”. We all have our preferences and some goals are to be comfortable and protect the gear from damage.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
We had a lot of snow coming down a couple days ago but the ground was too warm. It was in the 40's today, 50's tomorrow. If I have time I might try hanging everything up again for practice. I have some sort of cheap daisy chain that might be better but no idea how I would hook it up to the whoopie sling. I'd have to agree that this setup seems unorthodox versus all the examples I've seen online. It's part of why I've had a hard time, I reckon, but it will do for now.
In the future, though, I do need to figure out how to attach other suspension systems to try out, even if it's just a daisy chain or something.
I am considering an underquilt because I think I could make use of it with a cot as well, should I decide hammocking isn't right for me. Honestly, though, I'd rather just figure out what I'm doing with the hammock and keep my options open. I'd like to imagine I can pack 1-3 different shelters on the bike at times, and set up a base camp when needed. My friends don't have as much luggage room on their bikes and mine is already a slow donkey on the trails, and the road, for that matter.
And I did get a few minutes to lay in the thing and see how it felt. It was comfortable enough that I'm definitely still interested in hammocking. I did try to get my feet a bit higher when setting up and it was nice. It didn't take long to feel the breeze under me, though. I've got the Hennessy Super Shelter that might keep me warm but not sure if I wanna set it up to try or just hold out for a quilt. I'll need an over quilt as well, actually. And a stove, and cookware, and and and...
If you couldn't already tell I'm a bit new to camping "light". I'm just now at a point in my life where I'm able to go do some of these things, but it's a learning curve. So far I've been enjoying it though.
A 'biner would work!Originally Posted by assquatch20
If you have a sleeping bag, you can use that as a top quilt to start. Just open it up a bit and use it like a blanket. You may have a difficult time rigging an underquilt to a cot. Not only will the connections be awkward, so would trying to get it to fit effectively against the bottom. If you need to use a cot, I’d use a camp ground pad in it - like you’d use in a tent.
For Daisy Chain, you just wrap it around the tree - like you do with your webbing now - and use a carabiner to clip the hammock ring to one of the daisy chain loops. You pick the loops that give you the desired sag (distance between hammock end points).
I’m saying “another” carabiner because your photos show you are already using one carabiner to hold your webbing around the tree and you’d use that to hold the daisy chain instead. So one carabiner is holding the daisy chain around the tree and a second one is attaching the hammock ring to a daisy chain loop. So two per side; four carabiners total. IF you wanted, you could forgo the carabiner at the tree and just feed the daisy chain through end loop on the tree side.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
Well that's simple enough. I'd still have the slings attached to the rings I reckon, so I've got a couple options; daisy chain or whoopie sling. I'll try the Hennessy insulation and a sleeping bag for warmth next time I can set up. Might experiment with the daisy chain as well but I need a couple more 'biners. I suppose I could try more figure 9's for guy lines. I'd like to learn some more knots though if they're useful.
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