Wow! This is brilliant. Thx, Shug!
600' of amsteel makes waaaay too many whoopie slings, dog bones, and continuous loops for one hammock. Now I have 3 hammocks. Trying not to buy more hammocks so the amsteel doesn't go to waste. Did I mention bling? Gotta have bling for all the hammocks... But now my amsteel isn't necessary, better buy another hammock.
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First, it the power of the structural ridge line to get consistency in your hang. Every setup use to take 15 minutes of fiddling to get things dialed in.
Second is the awesomeness of the underquilt. I started with a standard ground pad under a sleeping bag in the hammock. It "worked" -- I didn't freeze to death. The UQ is a completely different experience.
While I can second most if not all of what was already posted, I want to add this:
How much time you can and will sink into this
It's a lot of fun though, so it's actually a good thing I suppose!
1. what a waste of time it was trying to make a sleeping bag and pad work well in a hammock. Bite the bullet and get a good set of quilts
2. Using a pillow or something of the likes under your knees, for me, makes sleeping in a hammock much more comfortable. especially if you are fighting calf ridge, or if you don't have the perfect hang.
3. Buy once, cry once.
That it is possible to hang a hammock with 2 straps and nothing else.
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
Just that you wont get it perfect the first time. Spend some time fiddling around, practicing your hangs.
Well, since(on my first night ever in a hammock) I was many miles into the wilderness and at over 10,000 feet of elevation, and ended up freezing, I wish I had started with more knowledge of how difficult it can be to use a mummy bag in a hammock. Along with the simple knowledge that all I had to do was put something on the ground(ground cloth, pack, whatever) to stand on, right underneath the bottom entry of my Hennessy Hammock with Super Shelter, get in the bag while standing up, pull the hood over my head and then sit/lay down in the hammock. Or, failing to figure that out, if I had just figured out to use my bag as a TQ at least if not too cold.
Either of the above would have made all the dif in the world for my first night in a hammock. But I didn't and could not get zipped up in my bag adequately and ended up abandoning the hammock ( woke up shivering) about 0200 or so, at 22ºF, and sleeping(warmly) on the ground. Thank goodness I had brought my pads as back up. I was so disgusted with hammocks that it is a wonder that I ever gave them another try.
That was first week of Sept 2006. That first night we got to camp about sunset, which along with my altitude sickness did not help me to figure out various hammock mysteries. But, after an all day hike, next day we got to camp a few hours before dark, and my other hammock hanging buddy and I worked on figuring things out. (I had also learned the night before to hang the foot higher, because I had also been sliding down into the foot end of the hammock, so there was another important lesson learned). I can not remember if I figured the above way to get into my bag(before I get into the hammock), but I know I figured something out because I remember being in my bag on the 2nd night, and warm and comfy for the next week. Which even included the last night of the trip where all my tenting buddies and my 1 other hammock bud were cold, and I was hanging right next to a lake with the wind blasting into the foot end of my small asym HH tarp, bouncing my hammock around all night. I later found out every one knew that I was going to freeze again. But I slept toasty warm and got a profoundly deep and restful sleep. I did not wake up until the bright sunshine hit about 0900, and my buds had to wake me up. They were already up and packed and ready to get out of that cold place, but I was happily sleeping in. What a far cry from my first hammock night! And most of the dif came down to simply figuring out how to get inside my bag, pull the hood over my head, and zip up, while using a hammock. A lot trickier than when on the ground!
And during the next year of learning, I was not always successful in using my mummy bag as a TQ. I always seemed to be losing a lot of heat around the head and shoulders or other drafts. More than once I turned a not warm enough night into a pleasantly warm night by giving up on TQ mode and getting into the bag/hood, and zipping up. But I became more skilled at using the bag as quilt, and once I actually got a TQ I found it worked better than mummy bag as quilt. And I just use TQs now, with no problems. With a separate hood. But I wish I had known then what I know now, whether for bag or TQ use.
I did not know at the time - 4 years ago - that I would participate in rambling forum discussions about nighttime urination. But here I am...
The game is the best teacher.
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