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  1. #1
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Adirondacks, Tensa4 and Superiorgear insulated hammock

    I am a couple of weeks late in posting this. I don't know whether to put it in trip reports or as a gear review, so I am just putting it in "camping hammocks". So, a couple of weeks ago, I drove over 400 miles to Asheville, NC to the house of my buddy, the guy who got me to try hammock camping on a back pack in the Wind River Mountains of WY back in Sept 2006. Once in Asheville, wife stayed there with his wife while he and I got on a plane to Buffalo New York (and then to the little town of Grand Island, New York to spend the night at his brother's house). Next day we(me, both brothers and a daughter) all drove many hours up to a campground in the Adirondack mountains of New York and met yet another brother and his son, and set up camp with 2 large sleeping tents and a big dining tent, which took up most of the room at the camp site. There were 6 of us total, with 2 trucks and 3 tents plus my hammock set up.

    My buddy(an experienced hanger) was going to try out my War Bonnet Ridgeline hammock and had taken it with him in his suitcase. Sadly, once all the tents were up, there just were not two trees available for him to hang from without going right across where the tents and fire pit were. Even if there had been room, it was going to be a long stretch across that campsite to the second tree. So he ended up sleeping on a cot inside the dining tent. Thankfully, he was still pretty comfortable, but disappointed not to hang.

    As for me, I found a small area next to where the trucks were parked where I was able to fit in my brand new Tensa4 stand, which I had luckily brought with me on the airplane. (In checked luggage) It was all still pretty new to me, and the first night I slept pretty comfortable but it was all a little shaky. I could not get optimal Hammock/sit height without having to be pretty narrow at the base and awful close to the stand's poles. But even though I was pretty close to the ground, I still had a classic, deep and wonderful Hammock sleep. But the next day I had a lot more time to work on it, and I figured out what my problem was. Using my also brand new(first time used) 11 ft Superior Gear 11 ft hammock, once I decided to ditch the suspension, and just hang the hammock loops over the stands bar/Apex, Bingo!. Now I had all of the height I could possibly use, even with the stand's base at almost maximum width. Fantastic! Yes, the stand absolutely saved the day, and I most likely would not have been able to hang if I had not brought it. Room in the camp was just too tight.

    So the stand worked perfectly, and so did the Superior Gear 30F insulated Hammock. I had the WB Ridgeline and Hammock Tent 90 with me, and fully planned to use all of these hammocks on different nights. But I was so comfy in the superior gear Hammock that I just kind of forgot about it and never bothered. I'm famous for having problems with calf ridge with gathered end hammocks, but I either never had any or not enough to bother me. I think I might(maybe) have occasionally felt a slight pressure, but a simple small adjustment in my position always quickly got rid of it and it would stay gone. So I slept comfortably all four nights, on my back, on both sides legs straight, or both sides in fetal position. It all just worked great, at least the equal of any other gathered in Hammock I have slept in, and that's a bunch. And better than most. Now I have to decide if this hammock will actually be able to replace my bridge and 90º hammocks. It may well do it, though there are some things about those style hammocks that are unique and still appeal to me. But I don't know, this one one might take top spot!

    But, not having to bother with the spreader bars and that bombproof under quilt are big points in favor of the Superior Gear Hammock. Although, there are no spreader bars in my HT90. It was nowhere near cold enough to put the insulated Hammock to the test. Only in the mid 50s. Still, I caught myself a couple of times starting to adjust the under quilt after I had laid down! Lol! Old habits die hard! But there was never any need for even the most minor adjustment, good thing since there was no adjustment to make! No matter where a part of my body landed, there was always a bunch of puffy insulation under it, and most importantly, GAP FREE with no adjustment concerns and no matter how many times I changed my position. I suspect that this very lofty hammock/UQ combo will keep me warm well below 30F. We will see!

    Most nights I did not even use my 30 F rated top quilt until maybe four or 5 AM. I just slept in my camp clothes(nylon pants and polyester T shirt) and was plenty warm enough just from the built in under quilt most of the night. Then may be close to dawn, or sometimes earlier, I would pour my top quilt loosely over me and try to vent enough to not get too hot. But I once again appreciated the potential of the super light 30° rated Sierra Madre top quilt with built in hood. Not that I ever needed to hurt on this trip, but if it had been in the 30s or 40s I would have greatly appreciated it.

    All but one of my camping buddies a great concerns about my comfort in a banana hammock after a day of hiking in the mountains, and also my ability to stay dry. But they could quickly observe how comfortable I was, and they were even impressed at how dry I stayed under my 13 year old, torn and patched JRB tarp. Even though we had one or two absolute deluges during the day, plus at least 1 all night drizzle. Some of the tents got at least a little water in them, but I stayed high and dry! Yay JRB, hard to beat their quality! Oh, almost forgot: I used the AHE 1/2 net, worked great to keep my top half bug free!
    Looking out from a steak dinner in the big dining tent towards my little domicile in a corner of the camp:



    .....................
    The old camp fire:
    ......................................
    Drying out my TQ(on top of tarp) after a very humid and rainy night. It was dry, but just in case:

    ......................

    ............................

    ......................
    Starting to tear down my comfy camp, time to go home:

    ........................

  2. #2
    Senior Member rmcrow2's Avatar
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    Cool.
    Thank you for sharing.
    Every time I hear someone talk about their Superior hammock I want to buy one.

    I would rather be on a mountain.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Crazytown3's Avatar
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    That is a great trip report! I'm really glad to see another successful outing with a Tensa4. My Tensa4 has been invaluable for me on countless motorcycle trips now. I wouldn't give it up for anything.

  4. #4
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rmcrow2 View Post
    Cool.
    Thank you for sharing.
    Every time I hear someone talk about their Superior hammock I want to buy one.

    I would rather be on a mountain.
    For sure, it is a comfy hammock and the UQ part is- I'm pretty certain- going to work 1st time every time. So many folks have had trouble with their UQs over the years. Maybe not on this night but on nother, or when going to another position, and it is almost always an adjustment issue. Not me, really, I have managed to make every sustem work, from HHSS, to Pea Pods, to UQs, even pads. But lots of folks have, and I don't think they would with this system, as long as the down is dry. Me, I might not have trouble with UQs, but calf ridge has bugged me a lot. But it was not noticeable in 4 nights with this system. So that is a big plus for me. Plus, I never once had to pull my UQ back over my shoulder or make sure it was on the diagonal or that the foot end suspension is up over my feet when I go to the diagonal. If there was a possible downside, it was too warm for the 50s, at least if I ws also trying to use a too warm TQ. But, actually, I was OK as long as I did not have too much on top. But I could always feel a little warmth from below, and some nights I didn't want to feel any warmth at all, at least not to 4AM.

    Quote Originally Posted by Crazytown3 View Post
    That is a great trip report! I'm really glad to see another successful outing with a Tensa4. My Tensa4 has been invaluable for me on countless motorcycle trips now. I wouldn't give it up for anything.
    I feel the same! As long as I am able to transport it, and carry the extra weight, it is going to solve a lot of issues, just as it did on this trip. In fact, if I have it handy, sometimes I might prefer to use it even if trees are available at the camp ground. I am tickled that my 13 years old, torn and patched JRB tarp, attached to the tarp extenders, kept me dry in rain and even a very heavy rain/storm! Yay!

  5. #5
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Oh, I also forgot this: I was reminded night after night of another reason I like my own hammock space: every night I could hear multiple folks snoring in their shared tents at a distance! LOL! Now, admittedly, I think some were using ear plugs so they were not bothered by others snoring. But, I prefer no ear plugs when possible. But speaking of ear plugs and noise: on the last night, about 0400, a hoot owl(I think) landed in a tree above the dining tent where my buddy and fellow hanger from Asheville was sleeping on a cot, and commenced to raise bloody heck! I could not believe the racket! And another owl at a far distance was answering the 1st owl. I guess my buddy was wearing ear plugs, because he did not hear any of it.

  6. #6
    Senior Member P-Dub's Avatar
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    If it sounded like cackling and other strange wacked out noises that animals should not make, it was probably a barred owl!

  7. #7
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by P-Dub View Post
    If it sounded like cackling and other strange wacked out noises that animals should not make, it was probably a barred owl!

    I bet that was it! Seems like the one answering at a distance was going "Hoot, hoot", or maybe "Hooty Hoot" , but the one over our camp was making noises I had never heard before.

  8. #8
    Senior Member P-Dub's Avatar
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    Yeah, that's it! Their usual call is a series of hoots that is sort of the cadence of "who cooks for you?" (but if they were far away you may not have been able to hear it all). And then sometimes they sort of go crazy.... great fun that I always hope I'll hear when I'm camping!

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