Ditch your Snakeskins!!

[chef4]

Phantom, you're doing better than many! But your DCF tarp is pretty light and likely there are other things that you might want to cull if you're so inclined. As usual, it starts with a thorough list and a "need" pile and a "want" pile. Shed the wants and minimize the needs and voila! you're there! (If it were so easy... )

With a very solid no-rain forecast, especially with a big high-pressure dome, I might not bring a tarp. But usually it's worth the 10.6oz penalty for the tarp system (total for tarp/cordage/stakes) with base weight still quite light.

For this little trip I was carrying 2 liters of water, because all but the largest running streams are dry now, and with food the TPW was 14.2lb. I didn't weigh food but it was about 1.5lb maybe, so base weight was easily under 9lb. Only excess was a 100wt fleece jacket and Versalite shell that I ended up not using. Low temp was about 70°F so that fleece (about 8oz) was totally not needed... don't know what I was thinking there.

I’ve switched over to this technique, which I combine with the tarp folding technique in another of your videos. I not only save a couple of ounces on long treks, but the tarp stows much smaller, hence less pack volume. Now I’m reconsidering my mesh hammock sleeve, but I think it is more useful than the tarp sleeve. After long days with a lot of miles it is just so easy to instantly deploy hammock, pillow, and quilts, and then easy to pack up in the morning, shove it into my nylofume bag liner and get going.

[cougarmeat]

> Otherwise I'm a magnet for mosquitoes, which will be swarming me while leaving everybody else alone!

I bet you're invited to a lot of group hangs.

[Twistytee]

IÂ’ve switched over to this technique, which I combine with the tarp folding technique in another of your videos. I not only save a couple of ounces on long treks, but the tarp stows much smaller, hence less pack volume. Now IÂ’m reconsidering my mesh hammock sleeve, but I think it is more useful than the tarp sleeve. After long days with a lot of miles it is just so easy to instantly deploy hammock, pillow, and quilts, and then easy to pack up in the morning, shove it into my nylofume bag liner and get going.

I ordered one of SLD’s carry-alls based on your review and recommendation. It’s greatly sped-up my deployment and morning packing routine while on trail. While it adds a few ounces to my pack, the trade off in efficiency is worth it. I like cmoulder’s ingenuity on this tarp management system but I think it’s better suited to DCF material. The slicker silpoly material seems harder to gather around the guy lines and control with shock cord. And they don’t themselves to fold n pack methods which means your still stuffing them into a stuff sack or into snake skins. The other benefit is DCF packs away dry with a good shake, and I find it easier to pull skins over wet silpoly than stuff it back into a sack.

[chef4]

I ordered one of SLD’s carry-alls based on your review and recommendation. It’s greatly sped-up my deployment and morning packing routine while on trail. While it adds a few ounces to my pack, the trade off in efficiency is worth it. I like cmoulder’s ingenuity on this tarp management system but I think it’s better suited to DCF material. The slicker silpoly material seems harder to gather around the guy lines and control with shock cord. And they don’t themselves to fold n pack methods which means your still stuffing them into a stuff sack or into snake skins. The other benefit is DCF packs away dry with a good shake, and I find it easier to pull skins over wet silpoly than stuff it back into a sack.

Good points, I do use a dcf tarp with doors. I also haven’t sunsetted the hammock skin yet, I’m surprised more people aren’t using them, particularly thruhiking hammockers. It creates a contained and compressible ‘bed roll’, and Jarred at SLD makes a great one. However, I’m open to cmoulder coming up with a lighter solution once again, he’s good at this sort of thing.

[cmoulder]

Good points, I do use a dcf tarp with doors. I also haven’t sunsetted the hammock skin yet, I’m surprised more people aren’t using them, particularly thruhiking hammockers. It creates a contained and compressible ‘bed roll’, and Jarred at SLD makes a great one. However, I’m open to cmoulder coming up with a lighter solution once again, he’s good at this sort of thing.

One possibility for skipping the separate catch-all would be to use the hammock itself as the catch-all, especially hammocks with integrated nets. Put the UQ inside with the TQ, zip it all up and stuff it into the bottom of the pack.

I think I'll give this a whirl next time.

[Crazytown3]

One possibility for skipping the separate catch-all would be to use the hammock itself as the catch-all, especially hammocks with integrated nets. Put the UQ inside with the TQ, zip it all up and stuff it into the bottom of the pack.

I think I'll give this a whirl next time.

This is exactly how I use my WB Eldorado. Toss everything inside, zip up the net and more or less roll it up/stuff it into the pack.

[SubaruWx]

Dutchm used some Kam snaps on his underquilt to convert it into a slug when needed. I have been playing with this idea but haven’t yet tried this.

Combine an Under Quilt Protector and Lazy Slug?
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cmoulder]

This is exactly how I use my WB Eldorado. Toss everything inside, zip up the net and more or less roll it up/stuff it into the pack.

Glad to hear it has been working for you. How do you handle the suspension webbing? I could see just stuffing it into a ziploc. How about when conditions are really wet? Maybe not as much of a concern in your drier climate.

Dutchm used some Kam snaps on his underquilt to convert it into a slug when needed. I have been playing with this idea but haven’t yet tried this.

Combine an Under Quilt Protector and Lazy Slug?
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Definitely something to ponder... leave UQ attached and just gather up everything else inside the UQ, which makes for the simplest possible take-down and deployment and zero extra gear.

[chef4]

Glad to hear it has been working for you. How do you handle the suspension webbing? I could see just stuffing it into a ziploc. How about when conditions are really wet? Maybe not as much of a concern in your drier climate.



Definitely something to ponder... leave UQ attached and just gather up everything else inside the UQ, which makes for the simplest possible take-down and deployment and zero extra gear.

I’ve been thinking about this, as the sleeve is made of bugnet just like the hammock stuff, after all. Since I use a yeti quilt I could easily zip that inside, or roll the whole package up in it. It should all compress down in your bag. One thing I like about the SLD hammock sleeve is that it has a pocket for my straps, and you can easily squeeze the air out. On my AT thru I found a surprising number of straps left behind, which of course is a disaster. I managed to reunite one set with its owner, who took the trail name ‘straps’. When I ran into him later, it turned out he had done this twice.

[cmoulder]

I’ve been thinking about this, as the sleeve is made of bugnet just like the hammock stuff, after all. Since I use a yeti quilt I could easily zip that inside, or roll the whole package up in it. It should all compress down in your bag. One thing I like about the SLD hammock sleeve is that it has a pocket for my straps, and you can easily squeeze the air out. On my AT thru I found a surprising number of straps left behind, which of course is a disaster. I managed to reunite one set with its owner, who took the trail name ‘straps’. When I ran into him later, it turned out he had done this twice.

So if we conclude that suspension webbing storage is the only remaining issue, maybe incorporate a small DCF or nylon bag, one end of which is attached to one of the the hammock CLs, with a cord lock closure on the other end. An additional benefit is that this attached bag will indicate which is head and foot end. Pity to carry an entire catch-all just for that one strap storage feature.

Lol, thankfully other people are looking out for Mr Straps... But if one doesn't want to rely on the kindness of strangers as a regular habit, IMO it's best to go with the "place for everything, and everything in its place" approach and think in terms of systems. This works for me at home when selecting gear for a trip, well enough that over the years it has replaced a checklist — the process *is* the checklist!