First Night in an Amok Draumr 5.0

[HarveyM]

Short version: The Amok Draumr is easy to setup but harder to get into. You have to centre yourself head to toe in the hammock or risk tilting down at either end. It's as comfortable for side sleepers as back sleepers. Finally inflating your air pad in your nice warm house before moving it out into the cold isn’t as good an idea as you think it is.

The Longer one: I just bought a Draumr 5.0 in camo with grey Skjold 10 tarp a couple weeks ago from a gent whose dog apparently decided camping wasn’t for them.

Set it up in the yard after filling the Big Agnes insulated Air Core in the house. Even after dark set up was easy, getting in, not as much. There’s a reason Jonas specs a heavy fabric for the footbox. It takes a bit of practice to figure out the lay. Migrate to the foot end and the hammock tilts that way. Ditto for the head end. Gravity isn’t your friend as you grab the side straps to manoeuvre yourself to the balance point.

Sleeping on your side is as easy & as comfortable as sleeping on your back, but switching sides causes a weird short period (small & fast) side to side bounce. I didn't try sleeping on my stomach.

Even though the rated R4.5 of the pad should be good to around -15 C (5 F) I soon started feeling cold although the temperature only dropped to 6C. After an hour or two the pad was stating to feel, well, flaccid. When I pulled the pad from the hammock it was definitely under-inflated, Great I thought, my new pad has a leak on the first night. Then ‘maybe it’s the cold?’ Brought it in to warm up, it came back to the it's original tension. All in all a really great hammock, it still needs some practice to get the best from it.

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[mountainmatthew]

Thanks for sharing! I see from your profile that you also have WB Ridgerunner. How do the Draumr and the Ridgerunner compare? Which one do you think is more comfortable?

[HarveyM]

That's a tough one. 99% of users would say the Draumr's better - you can lie on your stomach in it (reportedly) and it is flat. It also has more space to spread out than the Ridgerunner. But I'm still needing to experiment on the warmth issue I had. I've had the Ridgerunner for six years and have a decent idea of how to set it up for the conditions, plus how to sleep sideways in it without having my knees on the hammock edges. So I find the Ridgerunner more 'naturally' comfortable (as I"m used to sleeping in it) now, but in time who knows.

[mountainmatthew]

Very helpful feedback, thank you! Staying warm is definitely an important part of comfort as well. Would love to hear back from you on the warmth as you continue to experiment to see if you are able to resolve the issue.

[Shug]

Very helpful feedback, thank you! Staying warm is definitely an important part of comfort as well. Would love to hear back from you on the warmth as you continue to experiment to see if you are able to resolve the issue.

One relies on a pad for warmth and structure....Amok.
And the Ridgerunner is a bridge hammock. Use a pad or UQ.
Both comfortable but that is subjective in the hammock world.

Shug

[HarveyM]

Second test hang:

Filling the air pad outdoors reduced it’s sag overnight. For a warmer sleep I tried a 30F(-1C) sleeping bag with sweat shirt & pants with an noticeable improvement in warmth. Temps went down to 4C (a couple degrees lower than my first hang). I’m hoping to try a foam pad over the air mattress the next cool night & see how that compares.

[iceman857]

Thanks for sharing! I see from your profile that you also have WB Ridgerunner. How do the Draumr and the Ridgerunner compare? Which one do you think is more comfortable?

I also have the Amok, the WB Ridgerunner, and the Dutchware Banyan. The Amok is definitely more comfortable (for me) than my bridge hammocks, because there isn't any shoulder squeeze. I use the winterlight pad for warmth in the Amok and it does great, even down below 20 degrees.