Keep in mind I am only a couple of months into this hammock camping and have not got a lot of experience, but here goes:
Set up in an enclosed area, (it was all pretty tight there) about two miles into the Hoosier National Forest.
I set up the hammock across a creek bed the first time. Lesson learned: hard to put stakes in sandstone.
After moving to a place that would take stakes for the two tarps I brought to try out I sat up between two trees that were only about 14 feet apart or so. Seemed to me to be a little close. Did not need 80% of the rope I brought. Using my cinch buckles that Grizzly Adams laid on me it was a real breeze to set up. I laid around in int for a while noticing how it was narrower that my double Eagle's Nest, of course, but I could get diagonal in it no problem. I giggled a lot knowing most folks were bored watching the tube and there I was in the forest. Hee, hee.
The bug net is shaped really nice and very functional after putting in the spreader bars I made at home. But since there were not any insects I tried to take it down and get it clear out of my way. This is the only place I am going to make changes to the hammock. I am simply going to sew on a half dozen ties to hold the mosquito net out of the way. In one of the pictures attached you will see how it could and did keep getting on me and under me all night.
The hammock is what I would call sparse on extras. I liked that. The small pocket was sufficient and I rigged a ridge line to hole my photon light and thermometer.
It got down in the low twenties. The hammock has a double bottom so you can put a pad in it and not have it scoot around. In fact I couldn't even feel the pad when it was in there, but I took it out to test my JRB quilts for warmth that night also.
I really liked the way the Claytor hung. It was not hung tight at all, but when I got a little diagonal I liked the way I could see over the hamock on both sides. The stars were beautiful as I watched them under my high pitched tarp. I watched the moon come up and I really liked the colors of the camo as the moon illuminated it above me. Of course being a Viet Nam vet I am a little partial and very comfortable in camo. I like cover and concealment very much and this setup was blending in well. All camo and except for my tie offs that were orange, (they will be getting changed soon) I was virtually invisible.
A word about the other tarp. I first set up with the Speer Winter Tarp. The tarp itself was great. Set up easily. A few more stakes were needed than the two that the stock tarp takes but that's no biggy. What was a biggy to me was the color...grey. I could not feel very inconspicuous under it. I can't tell you how much that means to me to not get noticed if I choose. So I took down the Speer and put up the Claytor stock tarp, two stakes.
The Speer has an 11 foot ridgeline that covered fine since the sloop or sag of the ten foot hammock made it fit within a foot or so under each end. But the 13 foot ridgeline of the Claytor was better and though it did not have as much side coverage as the Speer, I just liked it better for its simplicity and again its color. I would have had to pull it way down in a storm.
Once I changed the nylon webbing that came on the Claytor with poly I did not sag lower all night. I lay awake for a long time doing my Zen thing, which is easy....chill out!, but I must have been pretty comfortable since I hit the sack at 8:15 with plenty of coffee in me and other than pee breaks and more star gazing a few times during the night, I was in the sack for 12 hours and 45 minutes total. Got up at nine.
The JRB quilts kept me warm all night with no extra clothing. No coat, just a fleece jacket and a fleece hat and very thin long johns and wool socks. After trying to lay on my side and sleep near sunup, which was very doable for me, I awoke chilled to find I had taken my feet out of the footbox and was exposed to the cold air. (My water bottles and the Salt Creek froze over last night.) I was really quite cold so I stuck the SPE setup, a 1/4 inch mat between the the two layers of the Claytor. It went in with some difficulty due to the stuff in the hammock, but in a minute I was back in the down swinging feather bed and very warm in a couple of minutes. In fact I had to unzip my jacket and remove the hat from over my ears.
One other difficulty to mention. I noticed I had to put something under my knees to feel relaxed. I got my down jacket out of the pack and stuffed it into one of its sleeves and put that under my knees and it was better. I also had to have something, though small, under my head to be comfortable. I used a crumpled up rain jacket in a stuff sack. I think this would be the case in any hammock though.
Hey, bottom line: I will be sleeping in my Claytor most of the time, I'm sure. I really think the comfort in the Claytor is not better or worse that the HH and the Eagles Nest. The system as a whole is what I like. Simple, top loading, one piece with a full length zipper to open the bug net, and really built heavy. (Oh well.) The fly and hammock weigh 3.5 pounds. The fly alone weighs 1.7 pounds. The Speer was only nineteen ounces, but....I like green.
Hope you enjoyed reading about my night in my Jungle Hammock as much as I enjoyed being all alone with it for a beautiful, crisp, happy, forest night.
Mule
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Originally Posted by skskinner
I'm sure you two will get along swimmingly. 
Seriously thought, thanks for the trip report, Mule. I'm glad you're finding what works for you so quickly. Just remember, fine tuning goes on for quite a while, no matter how much you like your setup. 
i love it,i am spreading the gospel
neo
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