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Thread: Damp bag

  1. #1
    Senior Member cataraftgirl's Avatar
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    Damp bag

    Hi all,
    Newbie to the hammock thing and planning on using sleeping bags as TQ for the time being. I use a Kelty down bag for spring & fall, and a light weight synthetic bag for summer. My sport of choice is river rafting in Utah/Idaho/Wyoming/etc. so most of the time it's pretty dry, but there is the occasional prolonged thunderstorm, especially in spring & fall. I'm wondering if folks have any problems with dampness of the down bags when using just a tarp over the hammock? Up until I discovered the hammock I was sleeping on a roll-a-cot with a thermarest pad. Mostly under the stars. Have a great tent, just hate putting it up & down (where are those tent sherpas when you need them?). Most of the time I don't have any trouble with my down bag out in the open, but there have been a few times when I woke up to a damp bag even though it wasn't raining during the night. Will a tarp & hammock give me as much dampness protection as the tent? I'm sure campsite geography plays a part in the dampness factor as well.
    Thanks
    KJ

  2. #2
    Senior Member gargoyle's Avatar
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    For the most part you'll be dry and experience less condenstion in a hammock and tarp set up.
    There are the exceptions tho, fog and dew will creep in and get things damp.
    Ambulo tua ambulo.

  3. #3
    canoebie's Avatar
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    Welcome CG!! I paddle a bunch, went from ground dwelling to hanging, and gotta say that what I love about hanging is that I stay a whole lot drier and cleaner. Stuff is better organized and handy. No more bending over, crawling on the ground, etc. etc. I also have less stuff in the boat, more conveniently packed. Go for it, you won't turn back.
    “Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
    ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

  4. #4
    Senior Member Jsaults's Avatar
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    I have gotten wet

    Depending on the size and shape of your tarp, and especially how it is pitched you can get wet.

    Wetness #1: I was hanging in a stand of trees with sparse ground cover. During a torrential straight down rain the water running off my Hennessey tarp was splashing onto the semi-bare ground with such force that it splashed back up onto the hammock body. Easily cured via a larger tarp.

    Wetness #2: I was hanging under a 15x15 foot Cookes Tundra tarp that I had pitched high for good ventilation during 90+ weather. A violent storm "atomized" the water falling through the trees and the wind blew it sideways under the tarp. Here the larger tarp was not the solution - rather the pitch was the culprit.

    Of course, these are the only two times I recall getting damp. I have weathered some nasty rains snug and dry.

    Jim

    PS: Be on the lookout for puddles under your hammock! And Crocs tend to float away from where you left them.

  5. #5
    Senior Member CrankyOldGuy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jsaults View Post
    Here the larger tarp was not the solution - rather the pitch was the culprit.
    Jim, explain please! Would a steeper pitch keep the rain from atomizing? How steep? How do you know?

    I seek knowledge! But slowly and not too much as I'm prone to brain cramps.
    "A bore is a man who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company." Gian Vincenzo Gravina (1664 - 1718)

  6. #6
    Senior Member Shewie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CrankyOldGuy View Post
    Jim, explain please! Would a steeper pitch keep the rain from atomizing? How steep? How do you know?

    I seek knowledge! But slowly and not too much as I'm prone to brain cramps.
    I think Jim means the rain was atomising as it hit the branches, turning it into a fine mist and then that was getting blown under the tarp. If he'd pitched it steeper, that wind blown mist would have hit the sides of the tarp instead of drifting underneath and onto his bag/quilt

  7. #7
    Senior Member Jsaults's Avatar
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    The main reason I got damp under the 15x15 was

    that I made a rookie mistake!

    With the heat and humidity, I was looking for as much air flow as I could get. The high & airy tarp pitch was great in that respect, but yes, it was the drops from the leaves being caught by the wind (in a dense forest!) and blown in sideways. A steeper pitch with consideration given to the direction of the prevailing wind would have minimized the dampening.

    After that I switched from a simple temp-o-guage zipper pull thermometer to a Suunto combination with a tiny compass. At least I have a fighting chance of blocking the wind now!

    Jim

  8. #8
    Senior Member CrankyOldGuy's Avatar
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    mmm . . . I've had rain that I think "atomized" THROUGH a tarp (a year or so ago, before realizing that God didn't mean for us to sleep on the ground) that I had pitched very low and tight to the ground and therefore also low and close to me.

    It was very dark, the wind was howling and since my head lamp battery had died (Gee, I wonder whose fault that was?) I could only see when the lightening flashed. In any event, it was a VERY hard rain and I got "misted" all night long.

    So my question is- was the mist really atomized water passing through the tarp?
    "A bore is a man who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company." Gian Vincenzo Gravina (1664 - 1718)

  9. #9
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    I have had problems with down bags in the past, but that was before DWR and not in a Hammock.

    One time basically about 4-5 days of winter fog so thick you could not see combined with some freezing rain 0-10dF at night and a too warm bag in the winter sogged out my down bag and it lost a lot of loft every day and no way to dry it out. Just stuff it and go.

    I did not understand what was happening at that time as it was in the late 70's. Now I think it was condensation building up inside the bag.

    I have had that happen a couple of other times in extreme cold with condensation inside the bag but not that bad.

    All that said, I never got into a really bad situation in cold weather where I was completely wetted out. There was 2 or 3 times I woke up with a wet back but that was mostly due to location stupidity. that would not happen in a hammock.

    I am a lot more comfortable now with DWR and down.

    Still I do think back to those condensation problems I had and I would rather use a down quilt with a synthetic topper in very cold weather to keep the condensation out of the down or a full synthetic quilt. Have yet to build the Climashield topper but it will happen soon. The topper will also be a summer quilt.

    Still my preference in down and a down quilt made with momentum would also be nice, but it would not stop condensation inside the down baffles in extreme cold.

  10. #10
    Senior Member TinaLouise's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tammons View Post
    I have had problems with down bags in the past, but that was before DWR and not in a Hammock.

    I am a lot more comfortable now with DWR and down.

    Still my preference in down and a down quilt made with momentum would also be nice, but it would not stop condensation inside the down baffles in extreme cold.
    With this tropical mess that's just passed through my area, I've had my hennessy hammock hanging in my backyard since Sunday (when the rain started). Today the weatherman said we've gotten over 22inches of rain in 4 days!! I've been testing out all kinds of things with my hammock setup. I've had tarp connections break (high wind) and soaked my UQ because of ground splash. (I adjusted my hammock to be higher up from the ground) Two nights ago I put my down top quilt (DWR ripstop covered) and a regular type pillow (heavy cotton covered) into my hammock and set the tarp up with the sides weighted down. During the night, without me in the hammock, the sides of the tarp ended up touching the netting of the hammock. The next morning when I checked everything, I found the pillow was soaked!! The top quilt was damp on the outside but the down seemed to be OK. If I was camping, I'd need to find a sunny spot, like at lunch time, and air out my quilt. The cotton pillow, well I wouldn't be carrying it backpacking but it did show me why cotton is a "no-no". This showed me how much that DWR cover on my quilts help to repel water/rain in a worst case situation.

    TinaLouise

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