Cold weather test #3

[GrizzlyAdams]

Thanks for the hookup on the Bridge, Professor Grizz. It's given me ideas and opened up my mind on the bridge side of things. I just need to figure out if I can make one to my needs. I think even if I lost a bunch of weight, I'd still want a wider bridge, simply because of the way I sleep. Heck, that's why I had the two quilts made the way I did, and now they suit me perfectly. I just need to dial in a hammock to suit me now!

yours has 34" speaders owing to the rig's curious history. The standard spreaders I use are 36", unlikely you'll feel much of a difference. And of course the wider the spreader bars, the bigger the challenge of dealing with a tarp.

This hammock is deep though, and that effectively reduces the width around you. What one can do is very much reduce the difference between width of speader bar and fabric under the spreader bar, making the hammock a lot flatter---and this is the gottcha---more tippy. Ain't no free lunch. There may be a combination "out there" of flat like that at the shoulders and deeper at the feet. I'm told the Eureka hammock spreader width is close to the fabric width, but that's not a true bridge hammock. Worth looking into though.

[Lonely Raven]

I understand tanstaafl. I figured there was a reason for your choices. I'll see what I can do with the materials I have! Thanks for the tips!

[tjm]

Good job, 15 deg F is a good starting point.

I think 10-15 deg F is the sweet spot for winter camping.

Don't need to worry about wet snow and too cold for normal people.

[creativeKayt]

I agree... 16.7 F is quite respectable (chuckling). Good work! I've just gotten the BMBH from JRB and will be building a DIY tarp around it, so this is a good report for me.

Thanks!

[BillyBob58]

You can also try a pole-mod/pull-outs to keep the tarp off the spreader bars. Still good report, wish I had a convenient place to test hang in the cold. I want to get to cold weather hanging but... taking a decent drive to test it by fire without a decent fallback plan is less than desirable.

Add some Grip Clips right at the point on the tarp where the bars hit. Run a cord from there out to a hiking pole, tree or bush. Using a JRB 11x10 tarp, this gives me several inches to spare, even with the ends closed.





Great report. I mentioned that I wondered how the quilt would work with the bridge hammock. Seems like I have had trouble getting my WB torso UQ to fit right on the BMBH, tending to leave a gap in the middle under the length of my spine. I think there is a conflict between BMBH shape and this WB UQ shape, maybe, causing less than optimum fit. Although, I have been able to lessen that by tightening things up, need to work on it some more.

However, when I use my JRB MW4 with the JRB bridge,there is no gap whatsover under back or butt, and really anywhere else. Though I do run one extra shock cord over the hammock on the foot end, not sure if it is needed. I had no CBS at all at ~10F.

[Lonely Raven]

I have some Grip Clips somewhere, I was just too tired to find them after all my jumping in and out all night. I should give them a whirl and see how much room I can make for myself.

Also, being on a deck, I really don't have that many places to tie them out...so I have to plan ahead in that respect as well.

[sr1355]

Looks like a fun night out.... We haven't seen temps that low in my area but looking forward to it when they get here... Where did ya get the digital thermometer my friend, I've been looking for one at all the local haunts but can't seem to find anything like that with a high/low setting....

[Lonely Raven]

Looks like a fun night out.... We haven't seen temps that low in my area but looking forward to it when they get here... Where did ya get the digital thermometer my friend, I've been looking for one at all the local haunts but can't seem to find anything like that with a high/low setting....

There was a thread here in the forums about thermometers that clued me into this one. It's like $9 at REI. It's also got a clock with alarm, but it's like those cheap digital watches you'd give to children as their first watch...the "alarm" is a very quiet beep. So, IMHO, I paid $9 for a Hi/Lo recording thermometer and nothing more. I'd say it's at least as accurate as +/- .5 degrees. It's pretty limited on the cold end...I didn't realize that till I looked up the specs just now.


The Coghlan's® Time And Temp Digital Dangler is a great camping accessory that not only digitally displays a clock with 12 or 24 hour format and an alarm clock with a five minute snooze function, but a calendar showing both the date and the day of the week. The Coghlan's® Time And Temp Digital Dangler is also equipped with a thermometer that updates every five minutes and is Celsius or Fahrenheit selectable. One 3V battery is included with the Coghlan's® Time And Temp Digital Dangler so that you can program it on the way to your campsite.

Specifications
Coghlan's® Time And Temp Digital Dangler
Manufacturer Number: 0492
Includes:
(1) 3V Battery
Features:
12 Or 24 Hour Format Clock
Programmable Alarm Clock with 5 Minute Snooze Function
Perpetual Calendar Displays Day And Date
Thermometer is Celsius or Fahrenheit Selectable
Maximum/Minimum Temperature Memory
Temperature Updates Every 5 Minutes
Clock Accuracy: +/- 30 Seconds Per Month
Thermometer's Functional Range: -10 Degrees Celsius Or 14 Degrees Fahrenheit To +50 Degrees Celsius Or 112 Degrees Fahrenheit
Display: Digital

[SkyPainter]

Nice thorough report - thanks! Wish I had a good test spot locally .....

[Lonely Raven]

Nice thorough report - thanks! Wish I had a good test spot locally .....

It took a lot of eyeballing the yard to figure out that I could do this. And it's a little more private than on the side-lot which can be seen from the street.

The fiance wasn't hip about adding posts to the back yard, so this was a great compromise.