Undershield, Spectra Ideas

[riverkeeper]

Thanks Youngblood--

Your Wintertarp is near the top of my 'prolly gonna get' list and for the reasons you mention...I mentioned this in another thread.

Our normal hiking season ( sometimes sportingly referred to as Summer) can be rather interesting, esp in May, June, late Sep and Oct -- and esp at the altitudes we like to BP. Blown clouds, sleet, rain, snow, fog, heavy mist.

Hangers are more vulnerable to these special effects than tent dwellers I've learned. Spousette recently decided to hang as much as feasible ... for a few years now I've sometimes hung while she used a 1 person tent....guess she's decided that if she is going to sleep alone she might as well be comfortable. Fair chance this summer she'll be a ranger on the High Divide Seven Lakes Basin trail in the Olympics. Highly recommended trip BTW.

There are great ideas on this and Jeff's site.

One idea I'm playing with is essentially similar to one of the Hennessy items. 2 silny end caps--one of which has an integral silny undercover which will go under the hammer and attach to the other end cap (probably inside and via velcro) so it can be adjustable in length... and modular. Connecting cord along ridgeline. Probably been done already.

Separate undershield and endcaps might work better.

[BillyBob58]

Thanks Youngblood--

Your Wintertarp is near the top of my 'prolly gonna get' list and for the reasons you mention...I mentioned this in another thread.

Our normal hiking season ( sometimes sportingly referred to as Summer) can be rather interesting, esp in May, June, late Sep and Oct -- and esp at the altitudes we like to BP. Blown clouds, sleet, rain, snow, fog, heavy mist.

Hangers are more vulnerable to these special effects than tent dwellers I've learned. Spousette recently decided to hang as much as feasible ... for a few years now I've sometimes hung while she used a 1 person tent....guess she's decided that if she is going to sleep alone she might as well be comfortable. Fair chance this summer she'll be a ranger on the High Divide Seven Lakes Basin trail in the Olympics. Highly recommended trip BTW...............

Hi RK:
I was in Port Angeles last fall, on the way to the Hoh river, and again on the way back out. On the way in, we were late getting to the trail head. We hiked through the rain forest as night was falling. Went in just a few miles and set up camp in the dark. My son and his friend in their tents on a dry sand bar. We cooked supper there. Then my friend from Ashevillle, NC and I headed back into the woods a bit until we found some trees ( via head lamps ) small enough and close enough together to hang our HHs from. Passed out and slept like the dead. I did not even get up to take a leak, until I heard my son nearby trying to get the hung food down from the trees about 0730. A good hour or more later, I was starting to worry about my friend in his hammock, because he had not woke up yet. And we had to YELL his name several times before he finally responded. I was starting to think he had passed away in a HH.

That was a great trip, but with a lot of fog and rain. Doesn't that High Divide form one of the ridges that drops down into the Hoh River? We climbed up there from Olympic Guard Station one morning. That was one steep climb. And 3 or 4 thousand feet of elevation gain I think I remember. But the fog and clouds kept us from being able to see much, except for a few minutes here and there when it would briefly clear. We didn't get any really good views until our last day when we drove out and went up to that pass between Mt.Baker and Mt.Shuksan. Finally some clear weather so we could see, and that scenery blew us away. I'm sure we would have been just as blown away by High Divide to one side of the Hoh and Blue Glacier up the other ridge, if the weather had just co-operated! Maybe next time. But the hammocking was great, and the fog provided some interesting challenges.

[NCPatrick]

One idea I'm playing with is essentially similar to one of the Hennessy items. 2 silny end caps--one of which has an integral silny undercover which will go under the hammer and attach to the other end cap (probably inside and via velcro) so it can be adjustable in length... and modular. Connecting cord along ridgeline. Probably been done already.

I'm really interested in this design. Let me know if you get any farther with it. Sounds pretty cool.

[slowhike]

One idea I'm playing with is essentially similar to one of the Hennessy items. 2 silny end caps--one of which has an integral silny undercover which will go under the hammer and attach to the other end cap (probably inside and via velcro) so it can be adjustable in length... and modular. Connecting cord along ridgeline. Probably been done already.

Separate undershield and endcaps might work better.

i've tried something similar to that, but haven't got the mid section right yet.

this picture shows the mid section hanging way to loose...
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...5/P1280080.JPG

here are the end covers w/o the mid section...
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...5/P2110139.JPG

they work great that way for protection from blowing rain & gear storage, but i been working on a simpler design that will do the same thing but be easier to make & use.

[GREEN THERAPY]

Thats quite similar to the cover that I make. The way I got around the droop was to cut the cover to follow the shape of the hammock, then to cut a dart where it hangs the lowest across the width of the cover. This pulls the bottom up and causes it to follow the contours closer. There is approx a four inch gap between the hammock with me in it and the cover. This gap is the same from end to end. Have a few pics in my gallery that show the design.

[riverkeeper]

Sorry about not getting back on the thread ... mostly been gone &/or hanging in the Mtns ... low altitude up to 2100ft.... lots of snow in places above that....weird year. Also forgot the thread.

Spousette will not BC ranger (approx 10 day tours) this year mostly due to my cornea transplant stitches coming out May-July. The WIC manager called and wants her .... said he seldom gets workers who know how to backpack for real much less the trails in the Park.

Last year PA had less that 20 inches of rain but do not tell anyone....check the annual rainfall amts in Atlanta, NYC, Philly Chatanooga etc (Gotcha)

[slowhike]

Thats quite similar to the cover that I make. The way I got around the droop was to cut the cover to follow the shape of the hammock, then to cut a dart where it hangs the lowest across the width of the cover. This pulls the bottom up and causes it to follow the contours closer. There is approx a four inch gap between the hammock with me in it and the cover. This gap is the same from end to end. Have a few pics in my gallery that show the design.

we're clearly trying to acomplish very similar goals.
i have a partly completed version that needs some changes made when i get around to it.

one thing i'm going to try to do on the fully enclosed winter version is to use two hiking sticks as spreader bars (like seen on the head end of my current set up/ page 9 in my gallery).
the spreaders will keep the DWR shell from making contact w/ the hammock itself, preventing the transfer of water from the shell to the hammock on those occasions when some condensation seems unavoidable.

[GREEN THERAPY]

The first cover I made was totally out of DWR ripstop and on all occasions have had condensation issues. Since then I have been trying poly fabrics and found one that is used as an outer shell on winter coats. It is the one with the autaum print on it. Water will bead off of it, is breathable and the micro weave is a great wind blocker. Have used it in three dif tests in the bush under demanding conditions with no moisture issues of any kind.

The other poly cover is the blue micro fiber fabric that is very water resistant with the same excellent results. Getting zoned in better

[slowhike]

that's good to know... about the poly seeming to have less condensation issues.
we need more real world, side by side tests.

maybe someone could make a sock/pod w/ one side being poly & the other side being nylon.
ideally then, the person would be a back sleeper so he/she would be exhaling moister from their mouth strait up, giving both sides equal moister from breath<G>.