How many use the Night Owl Hammock from WL?

[flatline]

i cover my Night Owl with a Tadpole and all is well. i have not been caught i a high wind and rain situation yet, but coverage should be fine.

the Lazy Slug Tube is to my sleep system what "skins" are to my tarp, kinda.
with the tarp...hang and tighten the ridge line (in my case a CRL) pull back the skins and voila- instant tarp.
with the Lazy Slug... hang the tree straps & toggles, attach the whoopies, pull back the slug and instant sleep system.
i really like it but i am a lazy slug
here is another thread on the LST.
right now i have 2 lazy slugs, loaded with complete sleep systems (described in the above mentioned thread) in my ALICE pack.

oh yeah..i'm just a fan too !

[RubberneckLion]

Just as I was about to take a motorcycle ride into the mountains today, I glanced at my front porch and noticed a small package. I assumed it had to be my copy of Ed Speer's Hammock Camping, which I'd ordered several days ago. I took the package inside without looking at it closely and left it on the kitchen table to be opened later.

When I returned home, I checked the mailbox and discovered another, much smaller package. That one was definitely the book--which meant the first could only be my Night Owl. Marty had earlier sent me an email saying the hammock would arrive two or three days later than today, so getting it today was a wonderful surprise. It was a shame I didn't take it with me into the mountains, as I could've tried my first quick hang right away. Well, I've got all of tomorrow for that.

First impressions of the hammock: Though it's very light, it's huge. The material is soft and silky to the touch; I can tell it'll be wonderful to lie on. I've no special eye for fabric craftsmanship, but the stitching looks rock solid on both the hammock and the tree straps.

Great service, WL. Thanks.

[flatline]

I've no special eye for fabric craftsmanship, but the stitching looks rock solid on both the hammock and the tree straps.

Great service, WL. Thanks.

WildernessLogics' TI skills are as good as it gets!
enjoy the first class flight.

[opie]

Slept in the Night Owl both days of my trip this weekend. I had multiple back-ups in case I had a failure or something just wasnt jiving right.

Initially I set it up between 2 trees that were spaced how I would set-up one of my other hammocks. I thought it looked a little saggy but I hopped in and tried to get to sleep. Something didnt feel right, I just couldnt get comfortable and then I remembered someone mentioning the Night Owl needs to be spread out more than a normal gathered end... So I got up and moved one end of the hammock to another tree about 5' away, got more of the sag pulled out and hopped back in... bingo. I just fell into the correct position and fell asleep. It got a bit chilly that evening, 30 degrees and I was a little unprepared for temps that low so I woke several times during the night. Not shivering, but I knew it was from the temp. The second night I feel asleep and didnt wake till it was light out. Thats the first time I have ever slept through the night in a hammock.

I did finally come to the conclusion that my "fleece bag inside my big a** regular sleeping bag laying on a pad and wool blanket" is to much of a PITA. I had an incubator some time back but had to let it go... But gonna get another one and that should help with the climate control.

All in all my experience with WL is outstanding and the quality and comfort of the Night Owl is amazing. I might have to put my Traveler up on the block.

[syc]

I'm really happy with my WL tadpole tarp, and came this >< close to ordering a quilt from them a couple of weeks ago, so I was really curious to read up on this hammock.

From what I can tell, this mod looks just like Knotty's Stretch Side hammock mod.



If so, then Knotty ought to go into business, because this would be second idea that he's tried out that made it into a commercial product! (the other one being using carbon felt in the Backcountry Boiler).

[RubberneckLion]

Had my first hang last night, and I wish I had better news to report. I tried two different pairs of trees, with the whoopie slings set at many different lengths and the tree huggers set at many different heights, and could never get a good lay. By the time I got tired of fussing with the configuration, I was in no mood to hike down the mountain and drive home, so I decided to sleep in the hammock the best I could. A good diagonal lay seemed impossible, and I don't think it was entirely because of the way I'd set up the hammock; the distance from head box to foot box just seemed too short for my long body. When I tried to stretch out straight, my feet hung over the foot box and my head, though still in the hammock, was way up high on the fabric, past the head box.

I think I'm going to return the hammock, but this hasn't been a total waste of time. For the short time it was comfortable, it was very comfortable, enough to convince me that I would love hanging in a hammock that fit me better. I also now know I definitely don't want a hammock that's shorter or narrower than this one. That rules out 90% of the other hammocks I had been considering before I bought the Night Owl, which will make my next choice much easier. A couple of people advised me to go long to accommodate my height, but the width was really what seemed to be the limiting factor. I'm thinking my ideal dimensions in a gathered-end would be about 13 feet long and as wide as an Eno Doublenest or TTTM King Size. My most frequent thought all night long was that there almost couldn't be such a thing as too big. I'm really leaning toward a suspension bridge, though. Seems like so much less to fiddle with.

Sorry, Marty! I'd like to say again that the craftsmanship is superb. Just not enough acreage for me.

[BillyBob58]

Wow, that is interesting! So, how big and tall (how big a boy) are you?

Sounds like you might also be a Safari man.

My JRB Bridge is not all that big. I think the height and weight limitations are greater ( less weight/height) than many hammocks. But you are right, there is not all that much to get just right in set up. Just pull it tight enough so that the distance between the bars is not too far ( use a RL to limit the max or mostly I just eyeball it going by net tension on my old model). And make sure the head end is a few inches higher than the foot. That is pretty much it.

[Two Tents]

but this hasn't been a total waste of time. For the short time it was comfortable, it was very comfortable, enough to convince me that I would love hanging in a hammock that fit me better..

It sounds like you MIGHT do better in a bridge. I would see if you can get the adjustment on the whoopies, tree huggers, head box and foot box to where you state you were comfy and make small adjustments both ways from there. I'm not understanding where the comfort went once you found a sweet spot. Once I found where it was best, I locked things in with an adjustable ridge line. (I measured it at 108" for my hammock sleep number ) I tweaked it a couple of times after that but ended up back at 108. Now I simply hang it and the 'lay' is the same each time. I use a dutch biner so I can use the Owl to sit in and re attach for laying down. You May have to fiddle with it a bit more. Heck you already have it so you may as well try, try, try before you send it back. Just sayin.

[RubberneckLion]

I'm not understanding where the comfort went once you found a sweet spot.

I should've been clearer on that point. I never got a really got lay; I just didn't notice how bad it really was until I'd spent 10-20 minutes in the position and the muscle knots started to set it. Before that happened, it felt really good.

BillyBob, I'm 6'6" and about 240 pounds. That's no bigger than a lot of people who seem to be happy with this hammock, so I'm stumped as to why it seems to fit me so badly. You'd think it has to be that I didn't set it up correctly, but I fiddled and fiddled and fiddled with it. I'm going to take it out again tonight and see if I can make it work. If nothing else, I'll get to finish reading The Scarlet Pimpernel while I use it as a lounger.

If I went with a bridge, it wouldn't be a JRB; the max height for that one is listed as 6'3". Grizz is the only other game in town as far as bridge hammocks go, right? So it'd either be buy one from him, or try a DIY. Lymphocytosis from NK Outdoors offered to make me a custom gathered-end in whatever dimensions I want; that's probably what I'll do if the Night Owl doesn't work and I decide to stick with a gathered-end.

[BillyBob58]

If I went with a bridge, it wouldn't be a JRB; the max height for that one is listed as 6'3". Grizz is the only other game in town as far as bridge hammocks go, right? So it'd either be buy one from him, or try a DIY. Lymphocytosis from NK Outdoors offered to make me a custom gathered-end in whatever dimensions I want; that's probably what I'll do if the Night Owl doesn't work and I decide to stick with a gathered-end.

Yep, too big for the JRB. There is the Chrysallis(sp?) if you can find one. And I don't think Grizz makes those things on any kind of regular basis, just once in a while.