Somethings wrong here....

**default** · 09-14-2011, 10:06

So a friend and I decided to swing up to Santee State Park to have fun and hang out that night, get a little camping in.

so yesterday morning, im up, ready to rock and roll, mostly packed. i have a package coming from steep and cheap so im stoked. go ahead and get the day started and WHAM!!!! CRACK!!! PAIN!!! CURSE WORDS!!!

while walking out, i wasnt paying attention to the fact that my nice new motorcycle frame (which is sitting in the living room...) has a nice metal tab sticking off the bottom...and i kicked it with my little toe......

so i dont think anything of it. should have known better, but thats how it goes.

so fast forward some, my friends getting ready and were figuring out lunch. we should be on the road around 2. until their family calls and says "were near by, yall want lunch?" and not one to pass up on free food, we go. 3 hours later (and an hour past that 2pm on the road time) we get back to the house to load up the gear....but my package isnt here yet, and i wanted it to take with me. so we wait. until 4:45.....frack. it gets here, and boy its not what i thought it would be, so i leave it and haul but to the interstate, where its now rush hour traffic. get thru that, and end up at the camp after buying firewood at a local gas station a little before 6.

drove around looking at all the designated spots, and finally pick one we liked where we had seen A deer (remember that...1 deer)

so i start setting up my stuff: hang the BlackBird, stake it out. Hang the Superfly, (holy tent stakes batman) all the while figuring out how to adjust tarp flys for the first time....ok, ready to go. use hiking poles for porch mode....not tall enough but its set.

i leave my PLUQ in the car, but toss my orbit light and PLTQ in the hammock with my cell, and once my friend gets the Byers hammock thing sorted, we go for a quick walk in the woods on a trail behind our site (they walked, i hobbled.) my little toe is an interesting color and is a bit tender to say the least.

get back, bringing some spare firewood from the trail, and proceed to rock out dinner of hot dogs and caramel/vanilla swirl marshmallows. dont ask.

at this point, my foots killing me, so all i want to do it pass out in the hammock into blissful sleep. its dark, and while eating i noticed a few sets of eyes in the woods, so i shone my lil fenix light that way, and theres 3 little deer chillin out and snacking. maybe, 10 yards away. i could have hit one with a well aimed stick, that close.

so, i get in the BlackBird, and try to get comfy. not happening. as i lay there, it constantly feels like i have a ridge up my butt and the sides arent snug at all. i notice my ridgeline is super loose, so i get out (this is my first real time in this hammock, so im moving very slowly, also little toe keeps reminding me the beating i gave it.) and tighten the head end just a little, and get in to find it nice and flat with a taught RL

well, i cant get comfortable. huge shoulder squeeze, i have the shelf laying over my right shoulder, the double layers top half keeps flopping over my face on the left side and i am just overall uncomfortable. i try a few different suspension adjustments, to no help. i always felt like i was either going to fall somehow, or there was no other position other than coffin straight.

so i give up. earlier, i had strung my ENO and used it to lounge, so i ran to that. i can get a great lay in it, and sleep at least partially on my sides as needed, plus i can change positions easy. awesome, i get in, instant relief.

until i get CBS. so i hop out and go grab the PLUQ, thinking im glad i can test it out. the way i have it "suspended" it fits just right on the rings in my suspension, and its instantly snug. which sucks.

i dont know if this is how all UQ's are, but the lines for the sides came up so high that it was at one point resting on top of my forehead. most of the time, sleeping on the diagonal, id have it under my head and causing a pressure point. when i loosened it a little, it was too low and didnt do anything. but when it was tight to me, it pulled the sides so tight it felt awful.

so i didnt get much rest, between that and the 9 deer that decided several times that night that there was a buffet behind out campsite. which there was, there was a nice tall grass oasis maybe 30 feet behind the campsite. shining my fenix then was very interesting...18 little green glowy orbs....staring back...creepy.

I will say that overall, i had fun. And i HAVE to say this isnt intended to knock Brandons stuff or the hammock itself, i just dont think that either im cut out for serious hammock camping, or maybe thats not the right hammock for me..who knows. right now, i feel like i want to sell off my gear and stick with the basic eno.

forgot to add the best part. i talked to a park ranger who was there this morning about some stuff, and was limping a little and he asked what was wrong. he checked my toe, and asked an emt friend that was there to come over. its broken, but nothing can be done. I will say that hanging in the eno definitively helped with the throbbing that was going on, it being elevated and all

**chickenwing** · 09-14-2011, 10:17

Sorry things didn't go so well for ya. I hope you are able to get things squared away b4 the real hang. But if ya don't I am sure there will be lots of "advice" on how you need to change your set up. Most should probably be taken with a grain of salt.

By the way - even though the trip wasn't that great, the trip report was. can't wait to meet up with you in a few short weeks.

**Cannibal** · 09-14-2011, 10:19

Yeah, a group hang will get you all fixed up.
An uncomfortable hang is usually resolved by one of those "D'oh!" moments. It's usually something very simple.

Still a pretty fun read.

**default** · 09-14-2011, 10:27

dont get me wrong, the place was AWESOME. theres some really bad pics i tried to take, but the real camera wouldnt pick anything up since it was so dark and we couldnt force it to flash or just take a picture, so it would strobe but thats it.

**Hangin' Burrito** · 09-14-2011, 10:31

Like Cannibal said, a group hang will set you right. We're always happy to share our love & knowledge of hammocks.
Bring your setup to the hang and we'll get you good & comfortable.

**MrClean417** · 09-14-2011, 12:25

Originally Posted by REV

forgot to add the best part. i talked to a park ranger who was there this morning about some stuff, and was limping a little and he asked what was wrong. he checked my toe, and asked an emt friend that was there to come over. its broken, but nothing can be done. I will say that hanging in the eno definitively helped with the throbbing that was going on, it being elevated and all

Yup, my wife broke her wittle toe too at a time when we had a 'Call first unless life threatening' medical plan. The folks on the phone just told me to tape it up. I told them no, I'm not touching it and they got belligerent about it. Finally I yelled back them then hanging up. Managed to put my fat finger through the little slit that the receiver switch sticks out of. With a confused look on my face I pulled my finger away which yanked the wall mount out of the wall, the phone off the mount and sent it flying through the hall. My finger was ok though.

Put stuff back together, moved ot a different WORKING phone and called my local hospital and told them the situation and they had me come in immediately (the other place had me on hold and call back for an hour as well)

They just taped it. Oh, they numbed it first, then they took this toe that was pointed out at a 90 degree angle and put it back in the correct place, xraying to insure it was in the right place, but they just taped it. The first place. 'How do YOU know it's broken YOU'RE not a Doctor' 'Ya, but I'm pretty familiar with the fact that toes don't normally have a 90 degree, sharp turn in them between joints. That or someone has been really incompetant making shoes all these years.'

It'll feel better in a couple weeks and only ache for, well, how old a boy are ya? If you're young enough it won't ache for the rest of your life. But all these wonderful things we've done to ourselves, I'm told, will start to remind us of it somewhere up the road.

**default** · 09-14-2011, 12:38

ive broken several bones, since i used to fight semi pro mma stuff. i have almost no knuckle on both little fingers at the hand...learn to punch right....

anywho, as soon as it happened i recognized the feeling. the worst thing is hearing it crack. but im lucky its not at an odd angle and nothings floating. ive set my own dislocations in my hands before, but not bones. i can move it around a bit, but man it is not happy right now.

so with luck, my new UQ will be awesome and some people smarter than me will make me sleep like a baby in my stuff. we shall see.

**raiffnuke** · 09-14-2011, 12:46

I broke my little toe when I was underway on a submarine one time...hurt like hell and I finished the remaining 4 months of the deployment on it. Eventually it healed, but to this day it curves different then the other toes on that foot and doesn't touch the ground if I am barefoot and standing still. Weird.

I feel your pain, hang in there brother, it will get better.

**Gumbo** · 09-14-2011, 12:48

Being around barns and horses most of my life I've managed a couple of broken toes. All of them my own fault of course, but broken non the less. Tape to the toe next to it and take ibuprofen to manage the pain.