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  1. #11
    New Member Hairball's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Lakewood, CO
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    GT Double
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    Quote Originally Posted by Law Dawg (ret) View Post
    The Grand Trunk is a double (according to my Google Ka) so can it fit a ground pad between the layers?
    Ah sorry it's double as in double-sized, not double layered.
    Info here: Grand Trunk Double
    As to weight how about upgrading the suspension etc?
    I've already replaced suspension I'm using whoopie slings run through the end channels of the hammock and then attaching to straps with a marlin spike hitch with some wood toggles. Works great!

    UQ, TQ, and Tarp; I really like my Hammock Gear 3 season Burrow and Incubator and it was backyard lab work that made me decide (rather quickly) that pads stink. I'd recommend you consider saving for some good down gear and cut through the wait time. Maybe a 3 season Phoenix over the Incubator for backpacking.
    In a way I fear that I'll quickly decide I hate the pad-in-the-hammock approach as well because that means I'll need to do one of two things. Either get an UQ or get a new double-layer hammock that I can slide a pad between the layers. Either way sounds expensive right now.

    Tarp, I really like my AHE Toxaway for coverage and simplicity but the choices are huge.
    Nice tarp. Seems like I'm looking at at least $100 for a good, lightweight tarp. Also a little expensive. Think I'll get a cheap/heavy tarp for now and do some car camping or short-distance backpacking.

  2. #12
    Senior Member Stormstaff's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Bradley, IL
    Hammock
    Dutchware Chameleon
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    OMW or Dutch Wide
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    Whoopies/ Dutch
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    1,483
    10 x 10 tarp for $60? Here

  3. #13
    New Member Hairball's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Lakewood, CO
    Hammock
    GT Double
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stormstaff View Post
    10 x 10 tarp for $60? Here
    As suggested to me in a tarp-specific thread I think I'm going to pick this one up for the same $60: Hennesy Hex Rainfly

  4. #14
    Senior Member HappyHiker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Lakewood,CO
    Hammock
    DIY DL/HH Hyperlite/WBBB 1.1 DL
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    WL Old Man Winter
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    HHSS/DIY Down UQ
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    Getting some good advice, just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.

    The physical symptoms you describe can also be attributed to the altitude you were at. Acclimitization (sp?) and fitness play a large part here. Abyss lake can be a strenuous hike, add in altitude and *bam* low grade headache and bodyaches, along with a loss of appetite. The loss of appetite can contribute to poor sleeping (due to not having enough calories consumed for a warm sleep or reparation of the body during sleep) and can make the "morning after" particularly unpleasant. A couple of generic aspirin make a world of difference. Of course IMO, IME etc etc. Everyone is different.

    Your plan on a tarp is a solid one (it mirrors my plan exactly, haha). The Henn Hex is a good tarp at a great price. I just couldn't bring myself to spend 2x the money for an 8 oz savings of the silnylon version or some schnazzier versions that have doors on the end (maybe someday....)

    As for bottom insulation, pads work fine (I don't own an UQ). They do have their own set of quirks, but are easily usable and work fine. I'm still using a sleeping bag as well (as a sleeping bag, not a quilt.) Use what you have, figure out what you might want to change (if anything) and go from there, it's definately a process thats very individual.

  5. #15
    Senior Member Str1der's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Conyers, Ga
    Hammock
    Blackbird 1.7 DL
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    BMJ w/pullouts
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    Phoenix/Incubator
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    Huggers/whoopies
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    582
    Quote Originally Posted by Hairball View Post
    My sleeping bag won't make a great TQ because it's got very little insulation on the bottom side, plus has extra insulation over your core body area:
    http://www.amazon.com/Sierra-Designs.../dp/B004KQDMPU
    A top quilt is essentially a sleeping bag with the bottom part from the knees up removed. The reason for this is that the insulation beneath you is compressed by your body weight rendering it mostly useless. Therefore, the top quilt design is lighter and packs smaller for an equal warmth rating, all other things being equal. Now, you will still need an underquilt or pad beneath you to insulate your backside, but the sleeping bag/tq is only to insulate above you. Plenty of people, myself included, used bags until they could afford to buy/make a top quilt. You see quilts discussed often amongst hammockers because of the added bonus of extra mobility in the hammock they provide, but many gram-wheenie groundlings use them as well.

    As far as tarps go, I love my Warbonnet BMJ! The DigiCamo is particularly stealty where I go camping. I would definitely pick up a cheap PU tarp if money is an issue though. They work well and can always be used as a back-up or loaner in the future.
    "The Road goes ever on and on,
    Down from the door where it began.
    Now far ahead the Road has gone,
    And I must follow, if I can.
    Pursuing it with eager feet
    Until it joins some larger way
    Where many paths and errands meet.
    And whither then? I cannot say."
    ~Bilbo Baggins - LotR

  6. #16
    Senior Member Pipsissewa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Yancey Co., NC - Home of Mt. Mitchell
    Hammock
    Too many to list
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    Cuben with doors
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    FlThrwr UQ+DIY TQ
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    Whoopies + straps
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hairball View Post
    So the good news? I think I'm truly done with sleeping on the ground. It's hammock time.
    We all re-live our own joy of discovery with every new convert!!!
    As was stated above, a top quilt is essentially a sleeping bag without the bottom. Or a top quilt and bottom quilt are a sleeping bag split in two with the hammock inserted between. Your sleeping bag can make a decent starter top quilt by leaving the zipper high enough to create a foot pocket (so the quilt stays in place) and laying the rest over you. Some sleeping bags can be converted to bottom quilts too (search for threads on the topic).

    Thanks for posting your experience and best of luck to you!
    "Pips"
    Mountains have a dreamy way
    Of folding up a noisy day
    In quiet covers, cool and gray.

    ---Leigh Buckner Hanes

    Surely, God could have made a better way to sleep.

    Surely, God never did.

  7. #17
    New Member Hairball's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Lakewood, CO
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    Quote Originally Posted by Str1der View Post
    A top quilt is essentially a sleeping bag with the bottom part from the knees up removed.
    I'm hip to the top quilt concept, but my point about my sleeping bag making a poor TQ was that it's a pretty narrow bag and since there's very little insulation on the bottom if I unzip and open it up the well-insulated area is small and doesn't offer much coverage as a quilt. It's actually a little *too* narrow because I can't position my legs the why I'd like inside it when used as a normal sleeping bag, but that's another story.

    The last couple nights I setup in my garage with the door open. It's been actually chilly here so it was nice testing weather. 2 nights ago I did the ridgerest pad under me and a fleece blanket on top. It actually worked surprisingly well. There were 2 downsides IMO. The ridgerest is narrow so I had to be very conscious of shoulder placement or they would get cold. Also the pad isn't the most comfortable when you only have a t-shirt between you and the pad. When I was done I found I had some great ridge lines all down by back and went in to freak my wife out

  8. #18
    Senior Member Str1der's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Conyers, Ga
    Hammock
    Blackbird 1.7 DL
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    BMJ w/pullouts
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hairball View Post
    The ridgerest is narrow so I had to be very conscious of shoulder placement or they would get cold. Also the pad isn't the most comfortable when you only have a t-shirt between you and the pad. When I was done I found I had some great ridge lines all down by back and went in to freak my wife out
    Dig through the forums looking for something called a segmented pad-extender or SPE. You can make one on the cheap with a couple of WM blue pads or any other CCF pads. They really help protect the hips and shoulders, and they can be softer against the skin depending on the fabric you use.

    Of course, an underquilt is always far more comfortable than any arrangement of pads, IMHO. There are those who disagree though.
    "The Road goes ever on and on,
    Down from the door where it began.
    Now far ahead the Road has gone,
    And I must follow, if I can.
    Pursuing it with eager feet
    Until it joins some larger way
    Where many paths and errands meet.
    And whither then? I cannot say."
    ~Bilbo Baggins - LotR

  9. #19
    Senior Member MAD777's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    White Mountains, New Hampshire
    Hammock
    DIY, WBBB & Switchback
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    HG cuben,OES Spinn
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    DIY 3/4 UQ/TQ, UGQ
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    Dynaglide / Dutch
    Posts
    10,950
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    I hear what you're saying about the tent and the big thick pads.
    Before I found HammockForums, I was adding so many pads in search of comfort that my face was pressed against the ceiling of the tent
    Something had to give...
    Mike
    "Life is a Project!"

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