Hi Hammockers,
I'm a recent convert to Hammocking, thanks largely to Phillipsart raving on about it on the Bushwalk Australia forums. (thanks Phil)
Anyway, I now have acquired and used my starter kit: WBBB, WL Tadpole Tarp, Whoopies, DIY GrizzBeaks, 2Q&ZQ ridgeline organiser. I also bought the UQP from 2Q&ZQ but have not used it. For insulation I used my Neoair pad and 1/8" thinlight ccf with a WM Ultralite SB. Testing was a 1 week trip in the Tasmanian Tarkine rainforest.
Ah, yes. We had some hail.
All went well apart from a ridgeline tarp leak caused by some fool not adequately seam-sealing it. As a result of ongoing heavy rain, I spent one of the 6 nights in my tent (the drip was right above my face). My only other bother was getting comfortable on the pad. Some nights were good, others were a bit of a fiddle trying to get the pad where it needed to be. UQ is on the cards now
Having stepped heavily into hammocking and enjoyed it, I am now faced with deciding what to do in locations that are treeless. For instance, my last pre-Hammock trip was the first section of the Heysen Trail here in South Australia. I had already ordered my WBBB so I spent a good amount of time looking at campsites and deciding if they were hammock friendly. Most were, however locations like this were devoid of trees and the closest trees were on private land:
I've also spent a lot of time on the west coast of Tasmania, and most of that is devoid of trees or other suitable areas to pitch a hammock. Inland, there are plenty of trees. In fact on my recent trip into the rainforest with the WBBB the biggest problem was finding enough gap between the trees without high undergrowth and saplings preventing me pitching the hammock and/or tarp!
Anyway, its clear to me that if I want to keep hammocking on my multiday walks, I am going to have to have the capability to comfortably go to ground. I could just carry the tent as well (as I did whilst testing in the rainforest) but that's 1.5kg of dead weight I'd rather not carry.
So I'm gradually hatching a plan:
* WBBB
* Larger Tarp with doors. (thinking HG Cuben, or Zpacks)
* Swap SB for TQ (also HG or Zpacks new light quilts)
* UQ
* Tyvek groundsheet
* Neoair
* Hiking Poles
The dead weight carried when hammocking is the Tyvek and the Neoair, although I can use the Tyvek as a pack and boot rest under the hammock. When on the ground, use the WBBB as bivy on top of the Neoair inside the tarp using hiking poles as tentpoles. I have not checked to see if there is enough room in the cuben tarps to suspend the WB ends to keep the ridgeline taught and the bugnet off my face.
Interested in thoughts and suggestions. Is there adequate room under these tarps when pitched on the ground as an A-frame tent?
Thanks for a great site!
Michael
Bookmarks