Good evening all. Well last night I figured I would try out the new jumbo DIY hammock.



Temps were about 35*F and the weather was calm with a slight breeze. I used the walmart waffel pad and the 48" wide reflectex pad. The reflectex pad is cut as long as the blue walmart pad.



First thing, I've got the get a pillow! I have only been a casual hammock user before now and didn't think too much about the whole pillow issue. I've got to get one, I've got a kink in my neck from sleeping in the hammock for not much time at all.

Second, I think that I may need to lengthen my reflectex pad some. My heels got cold because they were off of the pad.

Third, beyond the foot box extention, many on the forums were right. The reflectex pad does indeed need to be trimmed. With that in mind I do think that it may need to be left a little wide at the point where my hips meet the pad, as I like to sleep on my side and I could feel the cold on my hips where the sleeping bag made contact with the hammock above the insulation.

Last but not least, blue tarps suck! It was kind of like trying to sleep in a bag of microwave pop corn. And setting them up in the dark at 11:30 at night for the first time is not the best idea in the world. I know in the pics that the tarp is on the hammock and this is not the way it's supposed to be but it was late and that's just the way it turned out.

And best of all. It would appear that I didn't freeze!! The new ledge 20* synthetic mummy bag worked spelendedly! I must say if you have not looked into the bags made by ledge outdoor equipment you should! They are produced here in the USA and are (at least the one I have) great quality and I paid only $42 for mine shipped to the front door. I'm very pleased with it. The only thing that would cause some to cringe is the weight. My bag weighs exactly 4#, but to me that's not bad, considering my old military bag was about 8 pounds!

As always I would like any and all suggstions the folks here would have for me!

pax,
lost