My first winter hang...

[xandersears]

...and second ever proper hang, presented in glorious over exposed mobile phone pictures! I apologise for the low quality here; if I'd realised how badly my phone would do outside I'd have taken a better camera.

Picasa album here with info in captions

A friend and I headed out to a local patch of woodland, not too far away from home in case it got too chilly for us. Forecast was for around 4C (39F) but I'm afraid I couldn't tell you for sure what the actual temperature was in the end because my thermometer displayed 12C (54F) consistently over both days: morning warm midday and midnight. I suppose that's possible but I think equipment failure is more likely!

Equipment for me was a DD Hammocks Frontline with DD 3x3m tarp, whoopie sling suspension with tree straps from (terrible) stock DD webbing. Insulation from a cheap foil backed CCF mat and an ancient borrowed down bag.
For my friend, on his very first hang ever (never even in the garden!), it was the DD Travel with stock suspension and DD XL 4.5x3m tarp. Insulation from a cheap self inflating mat and a 10C synthetic bag.

Pitching took over an hour in the end thanks to most of the kit being completely new to us (ie whoopie slings and no ridgeline for me, everything for my friend)

The night was a little chilly for me, but toasty warm for my friend and fabulously comfortable for both of us.

Any critique (about the hanging; there's no hope for my photography skills) would be welcome; I'm very new to this!

[Red Wing]

only suggestions would be out of my personal preference. Some people prefer the banana and some the asym. Typically, your average hanger hangs their suspension higher than their tarp. Just usually what has to happen for you to get the right amount of sag in your hammock. Also the tighter the hammock the more strain you're putting ont he fabric. If you hang with a more loose hammock you can lay off center and create a flat area of fabric like an off-center taco and you're the meat in the bottom, lying flat.. ish.

Also, the lower the tarp, the more side coverage you're getting and less heat you'll lose to convection.

Major kudos to you for doing some cool weather hanging, just gotta get out there and do it.

Might also sleep with the ccf pad in the sleeping bag if you didn't before. Might help efficiently staying on the mat and cut down on fiddle factor. You can always double up ccf pads as well if it's still not doing the job. I assume it was the 1/4 inch and not the 1/8?

sorry, don't know the comprable terms in metric


LoL, just saw the tarp pic (was looking at your rigging pics) and you clearly had side coverage

[xandersears]

Yep, a 1/4" I think I read that DD Hammocks should generally be hung tighter than most to be comfortable; I'm not sure why and I'd appreciate any other DD owners backing me up here. I'd tentatively agree from my limited experimentation.
Yeah, we'd struggle to get much more side coverage there, especially with the huge tarp

[kbajg]

Welcome xandersears,
Me & a friend both use a DD Frontline also. "Clarify not together" LOL Very nice hammocks once you figure em out. Love the bugnet being zipped from either side especially here in Florida. The first couple of times out i tied it as tight as i could like the DD site recommended. Lots of shoulder squeeze that way. After seeing Shugs videos and learning alot from all these forum members. Adjustable ridge line & loose hammock much much better. The stock suspension is so stretchy I think that is why they want you to tie it so tight. They know after an hour or so your going to be stretched all the way to the ground anyway. LOL We changed our suspension out & they work just fine.

[Cali]

Way to get out there. Good job, you just need to make some adjustments as stated above. Practice makes perfect for your individual preference on your hang. We all learn from trial and error what is best for us. I am still making adjustments. LOL...

[BillyBob58]

Way to go Xander! Only a tad chilly for one and toasty warm for the other at 39F, 1st winter and 2nd ever hang period? And sounds like with just whatever non-hammock gear you had handy? Excellent! My ist ever hang was at 22F, with a HH and Supershelter, and I froze my shivering butt off, had to abandon the hammock about 0200 and sleep on the ground! ( all due to massive user error ). So I'd say you are off to a good start.

If your buddy was toasty warm and you were a little chilly, what was the difference between your set ups? Was his pad a lot thicker than yours? A self inflating usually needs to be thicker for same insulation, but if it is 1" or 2" thick, he was way ahead of you for bottom insulation. And most of the time, bottom insulation is the main challenge for we who float above the earth! Of course, people do vary greatly in what it takes to keep them warm, and an individual can vary from night to night according to their condition.

Oh, BTW, could you tell if you were a bit chilly on top, bottom, shoulders or all? If you had a 1/4" pad, seems like that might be a little thin for 39F for a lot of folks. Get the pad thick enough and you can handle any temp you are likely to camp in. And then there is the world of UQs and PeaPods if you decide to spend some $.

Welcome to the adventure!

[xandersears]

Thanks everyone

Adjustable ridge line & loose hammock much much better.

Interesting that you should mention a ridge line; I haven't heard of one on a Frontline before. Why did you make it adjustable? Surely it's best to just find the optimal sag and have a fixed RL? And what did you make it out of? I suppose it's not supporting your weight, but paracord doesn't seem like enough somehow.

If your buddy was toasty warm and you were a little chilly, what was the difference between your set ups? Was his pad a lot thicker than yours?
[...]
Oh, BTW, could you tell if you were a bit chilly on top, bottom, shoulders or all?

Yes, his pad was a good 1-1.5" thick which I'm guessing was the main reason. He was also wearing merino thermals rather than my all-cotton get up. I just got a merino base layer actually, but too late for that hang .

I would say it was shoulder squeeze on my bag and a too-narrow pad conspiring to give me chilly shoulders. I'd really like to source a wider pad that ships to the UK, although that would present the problem of getting stuck in gateways while walking - I already have trouble! I suppose if it was like the Gossamer Gear one, I could fold it up and put it inside.

Out of interest, how long does it take everyone to set up on average? I wonder if it ever compares to the speed at which you can pitch a tent that you know well (not very many minutes).