Field testing of my NX250

[debolaz]

Introduction

I made a post earlier about my experience trying out the NX-250 in the garden. Now I've had the chance to try it out in nature, so here are my thoughts on its performance there.

Though I originally intended for this to be a fairly easy trip, I for various reasons decided on the spot you see in the attached picture, which was relatively deep into the forest, far from the road. There were tons of insects on the ground, a lot of flying insects as well, and I actually saw a viper close to my camp a bit later. So basically, the hammock had a good chance to prove itself worthy in this environment.

Unpacking in the field

Unpacking the hammock itself was a fairly clean and easy task, even in this environment. It barely even needed to touch the ground. This was the first time I put up the tarp, so I had to spend quite a bit of time on it but I expect this is a process that will speed up in the future. +1

Sleeping in the hammock

Obviously this is the important part. The hammock was quite comfortable to lay in for an extended period of time before I managed to fall asleep. I have a bad back so I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable it was. I assumed a diagonal position in it and drifted off to sleep.

I awoke later in the middle of the night, and it had gotten quite cold (5C / 40F or so). The sleeping bag kept me warm enough for it not to be a problem, but I could now very easily notice the difference the isolating pockets on the head side of the hammock makes. I could easily feel the isolation being significantly better behind my back than below my legs.

If I add an UQ (And nothing else) to the mix, how low of a temperature should I expect to be able to go down to and still feel like "okay, its a bit chilly but I can handle this"?

Packing in the field

This is really where the NX-250 really shines. Losen the knots on the tarp, put tarp in hammock, losen the knots on the hammock, put hammock into itself, done. It worked just as well out in the field as when I tried it in the garden. +1

Summary
I'm quite convinced I've made a good purchase, even though it was a bit more expensive than the alternatives. Hopefully, it will be able to stand up to my abuse for some time too.