Super Shelter moisture problem please help!!

[adkpiper]

In reading about Hugger's concerns here, something keeps coming to mind:

Are the UnderCover and UnderPad properly cinched up so that they're held in place and touching the hammock body? Not just sagging nearby?

Condensation is going to occur on the space blanket if the SB gets cold. Assuming a warm sleeper nearby, there should be plenty of conductive heat transfer pumping heat into the blanket. If the insulation isn't touching the blanket and holding it up against the body, cold air could get in between them. This seems like it could very quickly chill the metallic surface of the SB, causing condensation.

If the issue is caused by a sleeper who puts out too much moisture, then there's a simple test: sleep on a closed-cell foam pad on the ground for a night. If the temperature isn't too ridiculously cold and the pad is soaked, it seems likely that there's just too much moisture coming off the sleeper (since a CCF is basically a vapor barrier).

If, however, the pad stays dry, we need to look for other solutions. My first guess would be an UC that isn't fitting snugly around the edges of the hammock, and that's therefore letting cold air into the protected space the UnderPad occupies. After that, check the bridles for the UnderPad, and have a friend come and check the positioning of the UP while you're in the hammock.

I bet there's a way to solve it.
adkpiper

[Youngblood]

When i awoke i found that the sb combo was completely intact but once again my bag was wet. Further inspection revealed that there was a little moisture on the inside of the undercover which the underpad had soaked up (as bill suggested it might) but the kicker was the sb had a ton of moisture on top of it which soaked thru the nylon of the hammock and into my sleeping bag.

Something about these statements doesn't sound right to me. If the sb (space blanket) was intact and was truly a vapor barrier, then how did all this moisture get on the other side of it and soak your underpad?

What those statements sound like to me is a situation where you were not using a vapor barrier between the hammock and the underpads... just saying because I understand how all this works very well and this just doesn't sound possible. Are you sure your sb is a vapor barrier? I believe in this application a piece of plastic (painters drop cloth) or silnylon will work just as well as a sb because there shouldn't be any air gaps, and air gaps are needed for radiant heat transfer to be a factor. Are you interested in repeating the test using a piece of plastic as a vapor barrier instead of your sb?

[BillyBob58]

Something about these statements doesn't sound right to me. If the sb (space blanket) was intact and was truly a vapor barrier, then how did all this moisture get on the other side of it and soak your underpad?
................

I had the same questions. Although it did not occur to me that his SB might not be a VB. Hence my question: are you sure the SB/pad were snug ( or very close) against your hammock? Though even that still would not answer how so much moisture got past th SB and down into the pad and UC. I have often found a few drops of moisture on the surface of the SB, but I have never found a drop below the SB, either in the pad or down in the UC, or any insulation down in the UC.

But then again, I have not yet had any significant sweat issues with a ccf pad. And other people do. Still, it's hard to see how the pad got wet if covered by the SB. OTOH, that wet sleeping bag sounds like a VB problem.

[Hugger]

Ok i've read everyones posts and got a response from Hennessy hammock.First they are willing to take back the ss if i want to return it (customer service from Hennessy is top notch).Secondly to start off i have never had a moisture problem sleeping on either airmattress,Self inflating thermarests or even my exped downmat 9 while sleeping on the ground.In colder weather i do sleep with under armour tops bottoms and merino wool socks when my feet get cold.Also as the night gets colder i may choose to put on my polar fleece tops and bottoms again with no moisture problems.To recap was wearing my underarmour and polar fleece,in my sleeping bag in the hh, i had a coglans space blanket on top of the underpad then the underpad and then the uc underneth that.(Really wish i had taken pics to show you all but i was a little pissed and bummed out) The sb was pressed properly against myself (because i was on it) so i don't think the cold air got to it (i made sure the undercover fit snuggly around the hammock pre sleeping checklist).There is a possiblity....that the pitch of the hammock was too tight and air could have hit the footend (a small gap) causing it to condensate and roll down into the bottom where i was sleeping cause my feet were up a little high at the foot end i noticed.As for the undercover being slightly damp i suppose that the sides of the hammock just resting against the side of my sleeping bag would be enough to condensate there and roll down to the bottom which the pad quickly soaked up around the edges.Funny part is that my sleeping bag is dry except where it came in contact with the sb or uc maybe at most a little moist on top in the fresh air.Lastly the only thing left is that maybe i just moved the wrong way in the early morning hours for even twenty minutes that allowed for just enough time to start the ball rolling and for me to get wet.I'll never know that part because no one was watching me sleep.And if that is the case you'll have to tie me into that thing when i get in or the condensation thing is going to happen at one time or another.I mean when im camping and having a few cocktails im flipping around like a fish when i sleep so its looking like this setup is only gonna get worse if that happens.Not to mention finding the light switch.I am going to try something this weekend and see if it works,Im going to see if my downmat 9 will fit inside the hammock,no undercover,no underpad just the hammock,pad and sleeping bag.If that don't work i think im going to have to suck it up and get a JRB nest and cinch it up good and tight with the suspension system on the ends so the cold air don't get in.But might try the speer spe first.
Thanks for the input guys all your tidbits help in some way,shape or form.It would be nice to hook up with someone somewhat near me to give me some hands on help and ideas if thats possible (im willing to travel).I have no friends or camping buddies that have hammocks and im pretty much pioneering it in my circle of friends.It was kind of like the whole backpacking thing...i learned it trial and error and try to get others to enjoy what i've learned to enjoy without the headaches.
Well im going to try and get out this weekend and do more testing but its pretty cold (20's) Everyone i talk to about my hammocking experiences thus far thinks im friggin crazy.You guys don't think i'm nuts do you?....didn't think so.
Sorry for the rambling on but i needed to vent.

[warbonnetguy]

well, like bb hinted to, any insulation between you and a vb will almost always get wet, so just avoid that. if there is a vb beneath you, you need to use the sleeping bag like a top quilt (still use the footbox, but just rotate the bag 90 degrees) just tuck it in a little around your sides. the edges might still get a little wet.

also it sounded like the sb was inside the hammock rather than under the hammock. this probably made the wetness to the sleeping bag much worse than it would have been if you had put it between the underpad and the hammock bottom.

[BillyBob58]

......

also it sounded like the sb was inside the hammock rather than under the hammock. this probably made the wetness to the sleeping bag much worse than it would have been if you had put it between the underpad and the hammock bottom.

Yeah, I picked up on that also. So just to make sure, when you say SB on top of the pad, you do mean "under the hammock and on top of the pad--- or between the hammock and the pad"-- right? Because if it is in the hammock, I think you are going to get damp if you also have your bag under you.

[kwpapke]

This is what I am going to try.

http://store.auctionaticstore.com/ppr6037.html

$10.84 total with shipping. I got it today and it weighs 3.3 oz. As soon as the HHSS gets here, I will set it up and see how it works.

I was hoping you might have tried this by now. Did it work?

--Kurt

[Mrprez]

My hammock is still getting the zipper mod. Leaving town tomorrow for a week so won't be able to test it until I get back next weekend.

[turk]

This little tragedy of a thread is EXACTLY the same pains and agony I experienced with testing the High Peak Simex Panda Hammock.

A non breathable outer layer with insulation on the wrong side.
guaranteed soaked by morning.

As stubborn as I was to test and tweak and somehow find a fix, the
problem was as blatent and unavoidable due to that VB layer of fabric
as pointed out by several seasoned veterans that tried to help me.

What would be really awesome is if you could get a HH SS clone made out of the 1st generation JRB weathershield fabric that was fully breathable.

[Just Jeff]

Or sleep in silnylon pajamas...