I spent the last couple of nights "testing" some of my gear in the back yard (I've had this gear for quite a long time, but never miss an opportunity to "test" during a rain storm.) I just wanted to take a moment to share what a great experience it was.
I knew we were expecting some storms, so I gathered up my gear and headed out to my usual hang spot. The Lite Owl was already hung from where the wife had been lounging during the day. I threw up the tadpole, strung up the Summer Series Underquilt and bedded down for the night. At about 3am I was awakened by the wind and thunder. I hadn't used the pull outs, so the tarp was actually pressing in on me a bit (it didn't bother me enough to get up and do anything about it). I was awakened a couple of more times by some close lightning cracks. Temps had dropped from the high 90s when I went to sleep to the low 70s when I woke for work. It was a fun night and the storm was pretty intense.
Night 2.
It rained all day. Not a downpour, just a nice gentle rain. I went out about 8pm and my gear was nice and dry. The temps were perfect and hearing the patter of the soft rain on the tadpole is such a nice lullaby. I had no trouble at all finding the sweet spot in the Lite Owl and before I knew it I was awakened by my alarm the next morning. It was awesome. Some of my best rest has come under a tadpole during the rain.
When I got home from work I found my oldest son in the hammock enjoying the rain and playing on his electronice device. It was funny because he said, "It's so relaxing out here". I replied with "Yes it is". He spent about 5 hours out there "relaxing".
Anyway, these are a few of my favorite things:
Lite Owl
Tadpole
SSUQ
Resting in a hammock under a tarp during a nice soft rain.
I realize that this isn't really a "Wilderness Logics" topic, but I figured since I was using my WL gear I would post it here.
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