Figuring Out My Hammock, Hawai'i

[bkrownd]

Bit confused with your SnakeSkin and tarp situation. With the stock HH tarp just sliding the SS back over the tarp is quick and easy if you leave the SS on the tarp ridge guy lines and rig the tarp on its own line vs. the HH suspension line

I want the (dry) hammock inside the snakeskin and the (wet) tarp outside of it, so I put the snakeskin between them as you can see in the pix. (with a bit of squinting) However, I was expecting to wrap the tarp around the snakeskin but it's just too slippery and won't stay put. I'll figure out something. Elastic bands, tarpskin, who knows...

I don't get the people who stayed in the buggy cabins. Afterwards they even swapped "war stories" about the famous magnitude of snoring one of them did. No doubt they all took turns passing gas, as well. (very gassy meal choices this time) Meanwhile I had a private quiet place in the moonlight and a cool breeze across my face. People are just confusing.

[bkrownd]

Pretty cool having the protected place to hang your hammock! Nice shots of the birds too!

The old aviary was certainly an appropriate setting, since I was out on the palila survey. We start the Mauna Loa bird surveys this week, but there won't be any overnights for the rest of the surveys. Sad, because I really love sleeping in the forest, but apparently nobody else agrees with me. I don't get it...

[maliu]

I'm from Kohala, born and raised. Got into hammocking as an idea of how to stay out of the bogs, I was a tarper before that. I've spent a lot of time in the forest and the valleys. Unfortunately the earthquake destroyed most of my most used trails :-( I've hung all kinds of places here. Even had to hang from the rails of the lua walkway at Halape one night after arriving during a thunderstorm and flooding, looking for the quickest way to get warm and dry. If I were you I'd try to avoid down as much as possible. I'd be happy to discuss some of my successes and failures with you. Feel free to PM me. My standard setup is the Hennessy backpacker asym with a thermarest prolite 4 (just in case I have to sleep on the ground, plus it stays in place better than the lighter weight gossamer gear pads I used for awhile) and an army poncho liner as a blanket. If its colder I usually just dress warmer although I do own a Western Mountaineering Highlite for when I go up higher and colder. The first thing I did was to get a new tarp, Mac-cat tarp are way better than stock, I can stay way dryer. BTW I used to be a veterinary technician and go to Pohakuloa often to work with the birds. Ahfat (who was in charge at that time) is an old friend of mine. You hung in the old Nene pen :-)

[bkrownd]

Heya!

My old bag is synthetic, but the first big trip I instantly hated it for being so bulky, heavy and terribly difficult to get into the (large, even) stuff sack. It really sucked. When I saw how small and easy the others' down bags compressed I decided to get one. At this point I'm heavily invested in down - there's no turning back now! I'm a cold sleeper so I have many layers on at night. Must be from all those years of using electric blankets thru the winter.

I pack a pair of tarps for extra tarpage if really needed, but haven't had the opportunity to break them out yet. I've used the hammock 6 nights so far, and not a spot of rain yet. The weather has always been ideal...sheesh... I really wish I had a good way to try it out at home and practice for adverse weather but the yard isn't that private and, well, there's the bugs. Not sure when the next chance to use the hammock will be. I always use it for volunteer outings, and I don't have any more overnighters on the horizon at this point.

[dually]

Beautiful countryside, thanks for sharing

“I want the (dry) hammock inside the snakeskin and the (wet) tarp outside of it, so I put the snakeskin between them as you can see in the pix. (with a bit of squinting) However, I was expecting to wrap the tarp around the snakeskin but it's just too slippery and won't stay put. I'll figure out something. Elastic bands, tarpskin, who knows...” bkrownd

Maybe a way out for that unwieldy tarp … think sailboat in prep for a squall … teat your tarp like a cumbersome mainsail. Untie tarp pullouts but do not untie tarp head or foot. Pull snakeskin over hammock as usual. Then jiffy-reef you tarp to the hammock/snakeskin (mainsail lashed to boom). Use one line about twice the length of hammock and chain knot (rip-stitch method) “around” tarp and snakeskin. Space loops 6 – 8 inches apart (for starters). Although it requires two hands to chain the rip stitch knot down the length of tarp/hammock combo and tie the last loop (lock stitch) one hand can untie the lock-knot and pull rip-stitch method to free-up the full length of tarp/hammock.

John

[bkrownd]

Maybe a way out for that unwieldy tarp … think sailboat in prep for a squall … teat your tarp like a cumbersome mainsail. Untie tarp pullouts but do not untie tarp head or foot. Pull snakeskin over hammock as usual. Then jiffy-reef you tarp to the hammock/snakeskin (mainsail lashed to boom).

I was thinking about using elastic bands, but yeah something like that.

[bkrownd]

I was able to use my hammock this week during a bird survey in central Kona, at the Kona unit of the Hakalau Forest NWR. This refuge unit was formerly ranch land which is infested with feral cattle, pigs, sheep, donkeys, horses, etc. (Hawai'i, Barnyard Of The Pacific) It was acquired for the NWR several years ago due to its (then) population of endangered native birds such as the 'alala, 'io, 'akiapola'au, 'akepa and Hawai'i creeper. Unfortunately the 'alala is now extinct in the wild and the 'akiapola'au is extirpated from Kona. The 'akepa and Hawai'i creeper are declining and may be soon extirpated from Kona. The forest understory has been completely stripped out by cattle and pigs, and clidemia and christmas berry are invading at the lower end. The NWR was struggling with budget cuts even before the economy went sour, so it can't send staff on the 250 mile round trip to Kona to monitor the unit, remove feral animals, start restoration work, etc. They recently started work on fencing, and a small fenced unit to raise rare plants found in the refuge may soon be built. It's a frustrating subject, so on to the hammock stuff...

Anyhow, I set up my hammock at the USFWS camp at about 5100 feet elevation. It was partly cloudy in the morning, rainy in the afternoons, and dry at night. The sloped pasture with remnant trees was a difficult terrain for the hammock since solid trees tended to be widely spaced and each surrounded by scrubby trees and shrubs. The liberal distribution of cow pies also limited options a lot. I finally had to tie from a just-solid-enough tree to a corner fencepost up the slope from the main camp, which worked fine. The only problem was the danger that a cow or pig would run though my hammock while following the fenceline, but it didn't happen. As always, I had far more privacy, quiet and scenery than the other people. Most of these people have hammocks for their field work, but only one other was using one this time.

I did OK on the setup this time. No problem attaching the underquilt, and my bad knots held fine. The only problem I had was some difficulty with the initial alignment between the hammock and tarp. Things were a hint crooked when it was all tied off, but it worked.

It was probably in the lower 50's at night, since there was no frost on the ground in the morning. For insulation I have the JRB underquilt with weathersheild underneath me. I slept on top of my synthetic sleeping bag, and under my Marmot helium down bag. (not inside either) As usual, my temperature was very nice everywhere with several layers of clothing on me and about $1000 of insulation at my disposal. Only two annoyances this time: condensation on the top of my down bag and some rapid flapping of a loose area of the tarp right along/above the ridgeline. ("...flap, flap, flap, flap....") I wonder if I could eliminate the condensation on top of the (dark blue) bag by having a white sheet over it...?

When I bought my Marmot helium sleeping bag it arrived with strong "wet dog smell". The smell went away after a few weeks of airing out, and stays away if I keep the sleeping bag out in the open. When I got my JRB down underquilt in January it did not have "wet dog smell". I kept the underquilt in its vented bag at home. When I opened it for setup this time it now has "wet dog smell". I have to conclude that "wet dog smell" is a result of our constantly high humidity, and that hanging my down in an airy place should prevent it.

I loosened the weathershield and underquilt a bit in the mornings so that the condensation trapped inside could dry out during the day. I was very happy the second day when it rained a bit in the afternoon and everything was still dry when I checked it later.

Takedown was much smoother than previously. I was able to gather the tarp neatly this time by wrapping the diagonal anchoring lines around it as I rolled it up.

Photos follow...

[bkrownd]

Rainy above, dry below: (weather shield open at ends to air out during day)


Using fence post:


Site:

[bkrownd]

This week was probably the last bird survey of the season. We stayed at the Nature Conservancy's (TNC) Honomalino preserve, and surveyed a transect that started at the topmost corner of Manuka NAR up in the high elevation lava fields of Mauna Loa and went down across private and Nature Conservancy land in Kapua ahupua'a. We only saw the most common native and alien bird species on the transect. The native ecosystems and their problems were interesting. It filled in a lot of my spotty knowledge of the area. We crossed dry kipukas and old lava fields at the upper end, recovering ranch pastures and feral animal damage in the middle, and recovering native forests in the lower end. I did find some stenogyne macrantha here and there, which I had only seen one individual of before. Very busy during daylight, so unfortunately I didn't get many photos.

We stayed at TNC's Honomalino camp at about 4300 feet elevation. The other surveyors stayed in the bunkhouses. I set up my hammock in a wonderfully private site just above the buildings, in former pasture that is quickly becoming reforested with koa. There are scattered 'ohi'a and a few other shrubs. The ground is thick pasture grass with ferns popping up here and there. Some of the grass is soft kikuyu grass, which is soft and wonderful to lay in.

The weather was unusually warm for the site, but with normal occurance of precipitation and fog. It was overcast the first night, but dry and clearing before morning. A big Moon made pre-dawn activity atmospheric and easy. The second night started with thick fog, which become rain after midnight and finally clearing just before dawn. I slept very cold at this site with just my Marmot Helium bag last summer, which inspired me to get an underquilt. (That trip was also much colder with clear night skies.) This time I was predictably toasty with layers of clothing, JRB down underquilt and weathershield, synthetic old Marmot bag under me, and Marmot Helium bag on top of me. I was quite comfortable, and slept solidly.

The rain and fog did not cause any problems (no wind at all), but I did have condensation issues. I think my underquilt saturates with humidity at home and while using the hammock that moisture condenses on the inside of the weathershield layer at night. I make sure to let the weathershield hang loose during the day to air it out, and then wipe out the remaining water drops/puddles before snugging it up again at night.. The other condensation issue I have is on the top of my down bag and a couple of interior hammock surfaces, from my breath. It is usually too humid for any of this to dry off during the day unless the Sun comes out strong.

The pasture grass with scattered koa trees is an easy setup landscape. I found a private spot with a convenient dip in the ground between two trees so I could attach the hammock lower on the trunks and still get good ground clearance. Setup was smooth this time. I tied everything up with my usual clumsy idiot knots. For the first time I managed to do it without creating any overly tight knots anywhere. Takedown was much easier than in the past.

Problems: I had a lot of stuff in the hammock with me this time, and of course this is a major hassle. I really wish the hammock had chambers at head and toe ends to stuff items into, and a way to reach outside of the top mesh to grab things outside or jettison unwanted stuff. Forgot to take a drink with me for the longer night, but fortunately I slept soundly. Lost one of the little JRB carabiners in the tall grass, which unfortunately don't come in helpful bright colors. Might remember other problems later...

Site:


View in the other direction:


Fenceline through native forest:

[bkrownd]

I spent another long weekend at the Kona Hema preserve in Honomalino. I put up my hammock in the now-usual spot, just as pictured above. I was helping with a reforestation project for 4 days, and spent 3 nights out there. I set a record of 3 nights without any bird poo on my hammock tarp!

My set-up is unchanged, but my efficiency is improving. I went with the quick and easy stupid "knot" I've used for a while now. The problem with it is I can't get the tension I'd like. It held fine with some initial sag, and even untied very easily this time. Takedown was a breeze. The site has sloped ground underneath the hammock, and I'll probably try to choose a different spot next time because this made it very awkward to get in/out and to dress. Unfortunately I didn't have any other problems because the weather was ideal for hammocking - again an unusual stretch with no rain worth mentioning. How am I supposed to learn what doesn't work if I'm not challenged by the weather? Well, nevertheless I enjoyed it.

It was unusually warm at night, and I went without my usual synthetic sleeping bag underlayer, only using my down underquilt and down sleeping bag as a cover, in addition to clothing layers. I slept better than before, though the last night for some reason I couldn't figure out I didn't feel like I was properly settled in the hammock.

Everyone else slept in the bunkhouse as usual. With the forest all to myself I discovered how effectively one can bathe with just a washcloth, a few cups of water, and a few squirts of soap. It wasn't even cold like I had expected, and very refreshing to sit in the soft kikuyu grass and scrub all the sweat off. W

My barn owl was around again. She greeted me with a few annoyed screeches as I went up to retire the first night. The next morning she was flying among the trees overhead in the full moonlight, and settled in a branch maybe 15-20 feet from me after I gave a few "hoo-hoo"s. She flew off after I turned on my headlamp to check what kind of bird she was. She passed over me again during my "shower" the third evening. I heard her screeches and clucks as she soared among the trees hunting every night.