Last year, I spontaneously attended the tabletop gaming convention Origins. Being without lodging and possessed of a most excellent hammock, I simply walked into the woods and slept there. I enjoyed it so much, I did it again this year.
And I brought a friend along with me. Matt and I share a lot of interests in common, two of them being board games and hammocks. Since we were both going to Origins this year, we planned to do the same thing, at the same place. But Matt had never actually slept in his hammock overnight outside of the safety of his back yard, and so we hiked in and camped out in a local "metropark" here in Cleveland for a night a few weeks prior to Origins so he could learn valuable lessons.
That experience went well, with him learning that he wanted to lighten up his pack, and that he didn't actually need to bring an extra 4 D batteries with him when camping over night. He also could do without the metal hammer. I don't think we're in Car Camping Land anymore, Toto! I learned very similar lessons when I first started my backpacking adventures, and have learned to value comfort on the trail as much as comfort at camp.
Of course, when Origins rolled around, a hurricane rolled in as well. Of course, we were not to be deterred. If things really did end up getting bad, we could always break for the cars and spend the night in a hotel or something.
It didn't come to that. In fact, while we were expecting it to be raining and windy while we were setting up camp for the night, that didn't start until well after darkness had set in and we were asleep. It started with lightning before we even hit the sack. Then wind picked up. I was concerned that my tarp's guy lines were going to get yanked out due to ferocious wind. This concern was exacerbated by the fact that one of my support trees was a little loose on the ground and gave a good 4 inches when I got in the hammock. This did nothing to inspire confidence in my tarp's setup, even with the bungification of my tie-outs.
While the wind did get up and under the tarp a couple of times, it wasn't so bad. My Speer Wintertarp was also set in enclosure mode, so I had extra protection should we get lots of wind and rain coming from the "wrong" direction. The winds ended up staying pretty tame, and my supports held.
Now I must say that I was thankful to have Matt along. He's been playing with making his own gear, splicing and tweaking to his heart's content, and he brought along an extra continuous ridgeline. When setting up my own non-continuous ridgeline, I damaged one of the lines, and so he lent me his extra gear.
The rest of the days were uneventful. I dialed in my structural ridgeline for a little more sag. We gamed the convention away, playing mostly two player games together. We ate very well at North Market and this awesome Brazilian steakhouse, both within walking distance of the Columbus convention center. We played a total stinker of a multiplayer game called "Nuns on the Run", and then an awesome multiplayer game called "Seasons". Nights we sat around talking and watching the fireflies near the campsite.
One night, I think the first night, Matt told me that he heard some large beast snorting and grunting right near our hammocks. He was pretty freaked out, no doubt imagining himself as a bear burrito.
The next night, he commented that he slept very well and got a great rest. Now I'm the kind of guy who ditched his bed years ago, but Matt sleeps in a bed regularly and so it's good to hear that he got in a good sleep in the hammock. We were both sleeping in Treklight doubles.
Speaking of gear, here are the highlights of the kit I brought along with me:
- Treklight Double hammock
- Warbonnet straps hammock suspension (from my Blackbird)
- Speer Wintertarp
- Matt's DIY structural ridgeline (w/ carabiner, Ninize biner, and continuous loops for klemheists)
- Hammock Gear Phoenix 40F underquilt
- Big Agnes Zirkel SL 20F sleeping bag
- Grand Trunk travel pillow
- noseeum hammock bugnet
- Frog Toggs rain suit
- Aarn Mountain Magic 55 bodypack
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Originally Posted by XTrekker
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