I couldn't take it anymore. I have had my hammock for a month now and have yet to give it a good test (got in it in the basement between the poles, but not a good hang).
Here is the short story since this post turned into a novel
Slept pretty well. Not great, but on par with tent sleeping. Stayed very warm with my setup. Need to try a better setup then my limited stand. HH felt small as my feet were pressed against the bug net a bit. Not flat enough.
Ok, now for those in a reading mood.
We just got back from a camping trip in Florida (no hanging allowed where we were) and I still have the camping bug bad.
We do not have any trees that are a good distance for a true hang, so I rigged up my HH on our metal hammock stand. The stand is not even close to a good mount for the HH. The width is just wide enough to tie the hammock on with the gathered ends almost touching the mount point. I was able to get it tight though, but it is a dead level mount (would prefer to get the foot end up a smidge).
The fly was another story. It was too long for the hammock stand, so after trying different ways to get it on there, I resorted to a simple alternative. I switched and used the tie out points to mount to the hammock and used the hammock points to tie out to the sides (hope that made sense). Now I really didn't need the fly on last night anyway with no rain in the forecast, but I wanted to see what condensation was like and what it felt like to be in the full system, so this worked for the test.
My gear was as follows:
1 TR trail light regular pad blown up partially
1 full blue ccf target pad folded in half and positioned horizontally under my torso forming the T.
Slumberjack Ultimate 32 degree bag
Wool socks
mid weight running tights
cotton tshirt (I know, I got to get better base layers)
light weight fleece pull over
very light weight sock hat
Blow up pillow
My only temperature gauge was when I got to work this morning at 7:30 the temp at the bank read 45 degrees, so I will say low 40's since this was downtown Cincy versus the burbs where I live.
So how did the night go?
Well, my biggest problem had nothing to do with the hammock. I had to get up and pee 4 times throughout the night. Its not always like this, but I think the excitement of the test got me going for some reason.
Warmth
When I was nestled in the hammock my first observation was that I was plenty warm. Too warm most of the night. I took my hat off after an hour and didn't put it back on till early morning. I had my arms out of my bag for the first hour or so, and I never even came close to cinching the hood down on my bag.
Comfort
The pads worked out well. I didn't have as much trouble as I thought I would keeping them situated. My biggest complaint was I didn't feel as flat as I would have liked. It kind of felt like my butt was hanging out the bottom through a big hole. The hammock also felt really small. My feet were constantly pressing up against the bug net and curling my ankles and toes in a bit.
I am a tosser/turner when I sleep, so I wiggled a lot at first, trying some side positions, but I felt with the lack of flatness my back was the only real option. I eventually got comfy on my back, and did spend a little time on my right side.
Conclusion
Inconclusive test based on poor hanging mount (stand).
I feel like this was not a good fair shot, and since I still got a par score compared to tent sleeping, I am optimistic. My main focus was testing out my pad combo. I would like to switch out the thermarest for my POE air core for its packability and less weight, but thought I would give the TR a try first. I think I can cut the ccf pad in half for my extra torso coverage as 2 layers was more than enough.
Anyone care to comment on my experience with the lack of ability to lay flat, and the feeling of my feet being pressed into the edges?
Thanks for reading. Ready for round 2. Now I just got to come up with a better mounting.
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