Noob/former ground dweller on first backpacking trip hanging....pics inside

**loghangin** · 03-30-2014, 20:15

Hey Guys and Gals,

I've started a few threads here in an attempt to gather information and have received great feedback from you guys regarding what to purchase and some hanging tips. Thank you very much for that. I've slept in my hammock outside roughly 6 times before this trip. Doing some cold weather testing on my deck using a TDS (have slept comfortably down to 19 degrees F thus far) and then a couple nights out in the woods behind a friends house. I have the set up down pat on the TDS but still working on hanging outside with the increased number of variables.

This weekend myself and 3 buddies took a trip to Black Forrest Trail out in Western PA (highly recommended for anyone who can get there) where I was going to debut my hammock on a real trip in an uncontrolled environment. Up tho this point, I have never even set up my tarp (WB Superfly) but had watched the instructional vid enough to be reasonably confident I would get it eventually. My hang was not quite perfect as I think it was a little high and my ridgeline was very very tight. I think I have a tendency to pick trees too far apart and hang a little shallow (not quite 30 degrees). Subconsciously I prefer tighter than saggier and have erred on that side thus far. I'm sure I'll nail it over time, but I still slept very well on this trip. I still have some work to do to streamline the tarp hanging process (starting with the sleeves I just ordered from Mountain Goat,getting better at side pull outs and doors ), but I was happy with the end result on this trip.

All of my gear was tested at a pretty high level as it was a high of 45 and a low of 30 and rained heavily from 4pm all the way through the night.
Here are some pics:

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**2ply** · 03-30-2014, 20:54

Looks like there might be some trout in those streams. Glad you stayed high and dry with your set up. It only gets better.

**Charliev** · 03-30-2014, 21:02

Beautiful. Wish i was there hanging with you.

**shipsgunner** · 03-30-2014, 22:06

Awesome job! Sure would love to hit that water for some trout... Beautiful spots and the vista's are wonderful. Appreciate you sharing with us. I will certainly have to look it up and get it on that HUGE list of places I want to hang myself...

**loghangin** · 03-30-2014, 22:50

Thanks guys! I'm not a fly fisherman but after being there it made me want to learn. My buddy and I even discussed doing so. We ran into a couple nice people while we were camped very close to the trail, and the one lady who was experienced in fly fishing said they just dumped 11,000 trout in there and are doing another 11,000 in a few weeks. So you guys may want to get up there sooner than later!

On a separate note as I was drying and inspecting my gear just now I noticed some loose threads on my new TQ. Any idea if these were just not cut that low from the manufacturer or are they coming lose and I need to do something about it? Thanks for any input!

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**TheOakMonster** · 03-30-2014, 23:00

Looks fun! I thought this weekend would be my first overnight hammock trip, but the cold and heavy rain in central New York was enough to scare me off. Kind of glad I held off, since the rain turned to a wintery mix then snow by morning. Did you see snow down your way?

**loghangin** · 03-30-2014, 23:15

Also these pics are from my trip to the Black Forrest Trail in December when I was still a ground dweller, but you guys who liked the water pics will like these so figured I'd add them.

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Please excuse the tent (gasp) but wanted to show how close to the water we were camped. Same location this most recent trip. Water is to the left and behind where I'm standing taking this photo.

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**loghangin** · 03-30-2014, 23:17

Originally Posted by TheOakMonster

Looks fun! I thought this weekend would be my first overnight hammock trip, but the cold and heavy rain in central New York was enough to scare me off. Kind of glad I held off, since the rain turned to a wintery mix then snow by morning. Did you see snow down your way?

I slept through it (I was the only one of my buddies both dry and warm) but my one friend who was up to pee in the middle of the night said it was snowing a bit around 3 am. I prefer snow to rain. The cold is much easier to deal with than the wet IMO.

**shipsgunner** · 03-30-2014, 23:32

Thanks for the shots... Don't know much about threads hanging on the TQ... might wanna contact the MFR and show them the pics... they will surely know what to do..

**loghangin** · 03-31-2014, 08:04

Originally Posted by shipsgunner

Thanks for the shots... Don't know much about threads hanging on the TQ... might wanna contact the MFR and show them the pics... they will surely know what to do..

Thank you. I know some of the cottage guys are notoriously bad at responding to emails so I generally prefer to call them. I figured I'd ask here quickly to see if it was an extremely common thing before taking the next step. Thank you again.