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  1. #1
    New Member
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    South America January-May/Warbonnet Black Bird Review

    I've been waiting a while to write this review because I wanted to give this setup some thorough use first. In December of last year I bought a Warbonnet Black Bird Double Layer 1.1 and a Mamajamba tarp. My sleep setup just included a Mountain Hardwear down sleeping bag (Phantom 32) and a Thermarest Neoair sleeping pad. I used the webbing straps that came with the hammock, about 100 ft. of guyline as recommended by Warbonnet's video, and aluminum stakes from REI.

    It's my first hammock and previous to this trip I've never camped in a hammock before so it's been a real trial by fire. After a lot of research I settled on the Warbonnet Black Bird because it seemed easy to set up, versatile, and had built-in bug netting.

    I lived and worked in Chilean Patagonia (Coyhaique and surrounding area) from January through the end of March. In that time I went on a 2 week road trip through southern Patagonia and slept in the hammock every night. Nights ranged from 40's and 50's F all the way down to the low 30's. And if any of you have ever been to Patagonia you know that it's windy as hell just about all the time. During my trip this setup was exposed to wind gusts up to 40 or so MPH and a decent amount of rain. All in all the environment is very harsh, similar to parts of BC and Alaska.

    From Patagonia I traveled north through Chile, Argentina, and I ended my travels in Bolivia. In the Bolivian Amazon I gave the hammock its second big test. The environment here is probably more difficult than Patagonia in my opinion. The humidity can be very destructive and powerful storms can come out of nowhere and cause severe flooding in a matter of hours. In total I spent 10 days in the jungle and we did get caught in a pretty serious storm. We were about 10 or so miles upstream of the nearest Indian camp in wooden dugout canoes and the river we were on went up about 4-5 feet in as many hours. We ended up being stranded for a couple days hoping that the flooding would go down enough for us to safely get downstream.
    The other major issue in the jungle is the creepy crawlies. Bugs, spiders, and snakes are all over the place and some are very dangerous, and most of the ones that aren't dangerous can at least scare the hell out of you because they're huge. Then there are the black gnats and mosquitoes. On my trip they were probably about as bad as in coastal Alaska, and apparently we got it very easy due to the heavy rain.

    As for the review of the gear, I couldn't be happier with both the hammock and the tarp. The hammock is without a doubt one of the most well-designed pieces of gear I've ever owned. Every single feature was thought out very well and serves a purpose. Furthermore the quality is top-notch. Both the hammock and the tarp performed incredibly in a very wide variety of conditions and environments. This setup has seen heavy rain, wind, cold, heat, and humidity and I've had no problems. In addition to setting it up as a hammock, I used the tarp like a tent when there were no trees around and the hammock served as a rudimentary bivy.
    There were a few times in Patagonia where the wind pulled my tarp stakes out of the ground but the tarp itself was bomb-proof, and keeping it wind-proof is largely a matter of knowing how to set it up appropriately. This setup weighs a lot less than any tent I've ever owned, takes up half the space, and honestly I think sleeping in the hammock is every bit as comfortable as in a tent. Even in the cold and wind I was perfectly comfortable. The humidity was the most difficult element to deal with but nothing can really help with that.

    The only issue I did have, which has nothing to do with the design and quality of the gear itself there is the claustrophobia factor. You can't do anything other than sleep and lay down really. The Mamajamba tarp is big enough that if set up correctly you can have plenty of room to sit down, keep gear, etc. but then you or the gear wouldn't be quite as protected from the elements as you would be with a tent. Again, though, with some time and experience I did begin to learn how and where to set up the tarp to adequately address these issues. The claustrophobia/lack of space was only a big issue for me in the jungle because there was nothing keeping a nice hand-sized spider from greeting you 6" from your face in the morning. Even that, however, is really just a matter of comfort and its something I could easily learn to deal with if I weren't a wimp when it comes to spiders and bugs. Another disadvantage is that the Nylon doesn't breathe very well but the many other advantages it has over other materials are absolutely worth the trade-off.

    So all in all I've been very happy with the setup, will probably use my tent a hell of a lot less in the future, and would recommend Warbonnet's gear to anyone. On another related note, I ordered the hammock about 4-5 weeks before I left for my trip and the folks at Warbonnet (forget the guy's name) were great about getting the gear to me in time despite the normally long wait times.

  2. #2
    New Member
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    And just to prove that this all happened, here's a few pics:


    One of the first nights I used the setup in Patagonia.


    Experimental tree-less setup in Patagonia. Worked out pretty well. A tent would have been a little warmer but not by much.


    One of the more difficult setups. Constant rain, no good trees (these were the biggest I could find and the biggest limbs on these were about an inch or two in diameter), the ground is basically composed of ferns and plants (think tundra) so stakes did not hold well, etc. But even here the versatility of this setup allows you to make it work if you have get a little creative.


    About as good as it gets in the jungle. This is after 20 or so minutes of heavy brush clearing with a machete.


    And the last setup in a small village in the middle of the Amazon, waiting for the weather to calm down enough to get a plane ride out.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Tumbleweed's Avatar
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    Interesting. Thanks for posting your trip report. Enjoyed seeing pics of a unique part of the world.

    I also have a WBBB which I have used as a bivy in the treeless Boulderfield of Long's Peak, Colorado. Awkward but functional.

  4. #4
    Senior Member dougalcorn's Avatar
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    Great write-up and review. It's guys like you living high adventure that really inspire me. Thanks for the photos.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tumbleweed View Post
    Interesting. Thanks for posting your trip report. Enjoyed seeing pics of a unique part of the world.

    I also have a WBBB which I have used as a bivy in the treeless Boulderfield of Long's Peak, Colorado. Awkward but functional.
    Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it!

    Ya, on the ground the only purpose the hammock itself serves is for protection from bugs. In that it is sufficient but it took a little creativity to have it set up to keep the netting from just being right on your face.

  6. #6
    New Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by dougalcorn View Post
    Great write-up and review. It's guys like you living high adventure that really inspire me. Thanks for the photos.
    Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I got a lot of great information and recommendations on this site before making my purchase decisions so I figured I at least owed the community a solid review.

  7. #7
    Senior Member cjayflo's Avatar
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    Thanks for a great gear report!

  8. #8
    Senior Member 2eez4life's Avatar
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    Yes enjoyed it much so. What exactly were you doing down there that whole period? What line of work?
    Palm made products a portrait of modern triumph

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2eez4life View Post
    Yes enjoyed it much so. What exactly were you doing down there that whole period? What line of work?
    I work as a fly fishing guide and Patagonia is a very popular destination for that so I worked at a lodge for a few months. After that it was all for fun.

  10. #10
    Member NordicNorm's Avatar
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    Very cool. Thanks for sharing!
    Latest inspiration: In the dirt. Ep3
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX7ieDrNvnU

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