I got my new BB a week ago and couldn't wait to get my Superfly so I took a little road trip to see Brandon Thursday to get one. Great guy! He really knows his stuff and makes superior gear.
I live in CO. Springs and have a huge park in my back yard with miles of single track trails. I decided to just go there and sleep out only a five minute walk from my door.
Setting up the BB with the slings was a piece of cake! Brandon also gave me some string for the SF and I already had a "S" biner and a figure9 so that was relatively easy also.
However, being a newbie at this I definitely have some kinks to work out as far as a good distance between trees/how high to hang/and mostly tension vs. slack to get the right comfort in the hammock. I also bought a blue pad from Wallyworld that was a life saver cause it would have been way too cold without it.It was just enough cause I was was still a bit chilled with it but not unbearable. It also has some minor slippage in between the double layers but not too bad. For a TQ I simply used my sleeping bag opened up over me with he bottom closed as a foot box.
At this point I want to say what a brilliant idea it was to build a shelf in the BB!! It swallowed up everything I wanted inside with me and had room to spare! Great stuff.
So, after I got everything set up--just before dark around 6:30--I was so anxious to try this out I thought I was gonna climb right in and go to sleep for the night. Really?? Who goes to bed at 6:30 and expects to sleep all night? LOL After laying there for a half hour I realized how ridiculous this was and walked back home to watch some tv and grab some food and a glass of red to help me sleep.
Initially, my set up was pretty close to being right but the hammock was a bit too tight. So when I came back to go to bed for real I loosened the slack a bit too much but was not in the mood to get back out. It was good enough and still way more comfortable than the hard ground in a tent!
Around 2am the wind came and kicked into high gear. It sounded like hurricane gusts but were at least 50 mph at times. So hard it was shaking the trees and my hammock. At some point one of the guy lines came loose from it's stake and the SF would flap in the wind but it still performed marvelously. Between the wind howling all night, some scary critters making noises I couldn't quite define and the SF flapping I didn't get much sleep but was pretty darn cozy and warm.
From my first nights experience I came to one decisive conclusion....a UQ is a MUST! I couldn't help but think all through the night how much more comfortable and warmer I would have been if I had one instead of a stiff blue pad. It definitely works in a pinch but the UQ is really the best way to go. Will be ordering one very soon!
Breaking down camp was also super easy. Brandon had a good idea when he was setting up my SF for inspection. He wears a fanny pack with the stakes/strings/ect. so it's all quickly available and it works great for tearing down too.
As a final 'reward' for my effort--this morning while breaking camp a HUGE muley walked past me within 10 yards! I'm gonna try to figure out how to post photos now as I know this "didn't happen w/o pics" so they are coming if I can't figure out how to post them on this thread.
Thanks to everyone on this site for your immeasurable help and insight you give out here!!
Jeff aka-hikinghombre
OK.......just tried to figure out how to include photos. Need some help! I'm not a computer geek at all.
Well, I got an album of photos down loaded here but still not sure how to get them to this post. Guess you can check out my album?
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