I'd never seen that before, yikes! Handwarmers can be a life saver, but definitely a good tip to keep a thin layer of fabric between the warmers and the skin.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormstaff
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I'd never seen that before, yikes! Handwarmers can be a life saver, but definitely a good tip to keep a thin layer of fabric between the warmers and the skin.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormstaff
About the comment of keeping the tarp low, with my tarp having no doors, would that really help much? I fully understand about trying to keep the tarp with the walls facing the wind, unfortunately, it looks like the wind will be shifting from SSW to basically North around midnight So I'll do the best I can with that.
I do plan on having a little snack or something right before bed. I've got a pretty strong bladder so hopefully nature doesn't call during the worst of the rain. I hadn't thought about having something to sit on when everything is all wet so I may go out and purchase a small self inflating seat for a dry place to sit, and then use that under my feet while sleeping. These ideas about what I hadn't thought about are what's cool about this site. Learn from others!
On a side note, the guys I'm going with may be electing to shorten the trip to miss the rain since they may not be able to find room in the "tent camping" section for the first night out due to the holiday weekend. :rolleyes: So we may hike out half way to the less crowded camp grounds the first day making it a two day one night trip instead of the planned three day two night trip. I told them that as long as I could find trees, I was good anywhere. Maybe this will convert them. :D
do what BB58 told you and get a Blue Walmart pad for $6 and cut it down for your legs .. the only part of your setup i worry about is the 40 degree bag with the temps getting below 30 degrees that might become the weak link in your setup take a light fleece sleeping bag liner with you .. they can be found with the blue walmart pads there around $10 give or take and a puffy jacket
also like shug said keep your hands from getting wet or you will have a hard time setting up camp .. rain mitts go a long way ;)
if you don't have rain mitts even a light glove and a bread bag over it will do in a pinch
remember this is your first hang so have a bail out plan in case things don't work out
and practice setting up in your yard a few times before you head out so you know how your gear works ... don't want to get out there and find out your missing this or that ripped kinda thing
also keep your gear from getting wet.... wet gear=not fun .. trust me LOL
Have fun and take pics :D
Completed the hike of the Butterfield Trail this weekend. I now officially love sleeping in my Blackbird. First night the low was only about 55. I actually got a little too hot with the winter yeti and the 40 degree sleeping bag. Had to lose layers and vent some. Once I got the temps dialed in, I had the best nights sleep I've ever had out doors. It was Awesome! I actually dreamt about how comfortable I was, that's how comfortable I was.
Second day into the hike, it rained for about 6 hours straight. A Drenching rain. Then the temps dropped to I believe 25. Made me glad that I over packed. I was able to change clothes and layer up, then I ended up using the fleece blanket along with the Yeti and 40 degree bag. Had a little cold butt syndrome though. I think my UQ wasn't hung just right. Again though, once I got things dialed in, I slept great!
Both days, I did not want to get out of my warm comfortable cocoon to help break down camp and start the hike. Unfortunately, the guys I was with were tent campers and didn't sleep as well as I did. They were eager to get moving. Thanks all for the advice. This forum and the many YouTube videos people have posted made this trip easy. I do have to work on breaking down my stuff quicker. My grumpy camp mates didn't like waiting on me. I do think I may quickly convert one of them. He was asking a ton of questions about how much things were and where to get more info.
There's only one way to get that breaking down/packing up thing faster: reps. About 50 should do. Damned field work.:D
Awesome! Glad to hear you had a good trip. How did the wind end up being? How did you combat it?
Brandon
Sounds like you now know the limitions of your system. Practice makes perfect, and the more times you setup/teardown, the easier it will get.
Hope your remembered to take pics.
The actually was zero wind during the night so I set my tarp up in porch mode so that one of my tent using friends could hide under the flap in case the rain decided to return. Definitely learned a few things about what I need to do when dealing with mega rain like we had. Still a very fun hike. I think it was about 15 miles over all. Butterfield trail, thumbs up.
Beetle, it's good to hear that it all worked out for you! I figured you would be plenty warm!Quote:
Originally Posted by Beatle405