Joining the DD party - any wisdom to share?

I started out with a foam pad for my DD, and afterwards bought the snugpak uq. BOth work, but the uq is vastly more comfy. However, and I have been pondering this myself, on the continent wild camping is not allowed (generally), so you'd be either stealth camping or visiting camp grounds. The camp grounds oftentimes cater mostly to caravans and RVs, and with a tent area. I'm wondering if there are trees to strap the hammock to at all these places? So it might be a good idea to go for the foam pad as bottom insulation, so that you have the option of sleeping on the cold, hard ground when need be. *shudder*

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Originally Posted by Beanie

Plus one on the snakeskins, they make deploying the tarp so much easier in the wind, mine are silnylon but if I was to replace them I would seriously look at the skins made from bug netting as they allow some of your tarp to dry.

I use a karrimat in my hammock they work ok but can be a pain if you move around a lot ( I may add some velcro to keep it in place) with a sleeping bag opened up and over me like a quilt.

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I wonder if you can dab little balls of silicone or seamgrip to the bottom of your karrimat to keep it from slipping around under you. That's a old ground dweller trick to keep your mat from slipping out from under you in a tent. Might keep in place in a hammock. Never tried that out.

One of my favorite things about the DD hammocks is the Bivy option. This is the most spacious bivy hammock I have ever used. I like to use my walking poles to hold the bug net and tarp over me and I am good to go. Great for if you are hiking in a place with nowhere to hang.

I have always wanted to try sleeping on the beach with this set up.

Check out my website if you want to see the way I set this up as a bivy, I have a video review of it there, www.campinghammockreviews.com

You chose well, the DD Travel is good. :)

I've had one for 3 years now. You'll find you get more condensation in it with pads and mats than underquilts but it was never a problem for me. Mine has been down to well under -10 a few times and done 150 plus nights.

A few tips;
use your sleeping bag as quilt if you can-condensation is much reduced.
Take out sharp objects from your pockets and tape sharp zippers-I've put 3 holes in mine that way which I have repaired.
Ignore DD's hang tight instructions-a 20-30 degree sag angle is bang on for most people.

As for places to ride, forget mainland Europe and head for Norway is my suggestion. Take in Telemark, Preikestolen, Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen, Trollstiggen and the Atlantic road on the west coast. You can't speed there but the scenery is so jaw dropping that it needs to be taken slow ( apart from the tunnels)

Hope this helps :)

I added an internal ridge line, it's a pretty rough job but it works.
The shape of the bug net isn't great with ridge line, all crumples up at the ends and sags, I added some foam block things to push out which tightens the ends.

Can't really recommend my method though.
Has anyone made a real neat solution?

If using the tarp squared/rectangle for "front porch mode", you might want to reinforce the tie-outs you attach to, or don't pitch it super tight. The tie-outs in the 4 corners are reinforced incredibly, but the ones on the sides not so much.

For reinforcement you can probably use the same stuff I did for the repair - McNett Tenacious tape. The "sage green" color actually matches up pretty well to the tarp if you got the dark green one.