I used to (and sometimes still do) take pride on finding a way to make do with cheap junk. Sometimes there are amazing bargains and clever things, but I have also outsmarted myself on many...
Type: Posts; User: Tucson Tom
I used to (and sometimes still do) take pride on finding a way to make do with cheap junk. Sometimes there are amazing bargains and clever things, but I have also outsmarted myself on many...
I installed eyebolts in my office for this a couple of years ago. Like others have said, I used a tiny drill bit to determine the exact location of the stud, drilled a pilot hole and used a pair of...
Exactly !
Well now. Superlight hammocks seemed like a great idea to me -- for a while. My first one lasted about 5 days, then blew out on the last day of a Sierra backpack. The second one lasted just...
My hat is off to the dude who says he will make you some. Meanwhile, a ziploc bag seems like an easy answer. I get a lot of use out of old socks, or I used to anyway. Was once my camera case of...
That's exactly right. No male insecurities here, just call it sewing and stop the nonsense.
Welcome aboard! Great post. We all have plenty of stories -- adventures are when things don't quite go as planned. I am still wondering what the shelter critter was. The way to get experience is...
Things are nasty here too in Tucson, Arizona. Temps have plummeted over the past week with the arrival of winter weather. Temps outside right now (midnight) are already down to 53 and are likely to...
I think satire has to have a certain balance to it, light at the end of the tunnel, needs to poke fun at something that needs fun being poked at it. But I don't see that here. No, I don't think it...
We are certainly on the same page. I do my homework before trips and have a pretty good idea of the probabilities involved if hammock camping is not a sure thing.
So the thing then is what gear...
I hear people saying, "always go where there are trees, this is bad planning, etc. etc." I don't buy this for several reasons.
First of all, I hike in the California Sierra and sometimes for one...
I was an ultralight backpacker before I was a hammock camper. Now I am both.
You will certainly need a tarp, and poles to rig it with, and some practice doing so.
What you are likely to...
It certainly sounds like the usual polyurethane depolymerization. This is accelerated by moisture, i.e. being stored wet (or with any moisture). Because of this syndrome I have grown to hate...
I bought my top quilt before I went nuts for hammock camping. It is a "Sierra sniveler" or some such named thing from JRB - one of the most used items I have ever bought. But what I want to say is...
I am surprised that this encounters so much resistance. An umbrella has been my go-to rain gear for a number of years and is superior to everything else with some caveats. It is ideal in warm...
I took an old ridgerest pad, cut it into two pieces, and rounded the corners (use scissors). As folks have mentioned, you may not need this until temps go down towards freezing.
It is a useful...
Greetings from Arizona. Looking to hit 110+ later this week, hard to wrap my mind around 30 degree temperatures.
You are wise to camp out of the wind. So many people overlook the virtues of...
All kinds of communication issues here, but it looks like it is all settling down.
My initial hammock expense was about $25 for fabric to sew up a gathered end hammock, then a bit more for some 1...
Bingo! Yes you have nailed it left right and center here. I am indeed hanging inside without a ridgeline. And as I am typing this, I dug out my ridgeline that I set up to use with this hammock,...
I use a DIY gathered end hammock and switch several times during the night. I switch myself anyhow, my feet still end up on the same side of the hammock when I switch around, so ..... it seems like...
I hammock camp in the Sierra regularly, was there 2 weeks ago (Kearsarge Pass and thereabouts). I just checked my straps and they are 8 feet and do me just fine. No doubt if you are at lower...
I've been making a discovery. Now I know this is going to run counter to the usual advice, but here we go.
I just sewed up an 11 foot long gathered end hammock (using Dutch's Hexon 2.4). I began...
I sleep under a top quilt all the time and often am in what I guess you would call a figure 4 position, and have been just fine, even in cold weather.
My top quilt is a Jacks R Better Sierra...
You have me thinking -- velcro in combination with shock cord? It would be worth experimenting with (which is what I am all about these days.). Well I'll be gone in the mountains a couple of days...
Well, I probably should take this to a thread of its own -- but for now here are the results of the garage tests. I am puzzled.
The inner weight bearing layer I cut down by 4 inches (to a 56...
And that is exactly what has been keeping me up at night (not in the hammock mind you, just worrying -- but if I don't get it right then we are on to being kept up at night in the hammock). Well I...
As someone who lives out west and does what I think are epic hikes (such as Kings Canyon backcountry and the JMT) I can say that with some strategy you can sleep in a hammock every night and wander...
I've been thinking about this post since it first came out and today decided to get going with my own experiments with insulated hammocks. I am glad I revisited this because I was reminded that this...
Well, I think I am done with single layer polyD 1.2 hammocks. Today I got around to repairing the failed hammock, then after 10 minutes of gentle testing, it burst at an entirely different place...
Hold on now though. I am reading the descriptions on Dutch's website and he says that Argon is made from Nylon.
I am leaning towards using Nylon instead of Polyester for my next trial, but that...
OK, here is a question if anyone is still paying attention to this thread. Which is stronger? Poly or Nylon? I ask this for a couple of reasons.
1) My two layer 1.1 nylon hammock seems to be...
SQT Rock and I seem to think a lot alike.
Why go light? Well for me it is pleasure and freedom. I can go farther and have more fun doing it when I go as light as I can. Beyond a certain point I...
I guess I should clarify that I am trying to push the envelope in the direction of the lightest hammock possible, not asking for general tips on cutting weight. I have a totally reliable and well...
Well at 155 pounds and 6 foot 1 inch, I might be right around that 4 percent number. Probably not, but weight loss is likely not the best approach.
But your point is valid nonetheless. I would...
Poor Greenbean. I need to watch more Shug videos ... clearly I do. I am pondering the geometry of no ridgeline leading to higher stress. I almost always have a ridgeline, mostly because I like to...
This is a valuable and interesting comment (thanks SilvrSurfr). If my PolyD 1.2 ounce hammock was 7 ounces, then one with 1.4 ounce fabric would be 8.2 ounces. A mere 1.2 ounces extra. I would...
I just want to note that my 1.2 ounce fabric hammock let loose on me on the last day of my week long backpack last week.
Details in this forum post
I can guess where you are going with this. It is 9 feet 10 inches from the gathered end to the torn edge. So I could just hem that and have a 9 foot 6 inch hammock more or less.
I was definitely...
A few weeks ago I posted a question about what would be the lightest fabric that made sense for a single layer hammock.
Lightweight-hammock-what-fabric
Then I sewed one up using some of Dutch's...
Maybe someday I will do exhaustive experiments as to hammock length, but I settled on 11 feet (with a few extra inches as it turned out). I am quite pleased with this 11 foot hammock. It is...
Final report. I have spent 5 nights now in this single layer polyD 1.2 hammock and am entirely pleased. Bear in mind that I am 160 pounds. I made this hammock 11 feet and a couple inches long and...
I thought about this some. On the hammock I use all the time, I have a loop of parachute cord that I girth-hitched around the hammock whipping and I attach my whoopee sling to that. So I am hanging...
I also am skeptical now that I look up some figures:
1.75 mm Zing it -- 400 pounds
2.20 mm Zing it -- 580 pounds
Parachute Cord -- 600 pounds
Dynaglide ---------- 900 pounds
Amsteel 7/64 ---...
There is much more to the warmth benefit of an UQP than fabric type. I was just camping with an argon 90 under quilt and adding my zq2q UQP made a noticeable difference. It is 1.1 ripstop I...
I was pleased to see this post. I have materials and plan to sew something like this real soon. Seeing your design has sparked some ideas.
Here is a thought. A hammock is never stretched tight...
See below, after doing a little homework I have changed my mind. Bear in mind also that the geometry and physics of a hammock setup make it so that the line has to hold
more than just your body...
Zing it for a suspension? People do it. Read the ratings and decide for yourself. I intend to try it. My weight is 160 pounds.
(See below, I was thinking of Dynaglide not Zing-it when I said...
A hammock under a decent tarp is always about 100 times better in the rain than a tent. Maybe 200 times.
I need to lay out my down quilts and measure the loft. I know that they get me down into the 20's with comfort.
And I am just quoting the 3 inch figures from Western Mountaineering -- they have a...
Reporting back after a night in the field.
First of all, I should just clarify that the reason I call this an "Arizona underquilt" is/was that I figured the only place a single layer of 3.6...