Here in the Chicago area we're in the midst of what the weather folks are calling a cyclone. Heading home from work yesterday I was excited for the chance to continue my sleeping pad experiments on my backyard bridge in interesting conditions. Unfortunately when I arrived home the cyclone that had been gusting up to 35 MPH since mid afternoon had not been too kind to my rig.
The tarp was not staked out and was a twisted mess around the ridgeline. My top quilt lay on the ground with a 1/2" of water pooling on in it and the hammock had over three inches of standing water despite still being lashed around by the wind. The drenching rain had overwhelmed the DWR on the HyperD 1.6 and water was pooled in the double body bridge. I figured time to pack it up to prevent any damage and head inside for the night.
So I undid the head end of the hammock and dumped at least a gallon of water off of it and out of it. The DWR was still working enough to have trapped water inside that leaked through the top layer. The top quilt is an M10/primaloft design and was a twisted soaked mess. I wrang the water out, shook as much off as I could and prepared to head in for the night. And then I said screw it.
I restrung the hammock, fought the winds and straightened out the Membrane silpoly tarp, gave the quilt another shake and slipped it back inside the tarp. Wearing only shorts, a t-shirt and a nano-puff I crawled into a soaking wet hammock, slid my legs into the quilt, and clipped the stakeless tarp closed under me. I instantly noticed the WBS (wet butt syndrome) as the remaining water in the hammock got rung out as it stretched.
The air temp was in the mid-forties and expected to fall to 40, with wind chills in the mid 30's. The M10 shell was a bit sticky, but still smooth, I changed positions easily though as the HyperD didn't sag, stretch, or perform any differently than it normally did. The 25* Primaloft TQ warmed quickly and the Neoair Xtherm did it's job well enough. I was damp from shoulder to toes in minutes but warm. As I settled in the full storm kicked up in earnest.
This morning I woke up bone dry but for the typical smidge of posterior dampness I get using the air pad in the double layer bridge. My UQ had dried completely, and amazingly so did BOTH layers of the bridge. My tarp is no brand new squeaky freshy. It was made last year and has been out for a good 90+ nights. The Membrane fabric took wind driven rains all night, with gusts up to 40 miles per hour. It cut the wind so well the whole hammock dried out underneath it, and took a beating without misting a drop of rain.
The neighbors flag pole was knocked down and the metal pole bent, several trees in my area are damaged or down. The Chicago Skyway was shut down due to storm damage.
Yar, just a backyard hang, and a bit of an extreme situation not likely to happen in the real world.
But it was a safe spot to try out some extremely UL gear and fabrics in a severe storm.
And it's nice to know if things ever got really bad, it turns out your gear is pretty badass.
Cuben Fiber is light, but no where near as nimble as Membrane Silpoly. My tarp has no reinforcements on it, with coated fabric at only an ounce a yard.
I know for a fact that a CF tarp would have blown a pullout in those conditions as it's happened before. The Membrane Sil rolled with the punches and gusts all night long with no damage, stress, or leaks. Even when the wind driven rain forced the tarp into contact with me, it didn't weep through.
HyperD- Even soaking wet it didn't stretch, deform, or fail to perform... and dried out quickly despite the conditions. It stayed comfortable and smooth.
M10 shell- I was worried the shell would have been damaged getting blown across my wood deck and twisted into knots by the wind. Not a scratch. Dried fast, was comfy even when wet and allowed the PL to crank heat and do it's job. To me it's the perfect shell material- it weighs little, gets out of the way, sews well, and I don't need to worry about it.
So hat's off to Kyle for coming up with some badass products.
And even bigger praise for delivering cutting edge products at affordable prices.
Light, durable, high performance and affordable- pick all four!
I'm working on bringing some of my stuff to market, so I rarely post pics or talk about it much. As a result I haven't taken the opportunity to give credit where credit is due. Ripstop By The Roll's innovations have been a big part of bringing my ideas to life. Your hard work, innovation, and willingness to take risks has allowed me to make some truly amazing gear.
So I wanted to share this tale as a way of saying thanks to Kyle for a job so very well done.
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