Brother from another mother.Originally Posted by knix04
Brother from another mother.
Crayons - they might look different, but they all taste the same
I love porch mode! I like being able to see if there's a bear sitting there waiting to eat me for breakfast.Plus I use Dutch's tarpworms so I can batten down quick if I see one.
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. -- Mark Twain
I think I will try out the porch mode this weekend. Any advice for pitching a WB SF?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Check out my youtube channel. Vids about hammock camping, geocaching and outdoor fun.
Adventures With Snide Tripod
If it's not windy, just tie the doors together so they are up and out of the way (basically the Mamajamba tarp)
Keep the porch side sloped enough so it sheds rain or else it will full up with water and you'll have a bath tub above you! If you need to block wind, you can untie the doors and have them staked out. Not perfect, but it will block a little.
I'm a big fan of porch mode (either one or two sides). I re-purposed collapsible poles from an old tent so I can vary the porch entrance from 2' to over 6' using different combinations of sections. I ended up chopping up one of the poles so I could have a 5" section at the top to keep the tarp from sliding down the pole. (I use trekking poles when backpacking.)
The big advantage for me is space under the tarp. I'm 6'2" and without porch mode I usually can't fully stand up under tarp (bad for my back). As a scoutmaster it's also great to keep an eye on the other campers without having to exit the hammock.
It's super easy to switch modes. I had to do this Saturday night when then wind kicked up to 30 mph and turned my tarp into a kite. Just pull out the pole and tighten up the UCR for ground hugging protection.
Oh, and I always use a tarp. Had to clean bird poop off it just this weekend. :-)
I string up my SF then guy out the non porch mode side. Then insert the trekking poles i use for porch mode. I simply insert the tip of my pole into the triangle ring (Handle down on the ground) and then guy out the line from there. I have seen where many people use the handle up (tip in the ground) and tie off to the handle, but that is not the 'best' way to do it in my opinion.
“The word hammockable (Meaning: two trees that are the perfect distance apart between which a hammock can be hung) is not in the dictionary, but it should be.”
I agree. I hate to complicate things with cordage and knots. Tip thru the triangle...done. Nothing changes between porch mode and your standard setup. I think it allows for a tighter tarp setup too.
I love my MSR poles which twist and lock, so I can adjust it to any length.
I have a fair weather trip coming up starting Thursday, so porch mode it is!
I setup different depending on the day, my mood, and what the weather that night is supposed to be. Hot and muggy? Pitch it high, wide, and porched for maximum airflow. Cold, windy and heavy precip? Steep pitch, low slung, no porch. Anything in between is fair game. Weather also dictates if I'm going to run ridge-over or ridge-under tarp. I never go topless though. I've woken up too many times with my tarp sporting fresh splats directly above where my head should be. Nope nope nope.
Is it weird that I bought trekking poles specifically because I wanted to be able to pitch the tarp in porch mode? I haven't even hammock camped before but Shug made it look awesome. I'm really jealous of all these porch mode pictures while I wait for my first hammock, tarp, and trekking poles to arrive.
Trekking poles aren't long enough for me. REI sells shock-corded poles that pack down to about 24 inches and have an adjustable height around 6 ft. They work great for me.
AAPirateCoveHammock1.jpg
Note that in the photo above, the paddle is not part of the tarp support and those particular poles are from an older MSR tarp (and the tarp is an HH Hex). But the size is about the same as the REI mentioned above.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks