I have seen Snake/Python skins. What other options are there for putting my hammock into while hiking that I need to consider before making or purchasing anything of that sort?
Please also tell me about the pros/cons of each.
I have seen Snake/Python skins. What other options are there for putting my hammock into while hiking that I need to consider before making or purchasing anything of that sort?
Please also tell me about the pros/cons of each.
Get busy living, or get busy dying.
Do a search for 'Bishops Bag'. It is the only other method that I've seen.Originally Posted by ALHikerGal
Edit: Here's a pic from BB. Basically, it is a stuff sack with a hole in the bottom for the suspension to go through. I haven't used this method, but it seems to ge a good idea.
Last edited by angrysparrow; 06-11-2007 at 19:28. Reason: Added Link
“I think that when the lies are all told and forgot the truth will be there yet. It dont move about from place to place and it dont change from time to time. You cant corrupt it any more than you can salt salt.” - Cormac McCarthy
I like the snake skins better for a Hennessy style hammock with integral bug netting. Just roll on the bias and pull the skins and you're done. Easier to hang also and the hammock stays covered until the last moment when you pull the skins.
If the bug netting isn't on the hammock, e.g., a speer type or a Hennessy with the bug netting cut off, the snake skins are a lot harder to use.
I'm guessing, but that's probably why BB351 created his "BB Bag". For a Speer hammock, the BB's stuff sack idea is easier to use probably - I've never used one though.
I find my sack idea easier all around...I actually came up with (and used) my first prototype during my HH phase.
IMO, snakeskins are nice in SOME respects. If you look at the time it takes to get a tarp or hammock into skins versus the BB sack, the skins win for sure. If you look at the total time it takes to go from hung to pack (or vice versa), my BB sack has won every time.
The sack also allows for an underquilt to stay attached to the hammock all the time, a NICE advantage in speed and especially in bad weather. "Python skins" were designed to accomplish the same thing, but JRB no longer makes them...and I've read several posts that reported that even with the oversized Pythons, having a quilt included made the skins stiff and exacerbated the packing problem.
Just my .02. I'm sure TeeDee will disagree with something here
"Physics is the only true science. All else is stamp collecting." - J. J. Thompson
Not at all - my real concern isn't the time, but keeping things out of the dirt/mud.I find my sack idea easier all around...I actually came up with (and used) my first prototype during my HH phase.
IMO, snakeskins are nice in SOME respects. If you look at the time it takes to get a tarp or hammock into skins versus the BB sack, the skins win for sure. If you look at the total time it takes to go from hung to pack (or vice versa), my BB sack has won every time.
The sack also allows for an underquilt to stay attached to the hammock all the time, a NICE advantage in speed and especially in bad weather. "Python skins" were designed to accomplish the same thing, but JRB no longer makes them...and I've read several posts that reported that even with the oversized Pythons, having a quilt included made the skins stiff and exacerbated the packing problem.
Just my .02. I'm sure TeeDee will disagree with something here
With the skins, if I drop it on the ground before getting things strung between the trees, then the only thing that gets dirty/muddy/wet is the snake skin and if it is raining the ground will be wet and/or muddy even though I have already hung the tarp. The snake skin doesn't come off until it is no longer possible to get the hammock dropped on the ground (unless the suspension fails in which case I have bigger things to be concerned about). I wouldn't save anything by putting the under-quilt in the same stuff sack anyway, since I pack quilts separately compressed in special, air and water proof zip lock bags. Wet quilts are a no-noooooooooooo.
The stuff sack concerns me for my use because it sounds like you are hanging the suspension end sticking out of the sack first, then pulling everything out of the sack to hang the other end. It seems to me that at that point the possibility of letting the hammock touch the ground becomes the greatest. With the possibility, comes the total certainty for me - I'm a klutz, especially when wet and cold and my fingers aren't working too well and I fumble things. I am kind of paranoid about letting the hammock touch the ground - just like I am about getting sleeping gear wet. I don't mind it touching the ground with the snake skins covering the hammock - no chance of getting mud or water on the hammock, only the skins and I don't sleep in the skins.
Also, then stuffing the hammock into the sack when taking down. Again, I envision the end away from the sack is unattached and then things have to get gathered to the sack end and stuffed. A lot of chances for me to drop something on the ground in the mud and damp - trying to hold onto the hammock with one arm and hand and use the other to hold the stuff sack up and open with the other. Stuffing things into stuff sacks with the sack supported on the ground/table/whatever is fraught with things overflowing and falling on the ground. With the snake skins, that just isn't possible - the snake skins cover the hammock before anything is unattached from the trees.
Also, I pack differently - the skins get folded and wrapped in the suspension rope and then go on the outside of the pack - the skins still protect the hammock, no need to put them inside - it would just take up pack space there and if it is raining, the skins could be wet and I just don't put anything wet inside the pack. That would be true of the stuff sack also. The stuff sack would also go on the outside of the pack. I fold the skins with hammock into a long oblong package that gets put on the pack like a horseshoe. Not possible with the sack, for me, it becomes a big blob that would have to get stuck on the outside in some way.
I would also have to assume that your tarp is long enough that the stuff sack is very well protected. Otherwise, when taking down in the rain, you and the stuff sack and anything you put into it are going to get wet or very damp. With the skins, I don't need that much protection, enough to cover the hammock ends and one end of each skin, the rest of the skins can stay out, unprotected.
Now, I will admit that the sack would be easier to use for the hammock when the bug netting isn't installed and it is a clear day. Rolling the hammock is a real pain without the bug netting installed.
In the end, I think it all comes down to your set-up and take down style and packing style and what is more important to you. All in all, for my style, the snake skins have proven to be good for me, but then I haven't actually tried the BB Sack.
I have used the Python Skins with the JRB system and can tell you that fitting the underquilt in is quite a pain. On the other hand, if you use the weather barriers the skins are pretty handy. I just stuff my quilts leaving the undershield attached and laying the overshield over the HH ridgeline. When I roll the hammock up it its protected by the weather shields then pulled inside the skins. You are not totally waterproof but I have used this in 4 days straight of rain with no other weather protection for it and slept high and dry. It is also nice to be able to set up my tarp without getting the hammock wet. Just set up each side of the hammock, clip the tarp to one end and tie the other to the support tree, stake the tarp and pull off the skins.I find my sack idea easier all around...I actually came up with (and used) my first prototype during my HH phase.
IMO, snakeskins are nice in SOME respects. If you look at the time it takes to get a tarp or hammock into skins versus the BB sack, the skins win for sure. If you look at the total time it takes to go from hung to pack (or vice versa), my BB sack has won every time.
The sack also allows for an underquilt to stay attached to the hammock all the time, a NICE advantage in speed and especially in bad weather. "Python skins" were designed to accomplish the same thing, but JRB no longer makes them...and I've read several posts that reported that even with the oversized Pythons, having a quilt included made the skins stiff and exacerbated the packing problem.
Just my .02. I'm sure TeeDee will disagree with something here
I also use the BB. I switched from the skins. The sack is easier for me to use and store. The BB sack goes into a sea to summit ultra sil bag. My issuse with skins is that they added a lot more bulk to my pack. Plus they would not fit into my sts bags.
Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".
I finished my first BB sack the other day. It was a roll top on it and from initial tests it seems like it is much easier to deal with than the skins. I also realy like the idea of using the BB sack as storage while the hammock is set up.
“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." -Terry Pratchett
that's pretty much how the storage end covers i've been using work, except they are over sized for a stuff sack.
the storage end covers have a draw string closure, but i do like the roll top/ dry bag type tops.
I too will something make and joy in it's making
For those of you using the Bishops bag, could you give us newb's some hints as to how to use it? Do you just "stuff" the hammock in the bag or try to fold or roll it first? Do you also put the tarp in there, or use a separate bag? I currently have two Claytor Expeditions that my son and I use and a new Speer IIIA on it's way for me this week. I like this idea and may pull the wife's sewing machine out and start some DIY projects. Any size recommendations to get me started? Thanks!!
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