Spidey, I was wondering where you went with this..looks good. Once you get it outdoors and staked out tight that should be do-able! I was also thinking of putting your ccf pad (if you go that route), under your hammock. That would protect the hammock fabric from sharp rocks, etc. and still provide some insulation/comfort.
Ambulo tua ambulo.
since I haven't yet come up with the air inflation valves I had to go with plan b and my trips are fast approaching so I gotta be prepared.
I went with an exped 9 dam:
http://www.moosejaw.com/moosejaw/sho...0084100&cmCat=
and if you fill out their survey first you'll get another 10 bucks off, combined with free shipping and that's $130 to your door.
btw, this has the internal pump system.
check it out on youtube ....
why didn't I do this in the beginning?
I also got a sleeping bag:
it's got arm holes and feet holes so you can wear it like a coat.
the thread about it is here:
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=13511
ordered one from here: 255 bucks to my door ...
http://www.mountaingear.com/pages/pr...2/N/4294966974
the tent poles should be in any day now so I should be good to go.
further development on the air beams and dam will have to wait until the proper valves can be sourced but for now it's time to make what I got to work for me.
I'll be giving it all a few backyard tests, and a few on the beach, and soon, so I have a chance to work out any bugs. I'm not looking forward to sleeping on the ground but I gotta get this all tested out before I end up in the desert of big bend national/state parks where I got no way to bail .....
Spidennis I think I may be able to help you out with the air beams. If you give me some idea of the tube dimensions I can give you a weight estimate. Simple sealed tubes would work but I can also make internal baffles for added directional stiffness. I have wanted to try something like this so I would love to give it a shot. It wouldn't have much practical use but I have wanted to make an igloo like structure that is completely inflatable
I see this is your first post? welcome to the forums! try not to let it take over your life if you can manage it!Originally Posted by KookaBay
Spidennis I think I may be able to help you out with the air beams. If you give me some idea of the tube dimensions I can give you a weight estimate. Simple sealed tubes would work but I can also make internal baffles for added directional stiffness. I have wanted to try something like this so I would love to give it a shot. It wouldn't have much practical use but I have wanted to make an igloo like structure that is completely inflatable
I had both the gogo and morpho tubes and I think I'd like something inbetween, say 3" tubes. the head end and foot end are going to be different length tubes. I figured that I'd go long and just shorten each one a bit at a time until I had it right. It would only take a second or so with the heat bar to fuse/seal a new "end". You have a heat bar? I never got in my fabric samples so I have to check up on that. My tent poles seem to be another interesting way of doing this but hadn't yet fully explored this idea yet. I got distracted with plan c, to use a cheap tent and my superfly tarp. I'll be testing this out this week out on the beach. I want to make for certain I have at least one option ready, tested and going, and then I'll go back into development on the poles and airbeams. You have the air inflation/deflation valve? that is what held me up on that whole idea.
and, after setting up the cheap walmart tent , that is freestanding, I have some half baked ideas to make the bb bivy freestanding, but like I said, it's half baked, along with all these ideas so far!
spidennis at 3" diameter the beams I can make would weigh 11.5g per foot. This is just as light as Easton Nanolight poles! Durability would be quite good as the material is 70d nylon. I have hundreds of yards of material, hundreds of valves, as well as heat sealing equipment
methinketh spidennis will be our next cottage manufacturer.
I clicked on the links and came across something I had posted: ie spidennis, why don't you cross the poles diagonally (like a dome tent) and close where they cross with self-sticking velcro? (Ideally, you would stitch the velcro to the netting, but it's your new WBBB, so I understand).
love this thread.....
that is a good idea, but haven't yet tried it out. I can try it out on the inside at first, then see how it might work on the outside.
oh, I don't know about starting up another business, I see just how busy these other guys and gals are and me thinks I like to go out and play instead! Let whatever we find out here just be useful for everyone to judge, use, discard, or whatever.
as an update, I re discovered an el cheapo kiddie walmart tent that I had and tried it out and find it more comfortable than the bb bivy mode. I don't want to carry something extra but ...... and I don't want to buy something else but ...... am I really considering getting a tent for these week or more trips I got planned where I can't hang? tell me I'm having a bad dream and wake me up! or slap me silly, or .........
I pulled out a few tent poles that I have and tried the x cross configuration with the poles. this has promise but would take some mods on the bb and I don't yet have a sewing machine.
I can see that one or maybe a few of these ideas working but not in time for my trips that are fast approaching.
what I might do is to start from scratch and make my own hammock to mess up and not frankenstien up my beautiful blackbird. I can add mods at a whim and not care. sure it'll end up looking like a "borg" but once I had it working I can go from there to make a pretty one. this is a departure from making the blackbird into a bivy so I guess I'll put this in the diy section when I do it.
regardless of whether I use the blackbird bivy or cheap walmart tent, I want to be able to use my superfly for rain protection so I need to go out onto the beach and set this up. regular tent stakes don't work in sand so I got to use "deadman" stakes so I guess I'll go build up a set and try it out using my spare paddle as the upright tent poles and see how this all works out.
I'll have my spare better than nothing two piece paddle with me so this is another option for the tarp (tent) plan.
after making some deadman stakes and setting it all up in the backyard before going out to the beach I've decided that this is just all too much messing about with digging holes and setting lines and whatever. I think a freestanding tent will be much faster and easier to set up on the gravel beds and river side of the rio grande in big bend tx or a piece of sandy beach along the ICW of texas (Inter Coastal Waterway). I can still see one piece of gear do everything, but not presently with what I got, dang it! bummer grande and frakk ! I really wanted this to work! and I guess I'll just carry both hammock and tent setups .... and be totally prepared for whatever. Now I gotta go shopping for a tent that can stand strong winds and driving rains ......
Last edited by spidennis; 02-02-2010 at 17:29.
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