First Hammock Camping session - a few things I learned

[forces]

Well after spending the better part of winter getting my hammock camping set-up put together, I thought I'd share my thoughts, what I would do differently, and a few things that surprised me. A little background - I was in Tillamook Forest in Oregon where highs were about 55F and lows to about 32F. scattered showers.

1. I need longer tree straps. The trees in the Tillamook forest are huge old growth monsters. My 7.5' straps would were at least 18" too short to wrap around what I would call a medium sized tree in the area. I am gonna make some 12'ers and see how that works out. Seems excessive to me.... but I'd hate to find a perfect spot to hang and not be able to because of my straps.

2. My DIY CDT UQ with 6 extra oz of 700f down (sewn through, no faux baffles or anything) kept me plenty warm in 32 degree weather. I doubt it would go much lower than that, but I thought I was gonna freeze. To my surprise, I stayed quite warm.

3. A gear hammock hanging underneath me is a must if I expect any kind of rain. This was great for tossing stuff sacks, extra clothing, water, whatever I may need at an arms length in the middle of the night, or easily accessible in the morning. Plus it doubles as a pack cover.

4. An 11' hex tarp is not long enough for my 10.5' gathered end hammock. At least not if I want to hang my backpack from the biner at the gathered end. The pack sticks out and would get rained on, so I had to throw it under the hammock and hope we didn't get a sideways rain storm. We didn't.

5. Using 2 stacked CDTs as TQ was plenty warm at 32F, but a mess to manage if they aren't sewn together. They are too slippery and slide right off one another. I think I'll be sewing those together

6. Using sticks for a marlin-spike/ whoopie sling set up isn't the best. They are very difficult to remove from the 1" tree straps after I've put my whole weight into the hammock. I think I'll pack in some kind of plastic toggle - maybe a standard size sharpie-pen body with the guts removed and the ends hack-sawed off.

Anyway, thought I'd share and would love to hear if anyone has any unique solutions to some of the problems I encountered.

Cheers
Forces

[kitsapcowboy]

1. I need longer tree straps. The trees in the Tillamook forest are huge old growth monsters. My 7.5' straps would were at least 18" too short to wrap around what I would call a medium sized tree in the area. I am gonna make some 12'ers and see how that works out. Seems excessive to me.... but I'd hate to find a perfect spot to hang and not be able to because of my straps.

Greetings from slightly north of you...

We have similar big trees here in Western Washington. My latest experimental hammock suspension kit uses utility constrictor ropes (UCRs) in conjenction with 7-foot straps to safely get around trees as big as 35" in diameter. It also lets you span big gaps while hanging from big trees like yours. Tinker a bit, and you'll find something that works for you and for whee you like to hike. Good luck...

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...-Ten-Yard-Hang

[Danimal9]

I've heard plenty of times where 15' straps are needed in the NW. I know what you mean with hanging your pack on the end if your hammock. It's going to get wet if it rains. I've been throwing down a small piece of tyvek under my hammock and keeping it down there. No issues thus far.

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[old4hats]

Some Velcro at the corners will make the quilts easy to manage and still be available for single use..

[Tikker]

2. My DIY CDT UQ with 6 extra oz of 700f down (sewn through, no faux baffles or anything) kept me plenty warm in 32 degree weather. I doubt it would go much lower than that, but I thought I was gonna freeze. To my surprise, I stayed quite warm.



5. Using 2 stacked CDTs as TQ was plenty warm at 32F, but a mess to manage if they aren't sewn together. They are too slippery and slide right off one another. I think I'll be sewing those together

2) I also find a single CDT UQ fine down that low. did you seam rip at all? (I'm assuming yes, cause adding down would be hard otherwise)

5) dumb question, do you have sewn footboxes on each CDT TQ? mine are, and when they're nested, they stay together pretty well for me. that being said, it'd be pretty easy to just tack on a couple loop/toggles at the corners to make life easy

[forces]

2) I also find a single CDT UQ fine down that low. did you seam rip at all? (I'm assuming yes, cause adding down would be hard otherwise)

5) dumb question, do you have sewn footboxes on each CDT TQ? mine are, and when they're nested, they stay together pretty well for me. that being said, it'd be pretty easy to just tack on a couple loop/toggles at the corners to make life easy

I first cut 20" off of the 70"side so I had a 50x60" 3/4 length quilt. Then I ripped all of the vertical seams so I have channels that run parallel to the length of the hammock. I opened one end of the quilt and over stuffed it with the down from a donor CDT. If I made another, I would do faux baffles, I think that might add maybe another 5-10 degrees of warmth.

I hadn't thought about sewing a foot box into the second (top layer) TQ, mostly because I wanted to preserve its function as a stand-alone throw. Those things are cheap enough, maybe I'll sacrifice it, or add a zipper to it or something.

Thanks to all for the advice!

[forces]

Greetings from slightly north of you...

We have similar big trees here in Western Washington. My latest experimental hammock suspension kit uses utility constrictor ropes (UCRs) in conjenction with 7-foot straps to safely get around trees as big as 35" in diameter. It also lets you span big gaps while hanging from big trees like yours. Tinker a bit, and you'll find something that works for you and for whee you like to hike. Good luck...

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...-Ten-Yard-Hang

Thanks for the image. What's that knot you have tied in the tree-strap end of the dark brown line on your UCR? It looks to me like some sort of adjustable grip hitch. Do you feel like it adds an appreciable amount of extra grip on the Amsteel? I have found that stuff to be pretty slick.

[P-Dub]

I hadn't thought about sewing a foot box into the second (top layer) TQ, mostly because I wanted to preserve its function as a stand-alone throw. Those things are cheap enough, maybe I'll sacrifice it, or add a zipper to it or something.

You could also use KamSnaps so it can open back up.

[gbrugs]

I would recommended snaps for keeping the two quilts together. Velcro’s works too as the comment earlier. buying a snap gun and prices is useful for so many things.


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[leiavoia]

greetings from PDX.

I carry 12' straps and that works for me 95% of the time. I camp everywhere from mt st helens, mt hood, down to clackamas river area, and west over to the coast range. There have only been a few spots with mammoth trees i had to pass on. No big deal. I have been considering making some amsteel dogbones for those just-in-case scenarios.

I usually use a stick for the toggle but make sure its a stick i can break if need be. Usually i can "break the neck" on the knot and pull on the toggle itself to loosen it up. That's fine as long as my fingers are not frozen.