New Eldorado and one suggestion for Warbonnet

[drsolarmolar]

About once a year I get a hankering to try a gathered-end style again and see how it compares to my personal favorite, the Ridgerunner. Took advantage of Warbonnet's Independence Day sale and picked up a lightweight double layer Eldorado and I have to say it may be a gathered end I can live with! (I've tried a 1.7 single-layer XLC, Chameleon, and some others and didn't care for those. Supposed to be getting a Ninox from Sierra Madre's Kickstarter soon (fingers crossed) to try.) Maybe my sweet spot is low stretch as I assume the double layer has less "give." It's actually the first gathered-end hammock I've tried with almost no calf ridge. (There's still a tiny bit, but it's very minimal.) It is fussier to hang and a bit more work for find a comfortable lay (get diagonal) than the Ridgerunner. (Eldorado-duck under bugnet, swing legs in, shift butt to get shoulder lined up with tie out, use heels to smooth ripples out of fabric, wiggle a bit to get shoulders settled, try to reach zipper to close. Ridgerunner--get in, lay straight, done!) If it keeps working out I might try a lightweight double-layer XLC in the future as I immediately missed the built-in storage like the Ridgerunner has.

Now for my suggestion/tiny complaint. The mitten hooks that were on the ridge line (for the stuff sack ridgeline organizer) had sharp edges where the eye attachment was clipped off. (You can see the sharp edge in the picture below.)


My suggestion to Warbonnet is: buy a small bench grinder or Dremel and smooth these edges off. It just makes it sooo much nicer and makes the product seem even more finished. It took me about 20 seconds with a Dremel and now the ends are smooth. Looks and feels much better!

[Yabazooee]

Thank you for posting this. I actually haven’t noticed this on my Eldorado until now.

[ahursey530]

I noticed the little burrs on the hooks too but didn't think to do anything about it. Now I have to leave work early, buy a cordless Dremel (ok maybe I already bought one...) go home and properly hang my hammock. Get in the hammock and fix the issue and take a nap. Life sucks...

[cmc4free]

Good suggestion. It was discussed a while back and Brandon responded that they use the clipped off eye on their whoopie slings, to keep the adjustable loop from being able to be swallowed by the bury. It's an economical practice, and in this application for the Eldorado, the eye of the mitten hook would serve no purpose at all anyway. But I agree, it looks much more finished having removed the residual edges.

I've had an XLC for about 2 weeks now (ordered on the 4th of July sale also) and have found it really comfortable. I really admire the design of the net, with the footbox and tie out on the net itself that keeps it way above your face. I wouldn't have guessed the footbox would be as effective as it is at reducing the pressure on one's outboard ankle.

I did find that for some reason, the shock cord suspension on a typical underquilt bothers me in the XLC. I suspect it's because of the body position in the XLC/Eldorado being a little different than in other hammocks (farther toward head end than usual). I found the shock cord to always be pressing against the side or back of my head (although a pillow helps). On the foot end, a full length underquilt also somewhat compromises the effectiveness of the footbox design. I haven't tried any more creative solutions to suspending the underquilt, but now I have a Wooki on order, so hopefully those issues will be irrelevant.

[drsolarmolar]

I noticed the little burrs on the hooks too but didn't think to do anything about it. Now I have to leave work early, buy a cordless Dremel (ok maybe I already bought one...) go home and properly hang my hammock. Get in the hammock and fix the issue and take a nap. Life sucks...

Glad I could help,LOL!

[drsolarmolar]

Good suggestion. It was discussed a while back and Brandon responded that they use the clipped off eye on their whoopie slings, to keep the adjustable loop from being able to be swallowed by the bury. It's an economical practice, and in this application for the Eldorado, the eye of the mitten hook would serve no purpose at all anyway. But I agree, it looks much more finished having removed the residual edges.

I've had an XLC for about 2 weeks now (ordered on the 4th of July sale also) and have found it really comfortable. I really admire the design of the net, with the footbox and tie out on the net itself that keeps it way above your face. I wouldn't have guessed the footbox would be as effective as it is at reducing the pressure on one's outboard ankle.

I did find that for some reason, the shock cord suspension on a typical underquilt bothers me in the XLC. I suspect it's because of the body position in the XLC/Eldorado being a little different than in other hammocks (farther toward head end than usual). I found the shock cord to always be pressing against the side or back of my head (although a pillow helps). On the foot end, a full length underquilt also somewhat compromises the effectiveness of the footbox design. I haven't tried any more creative solutions to suspending the underquilt, but now I have a Wooki on order, so hopefully those issues will be irrelevant.

I was worried about that sharp edge catching and tearing the bugnet.

I tried the 1.7 single layer XLC and couldn’t find my sweet spot. This lightweight double-layer Eldorado is much more to my liking. The sale price was so good I couldn’t pass up the chance to test a double layer hammock. I’ve been doing back-to-back comparisons with my Ridgerunner and I still have to give the nod to the Ridgerunner for comfort and ease of use. It takes more finagling to get the Eldorado hung just right and then get situated in it.

I hear you about underquilt shockcord being bothersome. When I was trying that XLC I also was using a Wooki underquilt. One of my main criteria finding a gathered-end hammock is being able to use the Wooki!

[warbonnetguy]

So we've been using those clips that way for years, Don't think anyone has ever complained about them catching on anything...but we are currently in the process of switching over to the little plastic micro S biner glove hooks for the Ridgeline stuffsac and the Ridgerunner Net cord

[drsolarmolar]

So we've been using those clips that way for years, Don't think anyone has ever complained about them catching on anything...but we are currently in the process of switching over to the little plastic micro S biner glove hooks for the Ridgeline stuffsac and the Ridgerunner Net cord

Problem solved!