Blackbird XLC and accessories - lay direction

[MuadDale]

I have an Eldorado and completely forgot about the zipper orientation!

[bigdisgrace]

Well, I don't have one yet, but I believe the zipper pulls meet in a fixed position and that is closer to the head end than the foot end. Not sure if there's any other identifier like a logo patch. With the bugnet or top cover on, the head and foot ends would be a lot more obvious.

Also, on my Ridgerunner, the double ended stuff sack has a red drawcord at one end, which I keep on the head end of the hammock.

All true. The off-set zipper positions on the hammock body ensures a left/right net flip and prevents a head/foot end net flip. Some seem to struggle with its set up. Such as how much higher should the foot end be? If you are using a WB UQ and find that the insulation is climbing above your head, raise the foot end until only your outside shoulder or neck is covered. That is the sweet spot.

[cmc4free]

I received the Blackbird XLC in the mail today. I probably won't get a chance to test it for a few days, but I hung it up on some non-structural hooks in the garage.

First impressions are good. Build quality matches its reputation and that which I've seen in all the other Warbonnet products I own. The main features it's known for that make it unique - bug netting way up off the face, storage shelf, and foot box all look impressive.

The Dream Tex fabric has a very similar feel to Dutch's Hexon 1.6 (confirming this comparison which I'd read before). It's a softer, more natural feel than the older style nylon my Ridgerunner is made from. Not quite as soft and smooth as 1.6 Hyper D, but not too far off.

I hadn't seen any actual photos of the fern green Dream Tex, but I can say that's a really apt description of the color.

Looking forward to testing it out. Bugs are in full effect here after a somewhat late start.

[cmc4free]

I still haven't had a chance to sleep overnight in the XLC, but I've had it set up in my garage on the Tensa4 stand for a week now. With a 3 month old in the house, the best I've managed is to squeeze in a number of hammock naps after putting her to bed for the night. They've been good naps though, and I'm almost definitely going to be keeping the hammock.

By tilting the Tensa stand, I have the foot end of the hammock about 12" to 16" higher than the head end. It's really easy to find the sweet spot in the hammock and it's very obvious when I'm in that spot.

Despite technically being indoors, I still use the bugnet in the garage. It's quickly become my favorite integrated bugnet of the hammocks I own that have that feature (Chameleon, Sparrow, DraumrXL, Ridgerunner... well maybe a tie with the Ridgerunner bugnet, although for me the XLC is a more comfortable hammock). The tie-out for the bugnet being attached to the net itself rather than the side hem of the hammock is a brilliant feature.

The foot box feature with the net attached is also nice, and I definitely notice less pressure on my outboard ankle and heel than I am used to with other gathered end hammocks.

The Dream Tex fabric is comfortable and, as said before, reminds me very much of Dutch's Hexon 1.6 in terms of feel, stretch, and weight.

I've played with attaching a Loco Libre Operator Series Habanero underquilt, which is 50" long and has only primary suspension and end cinches. The suspension is the correct length for the 11' XLC, but once attached, the primary suspension shock cord was very noticeable (and a bit annoying) cutting across my outboard shoulder/head/neck area. The Operator Habanero (or any partial length UQ) is also new to me and I've yet to test it on another hammock. I need to play around with that a bit more to see if the problem was due to my setup and positioning of the partial length UQ and whether the problem carries over to other hammocks. I haven't yet tried a full length UQ with the XLC. The Wooki is tempting, of course.... will wait and see.

Having decided to keep this hammock in my stable, now the decision will be what other accessories to get for it. Thanks again to those who replied earlier in the thread to help confirm my understanding of the way these all work together.