Weekend hang report with kids: 55 F in MN

[FreeTheWeasel]

Round 2 of testing the supershelter and no sniveller testing first reported here http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=1859

Bmlarson, his son, my daughter and I went for an overnight hang this weekend. It turns out that finding suitable locations for two hammocks grouped together is tougher than you would think. Just when you've found that perfect triangle, there is a young sapling in the way, or there is too much underbrush, or the ground is a field of what looks suspiciously like poison ivy and you are too paranoid to strip naked and roll in it to find out for sure.

After rushing around, setting up, and then moving to another adjoining campsite that was abandoned, we had our hammocks in the air. The temperature went down to a low of 55 F.

Bmlarson's son was in a Hennessy with a homemade prototype quilt underneath and a sleeping bag on top. He was toasty.

Bmlarson was in an Amazon top loader without bugnet and a paracord suspension to get him to the tree huggers. They failed at 5:30 am, by the way, and he spent the rest of the night on the ground on his 3/4 Thermarest which he was using for bottom insulation anyway. He was toasty, but on the ground.

My daughter was in her Ultralight backpacker, No Sniveller underquilt, and 15 degree Sierra Designs bag on top and long pajamas. She was toasty.

I was in my Hyperlight with supershelter and 15 degree Sierra Designs bag on top. I did a better job of adjusting the tension on the supershelter (I pulled the prussic knots out quite a bit more than I usually do) and I was also toasty. I was wearing underwear only.

All in all, very successful and I will no longer carry the tent as a backup.

The only problem is that my Hennessy underpad ripped at the junction between the pad and the diagonal bungee channel. I don't know if I tensioned it too much or if this was the result of a product flaw.

FreeTheWeasel

[neo]

Round 2 of testing the supershelter and no sniveller testing first reported here http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=1859

Bmlarson, his son, my daughter and I went for an overnight hang this weekend. It turns out that finding suitable locations for two hammocks grouped together is tougher than you would think. Just when you've found that perfect triangle, there is a young sapling in the way, or there is too much underbrush, or the ground is a field of what looks suspiciously like poison ivy and you are too paranoid to strip naked and roll in it to find out for sure.

After rushing around, setting up, and then moving to another adjoining campsite that was abandoned, we had our hammocks in the air. The temperature went down to a low of 55 F.

Bmlarson's son was in a Hennessy with a homemade prototype quilt underneath and a sleeping bag on top. He was toasty.

Bmlarson was in an Amazon top loader without bugnet and a paracord suspension to get him to the tree huggers. They failed at 5:30 am, by the way, and he spent the rest of the night on the ground on his 3/4 Thermarest which he was using for bottom insulation anyway. He was toasty, but on the ground.

My daughter was in her Ultralight backpacker, No Sniveller underquilt, and 15 degree Sierra Designs bag on top and long pajamas. She was toasty.

I was in my Hyperlight with supershelter and 15 degree Sierra Designs bag on top. I did a better job of adjusting the tension on the supershelter (I pulled the prussic knots out quite a bit more than I usually do) and I was also toasty. I was wearing underwear only.

All in all, very successful and I will no longer carry the tent as a backup.

The only problem is that my Hennessy underpad ripped at the junction between the pad and the diagonal bungee channel. I don't know if I tensioned it too much or if this was the result of a product flaw.

FreeTheWeasel

thats really cool you hang with your kids,my boys are both 4 season hangers,keep on hanging with your kids neo

[Rapt]

With the failure of Bmlarson's suspension....what failed the paracord or the huggers? Nature of the failure?

Sounds good otherwise!

[FreeTheWeasel]

With the failure of Bmlarson's suspension....what failed the paracord or the huggers? Nature of the failure?

Sounds good otherwise!

Bmlarson will probably chime in here at some point, but he was using a standard Amazon travel hammock which has nylon rope to a ring at the end. He took standard paracord and used that to get to the tree huggers. He doubled up the foot end but only used a single length on the head end. When he got into the hammock, things stretched pretty dramatically so that he was near the ground anyway. It was a good thing because when that single line did let go, he didn't have far to fall and he was already on top of his thermarest pad for cushioning.

[bmlarson]

As the Weasel has mentioned...we were in a rush, and rather than do things right, I gave into the pressure to just get er’ done. You see, what Weasel isn’t telling you is that both of our kids were GOING NUTZ and they were VERY demanding…so I was just trying to get some things done ASAFP so I could get the whining 4-year-old feed and out of my hair so I could start to relax!!!

The nature of the break was a single paracord line. I don’t think it was the 550 lb kind, but I could be wrong. I think that between the tension to get the right sag plus my weight was just too much for a single strand. I’m in the process of trying to come up with a better solution.

One of my proposed solutions is to buy a good bit of spectra line to use for my Amazon hammock as well as redo my HH A-sym to get some of the bulk and weight down…so if anyone has any recommendations on a good place to get some spectra, feel free to clue me in.

[eflat7]

As the Weasel has mentioned...we were in a rush, and rather than do things right, I gave into the pressure to just get er’ done. You see, what Weasel isn’t telling you is that both of our kids were GOING NUTZ and they were VERY demanding…so I was just trying to get some things done ASAFP so I could get the whining 4-year-old feed and out of my hair so I could start to relax!!!

The nature of the break was a single paracord line. I don’t think it was the 550 lb kind, but I could be wrong. I think that between the tension to get the right sag plus my weight was just too much for a single strand. I’m in the process of trying to come up with a better solution.

One of my proposed solutions is to buy a good bit of spectra line to use for my Amazon hammock as well as redo my HH A-sym to get some of the bulk and weight down…so if anyone has any recommendations on a good place to get some spectra, feel free to clue me in.

I tell ya.. kids are something else... "ASAFP" I love it. That made my day. I know im not alone.

[BillyBob58]

......... I was in my Hyperlight with supershelter and 15 degree Sierra Designs bag on top. I did a better job of adjusting the tension on the supershelter (I pulled the prussic knots out quite a bit more than I usually do) and I was also toasty. I was wearing underwear only.

All in all, very successful and I will no longer carry the tent as a backup.

The only problem is that my Hennessy underpad ripped at the junction between the pad and the diagonal bungee channel. I don't know if I tensioned it too much or if this was the result of a product flaw.

FreeTheWeasel

So, it tore where the SIDE bungee (elastic) cords go thru the pad loop and out the side of the undercover? It ripped at the pad loop? Were you using the elastic side cords that are supplied with the HH? I double those up and then some more in order for it to be strong enough to control the undercover and pad. Then since it is now 1/4 original length, I run another type of cord from the elastic (bungee) to the anchor point. So far, mine has never ripped. But I'm thinking if you skipped the elastic and just tied a cord out to the side, it might stress the pad and everything else more than originally intended once you lay in it. But it sounds like you've got some sort of defect to me. But these things are not exactly the strongest piece of equip around. I have, thru carelessness, poked a couple of big holes in mine. But they were easily fixed with a little seam sealer on the edges and a little tape to hold edges together while the sealer dried. Looks bad, feels (and works) good.

Glad to hear everybody was toasty at 55. Keep the reports coming. You'll soon have some serious low temps to deal with, won't you?

[bmlarson]

Glad to hear everybody was toasty at 55. Keep the reports coming. You'll soon have some serious low temps to deal with, won't you?

Tell you what...with just a 3/4 length guide lite under me and a 15 deg Marmot over me, my camp pants and short sleeved shirt turned out to be enough for me...I had a long sleeved shirt on for a while but took it off and added it to my pillow in the middle of the night because I was just too warm!

I'm kind of looking forward to some colder temps so I can see just how cold I can go hanging...I'd like to make it into the 20's, but we'll see.

[FreeTheWeasel]

So, it tore where the SIDE bungee (elastic) cords go thru the pad loop and out the side of the undercover? It ripped at the pad loop? Were you using the elastic side cords that are supplied with the HH? I double those up and then some more in order for it to be strong enough to control the undercover and pad. Then since it is now 1/4 original length, I run another type of cord from the elastic (bungee) to the anchor point. So far, mine has never ripped. But I'm thinking if you skipped the elastic and just tied a cord out to the side, it might stress the pad and everything else more than originally intended once you lay in it. But it sounds like you've got some sort of defect to me. But these things are not exactly the strongest piece of equip around. I have, thru carelessness, poked a couple of big holes in mine. But they were easily fixed with a little seam sealer on the edges and a little tape to hold edges together while the sealer dried. Looks bad, feels (and works) good.

Greetings BillyBob,

I did quadruple the side elastic with extra cord to get from the elastic to the ground as shown on the Hennessy site. I wonder, however, if I put too much tension on them.

The pad ripped at the lower tie out (foot area). It separated along the sewn fabric that contains the bungee cord. It is almost as though the needle holes formed a perfect rip line that extends into the middle of the pad and down to the foot. This is a little hard to explain in words so I'll take some photos tonight and attach them to this thread.

I suspect some extra fabric sewn on the pad will fix it easily or there is always the handyman's friend: duct tape.

FreeTheWeasel

[Rapt]

RE: spectra line sources....

There are many, you can do a search online, or in the forum here, or....
go here, and look at at items J-L... in various sizes... 3mm is plenty strong for hanging hammocks from, 2mm will be overkill for tarps, ridgelines etc....

...or try your local sailing supply store... My town of 40,000 people has one and they charge a $1 a foot for 3mm spectra, but if I only want a bit its cheaper than going to a mail order place and paying shipping.