My first hang, thanks and observations

**Rumblefish** · 03-13-2011, 10:35

I got into hammocking just this year for a summertime bike ride along the Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango--thought that a light hammock set up would be better for a great nights sleep and of similar weight to other systems (turned out I was right). I learned an incredible amount of information from this site--I am very grateful to everyone and their posts.

My set up: I am using the WBBB hammock, Yeti 3-season underquilt, Golite Ultralite top quilt, OES Maccat Standard sil tarp (all the above in black), 7/64" Amsteel whoopie sling suspensions, Polypro 1" tree straps with (soon to be) Dutchclips, Zing-it tarp continuous ridgeline with Zing-it soft shackles, and Zing-it tie outs with internally threaded latex tubing shock cord.

I got a little too into making all the Amsteel stuff--it was way easier to make than I thought (I used mig welding cable to do all my pull outs--worked the charm) until my fingers hurt. If anyone is considering making their own Amsteel components, do it. Piece of cake.

The hang went great--it was in the middle of a 25 mile single track ride so I was a little winded and it was a little breezy. Only took two tries to get the angle of the dangle right for a comfortable lay using the whoopie slings (awesome gear) and get my lines/techniques figured out for both the hammock and tarp. Here are my suggestions.

#1) I made Zing-it prussik soft shackles to attach the tarp to the ridgeline. These darn things are just too hard to open when you have cold fingers and I will be modifying this set up. The 7/64" amsteel opens way easier, but you can't prussik this onto the zing-it due to diameter disparity. So I am going to use the zing it as the prussik and the 7/64 soft shackles as the attachment to these prussiks. Just a tad extra weight. Might still come up with another idea on that.

#2) after the continuous tarp ridgeline is up, but before it is tightened, is the time to attach the tarp so that it is waist/chest high and much easier to work on--then tighten it between trees and set the tarp tension.

Wow--that is my only two suggestions! That goes to show you the vast amount of awesome information that is to be gathered from this site! Now a donating member!

edit: One more thing--I used two different colors for the whoopie slings--yellow for the head, orange for the bottom, so I always know which way I am setting it up.

**Bubba** · 03-13-2011, 16:59

Looks good! Looking forward to a report of your trip. Isn't it like 350 miles or something like that? How many days are you going to take to do it?

**Joey** · 03-13-2011, 17:05

Sounds like you are working it out pretty good, which is part of the fun of camping.

A suggestion, I have Fig 9's prussik'd on my ridge line. Makes it super easy to adjust the tension, even with the bulkiest of gloves on. They are very light weight too. Just a suggestion to consider.

I've heard the Colorado Trail is awesome and expect you'll have an amazing time. Can't wait to hear your trip report - and see some pics!!

**Rumblefish** · 03-13-2011, 23:24

The trip is about 500 miles on a bike--it has a few mandatory detours around wilderness areas. I am planning to take 10 days--it is a grueling pace, but my goal is to get to Ska Brewing, so I have a friggin huge carrot to shoot for.

Thanks for the advice on the figure 9--I am already adusting my ridgeline with it on one end and a knot bone on the other so I know what they can do. Still playing--it is my fallback for sure. :-)