Crazy Creek Crib & Tarp.

[sargevining]

I've done some searching here and elsewhere for detailed information on this product. Finding nothing very specific, I decided to put something down here and make what meager contribution my limited rhetorical ability might allow me.

I have absolutely no idea where this may go. It may end up a cautionary tale for the niave noob, a journal of joyous discovery, or a total waste of time. I shall bravely put my ignorance on full display here, in an effort to elicit comment, criticism, and advice.


A bit of an introduction.

I am a green as grass noob and have absolutely no point of reference or experience to present this as anything other than the impressions of a noob. t may even be a bit presumptuous to post this information, but I assure you it is done in the proper spirit. I should mention that at 58 years old, it is a bit refreshing---even exhilarting---to find myself yet again a noob in the woods.

I have never lost my love for the woods. I grew up in New Hampshire at a time when mothers still thought it safe for children to spent summer nights sleeping in the forest escorted only by other children their own age. My mother used to say that she knew my brother and I were still alive because every couple of days canned food would disappear from the pantry. Advancing crepidation and plain common sense has convinced me that I should no longer attempt such forays with a couple of cans of Chef Boyardee in a tote sack, an old shelter half, army blanket, and sheath knife (to kill bears with).

Several years ago, I began reading about Ultra Light Hiking. While it may not seem so to many of you younger folk in the audience, there was a time when Ultra Light was a bit controversial. There was a school of thought (to which in my ignorance I ascribed), that the shedding of weight could amount to the leaving behind of important and essential survival and first aid equipment. Now, several decades hence, I find that I have yet to stumble over the bleached bones of an ultra light hiker who had passed from this mortal coil due to inadequate food and shelter, and find myself amazed at the advances in materials and equipment that makes this all possible. While I may yet yearn to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear when WW2 Army surplus was a cheap and abundant source of camping and hiking equipment, I have decided to take my chances and venture forth once again into the woods with a spring in my step due to a lighter load on my back.

That's how I came across this website, and the Crazy Creek Crib and Tarp.

[sargevining]

My primary concern in purchasing my first hammock was price. In my misspent youth, I entered into several leisure time pursuits and hobbies, spending inordinate sums of cash on equipment, gear, reference material, and what not; only to discover that whatever it was that had caught my fancy suddenly lacked the appeal it once did and my closets were crowded with stuff that needed to be thrown away or sold at greatly reduced prices. Now that I am older and perhaps a bit wiser (although there are some females of the species that would vehemently disagree), I have become the purchaser of such goods from individuals who are going through what I went through before my hair turned gray.

The Crazy Creek Crib retails for $71.00. I found mine as I usually do when buying gear (Hello, my name is Kent, and I'm a gear *****)---I searched amazon and Ebay for used items first. I purchased mine on Ebay for $26.00. My reasoning was that if I found that hammock camping wasn't to my liking, or didn't have the time, then I wouldn't be out too much money. If I do find that its right up my wooded path, then I'd have a servicable piece of gear to loan, give away, sell, or trade.

[Poppabear]

Welcome to you! Be warned that hammock hanging can very easily lead to gear lust and the uncontrollable urge to acquire more and different gear.

[sargevining]

Thanks for the welcome.

But I truly did intend this to be a review of sorts. I posted my real intro a few days ago.

[Backtrack]

Glad to have you here. I snagged a CC chair a few years ago at an REI garage sale for $1.83. At that time I had never heard of the company. Went home and found that the same chair was over $50. Its still with me on the trail today...... Nice looking stuff.....

[sargevining]

First, I have to say that I'm glad I did not pull the trigger on some tree huggers, whoopie slings, or any of the other suspension gear that I've been studying up on. This thing seems to my noobie eyes to be constructed differently from anything I've seen in any of the videos and posts I've seen here and elsewhere. It was this near total departure from what I'm reading here that prompted me to start this thread.

I'll have pictures tomorrow. I had intended to take some at work so that I wouldn't have to clean up the empty cans and TV dinner trays on the table or pick the dirty underwear up off the floor here in the compound, and now the camera is still there. Or, I just don't want to clean up that underwear, empty cans, and TV trays and am just waiting to take pictures in a place where we pay people to do the cleaning. You decide.

Dimensionally, it matches the 44" x 94" advertised on the website. Its Forest Green and the website says it is constructed of 70D coated nylon. Laying it flat on the floor, it seems to be long enough for me, but I don't know if I will lose anything when its hung.

The corners are reenforced with a heavy plastic coated cloth resembling oilskin (told you I was Old School, who else but an old phart would use "oilskin" as a reference?). This was the first thing I noticed that is radically different from the other hammocks I've seen discussed here. A 1" wide webbing strap about 12' long goes through a sewn channel at both ends. at one end of the strap is a cinch buckle. The illustration that comes with it shows no other suspension, and seems to suggest that it mounts by looping the strap once around the tree at nearly the same level as the body of the hammock itself.

I was prepared to recieve a hammock that required me to gather the ends and whip it together, but those corner reenforcements seem to prohibit that.

Am I making any bad assumptions here?

[DivaB]

Welcome to you! Be warned that hammock hanging can very easily lead to gear lust and the uncontrollable urge to acquire more and different gear.

+1 on this!

[sargevining]

Glad to have you here. I snagged a CC chair a few years ago at an REI garage sale for $1.83. At that time I had never heard of the company. Went home and found that the same chair was over $50. Its still with me on the trail today...... Nice looking stuff.....

Yep.

The hammock retails for $71 and the tarp for for $91.50. I figure that for less than $40 delivered for the pair, I got a pretty good deal even if I spend only one night in it. Cheaper than a motel, anyway. I could keep it in the truck for emergencies if nothing else.

The tarp does look very serviceable. its a good deal larger than the hammock itself and looks as if it would make a tolerable pup tent in a pinch. Its got stake loops and guy points out the wazoo and has beaks on both ends. The website says its made of the same "70D coated ripstop nylon", but I'm guessing if it was silnylon they would have said so.

There is a seam along the ridge of the tarp, and it does appear to be sealed. There is a circular reenforcing pad at the peak of the beak (I'm a poet and don't know it), with a loop for a guy line, and a smaller loop on the inside at the same point, so I'm guessing a tarp ridge line can be used, or at least a line can be strung inside to hang gear, etc. from.

[sargevining]

Gear lust has ever been my affliction ever since my first visit to Mickey Finns surplus and Camping Good on Elm St in Manchester, NH back in 1963. My first camping gear was an old 10 pocket Garand Ammo belt and suspenders. I carefully labled each pocket with its contents, even painting a big red cross on the one reserved for the band aids and iodine.

My lust for gear knows few boundaries, and the gear gods have only made it worse since the invention of cordura and the MOLLE system.