SS Driving Me Insane

[JaxHiker]

Oooooh yeah, baby! Nothing like a 12-hr hard freeze to make you feel alive! I think it got down to 22.

I really didn't know it was cold except for a light breeze on my face every once in a while. I slept like a baby...until the !&!@#*!@#$&*&@#$ sprinklers went off!!!!! I let them run last night so everything would freeze. Guess I forgot to turn them off and they're scheduled to kick off Thur morning. Of course my hammock is setup right next to one of the heads. These aren't dainty little heads. Oh no. These are high-volume rotating heads. I woke up to a damned firehose on the tarp.

Thankfully the tarp held up remarkably well. I don't know why but they ran for over 30 min. I set the time last night to just 10 min and I turned off the zone I was in. I'm not sure wth happened. The tarp was sagging bad from the weight of the ice on it. I was going back to sleep when they cut off but by then the tarp had started to drip into the hammock. I gave up and headed inside. Hopefully we'll warm up enough today and things will dry out.

I can say that I now feel 100% confident in my ability to stay out in at least 20° weather...even if it rains. :-) I put the wool socks on and used my liner socks too and didn't have cold feet. If I could just find my face mask (and if I can sleep in it) I won't have a single problem. I might try to find a balaclava instead but it has to wick so it doesn't get soaked with sweat.

[BillyBob58]

Oooooh yeah, baby! Nothing like a 12-hr hard freeze to make you feel alive! I think it got down to 22. ....I really didn't know it was cold except for a light breeze on my face every once in a while. I slept like a baby...until the !&!@#*!@#$&*&@#$ sprinklers went off!!!!! ....... I woke up to a damned firehose on the tarp. ......Thankfully the tarp held up remarkably well. ...The tarp was sagging bad from the weight of the ice on it. .......I can say that I now feel 100% confident in my ability to stay out in at least 20° weather...even if it rains. :-) ....

Holy Cow! Are you telling me that, even after all of the confusion about set up, that you did just fine with the basic SS on your first tries in temps in the 20s, and you didn't even know it was cold? And even one night under a sprinkler caused deluge? What are you, Canadian? Well, I don't see how you could have done any better than that. Way to go. Did you put your pack towel in on the 22* night, and/or anything else?

Hikingjer, I have to slightly disagree with your statement that the SS is really just an OK shelter at best. Even though I realize there may be more folks who see it the way you do than there are folks who see it the way I do. But I think it is at least a "pretty darn good shelter", if not even better. And I have experience with the very best hammock insulation there is. Yet, I still like my SS pretty well, and feel that it has it's charms. And there are a few special circumstances where I might choose it above anything else.

Consider: it is way cheaper than many options, for the large number of folks for whom cost is a major consideration for whatever reason. One reason it is cheaper is an apples to apples type comparison: part of the design INCLUDES a bottom shell which goes a long way towards blocking wind/rain/snow/fog. No extra money or weight involved adding socks to give this extra protection. In fact, this automatic wind block is one of my favorite things about it, decreasing worries about a perfect tarp pitch or orientation, or even allowing the use of a smaller, lighter ( i.e. stock) tarp and it is part of the basic system. By adding the overcover( for $35 and another few oz), which people seem to love, you get a full sock which increases inner temps, adds more wind/fog/light spray/snow block.

All of this adds 13 oz for the ULBP( per HH specs anyway), plus SB ( 2-3 oz?). Plus maybe a few oz for the overcover?

Now, it is definitely just plain easier for me to use thick down underneath when it is going to be really cold. I don't have to worry about exactly what I can add to the UC and how well it will work, will I cause a gap or will the UC crush the insulation, etc. etc. None the less, KWPAPKE and several others have proven that they can take this system way below zero, so it can be done. And after all, it is not easy to take even expensive down quilts way below zero without adding something, like pads or another expensive down quilt.

But personally, I will choose the down products if severe cold is forecast. It is just easier for me. But I can actually think of some trips when I would choose the SS over some others. A long trip with heavy rain likely with temps no colder than the high 30s, or especially no lower than the 40s? I might choose the SS over down, unless I was willing to carry the larger tarp. Why not, I know I am going to be warm enough, and won't be nearly as worried about keeping my down dry. At least I won't need a larger tarp to keep the rain and wind off of my down.

Actually, my main reasons NOT to use the SS would be because:
1: severe cold, and counting on all or most of my extra clothing for my top insulation, leaving little to add below, and not wanting to sleep on my pad if possible
2: actually #1 reason- desire to use another hammock. A top loader ( no zip option yet), or a hammock I find more comfortable ( like Claytor No Net) or especially my oh so comfortable JRB BMBH, with which the SS is an impossibility. But on which the very warm JRB MWUQ fits like it was designed exactly for it!

But I'm not trying to convince anyone to choose the SS over either pads or down UQS or PeaPods. For one thing, a few folks have used them and had no luck and/or condensation problems, no matter how much advice they follow. I've never had those problems, but some folks clearly have! So, Caveat Emptor! I have not heard of any one having trouble with a MWUQ or Snugfit or a PeaPod, so far. They just plain work!

Forgive the long winded rant: it all comes down to: I think it has it's pros and is at least a pretty darned good shelter! Just my personal opinion, with which many will disagree, no doubt!

[Cannibal]

I really didn't know it was cold except for a light breeze on my face every once in a while. I slept like a baby...until the !&!@#*!@#$&*&@#$ sprinklers went off!!!!! I let them run last night so everything would freeze. Guess I forgot to turn them off and they're scheduled to kick off Thur morning. Of course my hammock is setup right next to one of the heads. These aren't dainty little heads. Oh no. These are high-volume rotating heads. I woke up to a damned firehose on the tarp.

I needed a good laugh this morning, thanks! Perfect visual in my head right now.

[BillyBob58]

I needed a good laugh this morning, thanks! Perfect visual in my head right now.

Really! But, if that is not a testimony to the SS- even with a first time user who the SS is driving insane- I don't know what is!

[MacEntyre]

Congratulations again, JaxHiker! You really tamed the beast! (...and provided a good laugh!)

I agree, BillyBob, the SS sets a high standard. Maybe that's why the quilts are so good.

[JaxHiker]

Well, I'm glad I could provide you some entertainment. My work here is done. Never let it be said I won't go the extra mile to test out hanging products.

I'm quite surprised with the success I had. To be honest I still don't think I have the SS installed right but I'm tired of tearing it down, getting frustrated, and putting it back up thinking I have it figured out. I'll take it down this weekend, though, and try to finally wrap my head around it. For now, though, it does seem to be working well.

I did place the micro fiber towel under the kidney area. I have to confess that I cheated, though. I figured my WS2 isn't that much more to carry so I used that as well. Here's how it looked:

micro fiber towel
space blanket
SS pad
SS UC
WS2

I'll also add that I didn't have to pee till the sprinklers went off. Maybe it was an evil attempt from the God of RainBird to make me have to go knowing I'd get soaked to the bone trying to escape the hammock. Had I not been able to will the urge away until it was safe my wife probably would've found my frozen, statuesque body mid-stride with one foot in the hammock and pee-sicles stuck to my leg.

After several nights outside I think I'm ready for the trail next month. The mountain my **** well kill me but the cold won't!

[MacEntyre]

To be honest I still don't think I have the SS installed right...

I was fiddling with mine this afternoon, and found that unloaded, it looks terrible. The cause is the elastic in the bottom entry of the under cover. No matter how loose I make the UC on the suspension lines, when unloaded it is tighter than the hammock. The hammock hangs in folds over the UC. Of course, when I get inside, all is well.

Good luck!

[JaxHiker]

Maybe that's the issue. Maybe I'm expecting it to be one way when reality says something else. Perhaps I should just stop fiddling and start hanging.

[BillyBob58]

..........................
I'll also add that I didn't have to pee till the sprinklers went off.

Well, you must have been at least adequately warm.

Maybe it was an evil attempt from the God of RainBird to make me have to go knowing I'd get soaked to the bone trying to escape the hammock. Had I not been able to will the urge away until it was safe my wife probably would've found my frozen, statuesque body mid-stride with one foot in the hammock and pee-sicles stuck to my leg.............:

Jax, you're going to fit right in here!

[JaxHiker]

Just wanted to provide an update.

Hiked from Woody Gap to Hogpen Gap over the weekend. I used the SS both nights and the temps were in the high 20s/low 30s. It worked very well and I have no complaints. I hate trying to fit the pad back in the stuffsack but other than that the system does seem to work well for me now.