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  1. #1
    Senior Member breyman's Avatar
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    Blackbird Down!!

    Short story: I spent last night in my hammock. Sounds good, right?





    Not so much:





    Longer story:
    Went backpacking with the scouts overnight. Very pretty backpacking trip up to an alpine lake here in Colorado:




    Was scouting around for trees for my Warbonnet Ridgerunner. Finally found the perfect set and was ready to set it up, kick up my feet and get away from the mosquitos. Took out my hammock bag and realized that in my overconfident/overpaced packing, I'd inadvertently grabbed my Warbonnet Blackbird XLC. The bags look almost identical - I'll now be considering radical ways to make them clearly different.

    Not a problem, I thought to myself. I'm flexible. I brought my spreader bars for nothing, but I can make this work.

    Looking in the bag, I couldn't find my suspension. Uh oh.

    Then it hit me. I'd taken my suspension for the blackbird out and stored it separately. I use a whoopie hook suspension with separate straps, etc. for my BB and integrated straps for my RR.

    So, I now have a hammock with absolutely no suspension and I don't carry extra straps or 7/64 amsteel. So, I had to borrow a ground sheet from another adult and laid my beautiful Blackbird XLC on the ground, tied one end up onto the tree above me (the trees were truly mocking me at this point - this was a painful process) and used it like a bivy to keep the bugs at bay.

    Finally, the icing on the cake. Going to ground is rough, but I can tolerate it and sometimes use a tarp and bivy for variety or under specialized circumstances. But, this time I didn't have a pad. Just an underquilt. Did I mention I'm a bit of a sleeping snob? I need to be comfy.

    At this point, I was quite frustrated with myself, but trying to stay upbeat and look at it with a bit of fun/ingenuity. So, I took the 1'x2' foam pad off the back of my Gossamer Gear Mariposa, put that under my hips and laid straight on the ground.

    Good times .

    I will say it was an interesting lesson in being prepared. I'd always wondered what I would do if I couldn't find trees and had to go to ground above treeline. Now I know. It wasn't fun, but it was at least mostly bearable due to that little piece of pad under my hips. That, and three Nyquil.
    Brian
    Denver, CO
    Father. Husband. Scoutmaster.

  2. #2
    New Member timdogg's Avatar
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    Ouch what a kick in the n*#s!

  3. #3
    Senior Member Spartan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by breyman View Post
    That, and three Nyquil.
    The $8 babysitter saves another trip!!

  4. #4
    Senior Member Bush's Avatar
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    Did you say Scouts? The be prepared scouts? Just kidding, I'm anal retentive so I gear list every time. I have learned my memory is not what it used to be and neither is my back. Can't chance it and hope it never happens to me...bush

  5. #5
    Senior Member Klaussinator's Avatar
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    Good lesson there for all of us.
    Wow, that's an absolutely beautiful lake! Didn't know we had alpine lakes in this country . . . Stunning!

    -Klauss
    My YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/rexmichaelson

    "But hey, 2 trees anywhere is a bedroom waiting to happen, right?"

  6. #6
    Senior Member breyman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by timdogg View Post
    Ouch what a kick in the n*#s!
    Quote Originally Posted by Spartan View Post
    The $8 babysitter saves another trip!!
    LOL


    Quote Originally Posted by Bush View Post
    Did you say Scouts? The be prepared scouts? Just kidding, I'm anal retentive so I gear list every time. I have learned my memory is not what it used to be and neither is my back. Can't chance it and hope it never happens to me...bush
    That was the worst part - I'm normally super prepared. Even used a checklist this time, too. Just mixed up the bags and didn't slow down enough to check.


    Quote Originally Posted by Klaussinator View Post
    Good lesson there for all of us.
    Wow, that's an absolutely beautiful lake! Didn't know we had alpine lakes in this country . . . Stunning!
    -Klauss
    I sure learned a lesson I'll not soon forget.

    There are a TON of alpine lakes here in Colorado. So beautiful and usually (although not in this case) pretty good fishing, too. This particular one was at about 11,000 feet.
    Brian
    Denver, CO
    Father. Husband. Scoutmaster.

  7. #7
    Senior Member goobie's Avatar
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    It's for this exact reason I haven't bought whoopie hooks.........sorry Dutch

  8. #8
    Senior Member Kyle's Avatar
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    Wow, beautiful spot. Can't wait to start finding places like this.

    Going to ground's gotta be rough, after being so thoroughly spoiled. ;p

  9. #9
    Senior Member SkyPainter's Avatar
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    Blackbird Down!!

    ===> Had a similar situation last summer with a HH Exped for my daughter. I carry a lot of various types of cordage, usually, but this trip only had some cheap 50# line I sometimes use for guy-outs.

    I quadruples the line, took it around the tree,, and Marlin spiked it at the foot end. Worked! Now I never separate the suspensions from the hammocks, and bring stronger cordage.

    Glad to know you figured-out a way to function!

    ~ SkyPainter
    Live Purposefully; Dare Greatly; Land Gently

    If you're going to do something wrong, go for it! - Beryl G.

    "Never knock on Death's door - just ring the bell and run. He hates that!"

  10. #10
    Senior Member dangerous's Avatar
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    I'm just so glad I read the whole story, when I got the picture I almost closed the thread in total disbelief and shock. Glad, your rig didn't hit the ground and only had to spend the night there.
    -Jon-

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