Tarsier,
Welcome to the hanging gang.
FWIW, JRB is now shipping many of its under quilts and top quilts in olive drab.
Thanks for serving...HOOHAH.
Pan
US Army (Ret)
Tarsier,
Welcome to the hanging gang.
FWIW, JRB is now shipping many of its under quilts and top quilts in olive drab.
Thanks for serving...HOOHAH.
Pan
US Army (Ret)
Ounces to Grams.
www.jacksrbetter.com ... Largest supplier of camping quilts and under quilts...Home of the Original Nest Under Quilt, and Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock. 800 595 0413
On the subject of deserts alot aren't as barren of trees as you would think. In the mountainous parts of the sonaroan there are always springs and creeks and where there is a semi-annual source of water there is always trees. As road torque said it's just a matter of planning it out. You usually want to camp near water anyway in the desert so you have an easy to get to source for purifying after you've set up camp. Also I love the white noise of a creek anywho : )
hello again
just a brief update. i havent had time to go camping since getting my NA (and probably wont until may ), but i have played around with it a little bit. i have yet to spend the night in it, but just laying in it i must say it definately kicks the arse out of sleeping on the ground! and it wasnt too tough to learn the knot tying at all, even for a knuckle dragger like me.
the first time i tried to set it up, it was a rather windy day (20 knot winds gusting 25 or so) and it was almost impossible! maybe if i had more experience i could have had an easier time, but it took me forever! on a later day the winds were much more calm, and i found the setup much easier (thank god). i also found with some creative use of a couple carabiners, the tree straps, and trees located at a convenient distance, it took me maybe 2 minutes to set it up rain fly and all. i did initially find laying inside almost uncomfortably warm at the about 80 deg temp i set it up at, but raising the rain fly to let more of the light breeze through to the mosquito netting helped and i was quite comfortable. the sidewalls of the hammock actually blocked most of the breeze but the moving air passing over me through the netting was sufficient. im thinking 85 degrees would be the uppermost limit, but thats about what it would be if i was sleeping on the ground under the stars so thats definately not a drawback. and with how the hammock sides, rain fly, and zip-up weather shield all block the wind, i can imagine with some insulation in the pockets and good insulating pad and sleeping bag would be able to keep me warm down to some pretty low temps.
im also very happy about the relatively low weight and compact size the whole thing can be crammed down to. i was skeptical of the dual use pocket/internal stuff sack thingy, but it really is quite useful/effective, and it allowed me to take the hammock down from the trees and stuff it away without ever letting it touch the ground.
anyway, my initial impressions are very favorable. im confident the hammock can fill the roll of the versatile, 4 season, all weather shelter i was looking for (assuming the proper gear is present). thanks again for the help and advice, and ill try to report back up again sometime if i ever get out anytime soon for an outdoors trip
take it easy
Last edited by tarsier; 04-10-2009 at 21:41.
Good to hear that you like your Clark. I just got one recently and have probably used it about as much as you have. I too had trouble the first time I set mine up in the wind. Guess you just have to be a little rough with the ropes when setting up in the wind.
Happy Hanging.
ms
so far I haven't had to set up in bad winds while actually camping. But I have tried it several times in the back yard when the winds were kicking up. The first time, I gave up before getting the hammock completely up. Then there was the time I got the hammock and the tarp tied up to the trees and the tarp staked out. Next I saw was a stake to go flying and the tarp started flapping like mad. I got it back down real quick. Question: when the winds are that bad, is there a special way your supposed to hang/stake out the tarp??? Special stakes or something???
What kind of stakes are you using and what kind of soil are you using them in? Do you have tarp tensioners?
With my winter tarp I close down the end pointing it into the wind. I had MSR groundhogs and needed to really pound them into the ground to keep the corners nailed down. That created a windless zone under the tarp for me to cook and though the sides of the tarp made a little noise it wasn't nearly what my hiking buddy with her REI dome tent went through.
I'm in the process of getting shockcord to make the tensioners. Gonna teach a class to my scouts so they too can make them.
My stakes are tenny tiny looks like clotheshanger wire w/hook at top that I used with my tarp tent (very very light weight) plus a couple of y light weight stakes and some MSR ones. None of these can hold very well in the soil that's at my house (basicly beach sand with some grass trying to grow on it) Took me forever to find my stake after it went flying. I ended up having to do what I call a "sweep", walking in a criss cross pattern until I found it. So basicly point / hang tarp with hammock end into the wind. I can do that as long as the trees cooperate and grow in the spots I need them to!!! I'll try some of my larger heavy duty stakes at home too.
i finally went camping last weekend and got to try my hammock out in the field! i was in the central texas hill country area for a night, and i must say it was one of the more comfortable nights ive ever spent outdoors, even in the less than perfect conditions i was in
first, i arrived late and so had to set up in the dark, which is never cool. but other than just taking a little longer, it really wasnt anymore difficult setting up by flashlight. the over night temps were in the 60-70F range and there was light drizzle off and on during the night with a brief downpour sometime in the early morning. i only know about it because the sound of the rain hitting the rain fly was rather loud and woke me up, as it did my companions' in their tents, so its not anything i can mark down the hammock for.
winds were light early on but became moderate, probably around 10 knots, with occasional gusts averaging around 15. unfortunately, properly spaced trees by our campsite were not conveniently aligned in the wind, so i had the broad side of the tarp flapping in the wind all night which also caused me to wake up a few times, but again, this was the case with my tentborne friends and would have been the case for them no matter what. as my frist hammock camping experience, i definately see now the importance of aligning the hammock with the wind whenever possible, and it would be an added benefit over tents if it indeed quieted the night down a bit. my stakes did hold firm, but my little slippy knots they show you how to tie in the instruction manual kept sliding and the once taught rain fly would sag down as it caught the full force of the wind blowing into it. it wasnt that big of a deal, as i stayed dry, but kind of annoying. when i rose from bed that morning, i was completely dry, as was everything else under the tarp (backpack, shoes, etc) and my back wasnt achey at all from laying on rocks all night, which was awesome.
i let my friends try laying in my hammock and i definately felt like the coolest kid in school. like me, they all thought it was cool how it was a self contained shelter that all hangs from the trees. they were kind of amazed at how much i shelled out to buy it tho. but so far i must say i am satisfied, and hope to to become even more so as i become more experienced with my hammock. i hope to have my next outing over labor day weekend, maybe even a light backpacking adventure. lets hope!
thanks again to everyone here for their guidance on camping with hammocks.
until next time
Last edited by tarsier; 05-02-2009 at 12:09.
I'm not sure what the instructions told you to tie, but you should be using a taut-line hitch or something like it for a sliding knot. If you air force guys can't figure it out, go find a 12 year old boy scout to show you
Glad you had a good first hang.
I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.
"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn
We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series
Important thread injector guidelines especially for Newbies
Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint
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