Hello all!

[hangingcool]

Long time camper, first time hanger. I just bought a HH Explorer Deluxe Zip. Two years ago I went with my brother in law and some sons and nieces and nephews to BWCA for a week of canoeing and camping and portaging. We all tented, some of the kids had the small Eno hammocks... no one slept in them, they had no bug screen and we had tents. Since that time, I've been checking out, watching, lurking, reading, planning, saving, etc, about camping hammocks.

This coming trip is going to be 9 of us, 4 adults, 2 teens, and 3 youngsters - youngest is 11. I'll be the only one hanging, the rest will be tenting. If it goes as well as I plan, I could see another tip in another couple years where we all hang.

Next weekend we'll be in Devil's Lake for some camping and rock climbing, and I intend to spend the weekend breaking in my HH.

As for how I plan to hang, I will have my tarp (the HH hex fly) on a separate ridgeline. I'll use the 6' slings I bought from HH, and use the standard knot, don't plan on converting to whoopee slings, or descending rings, or any other suspension mods. In BWCA we intend to only camp in two or three spots this time around. I have a Stansport blue camp pad coming early next week, I'll probably mummy cut it, and I have a 40 degree bag and a fleece bag liner - hoping I'll be ok at night. I do have a much colder rated mummy bag, but leaning towards the warmer bag. The Devil's Lake weekend should help me decide.

Anyways, looking forward to participating on the discussions here and sharing my trip report when complete... I'll be bringing a Go-Pro type camera, but doubt I'll be doing anything as comprehensive as Shug or other video-journalists!

[gophin]

Welcome hangingcool! I think it's great that you are doing a test run on the system. I started with a pad and a sleeping bag before getting into a UQ situation, and it was plenty warm for me. Good call on mummy cutting the pad, and if it was not already your plan, put it inside your bag so it doesn't slide out from under you in the night. That was always my biggest problem with the pad setup.

Good Luck!

[hangingcool]

Thanks gophin, I was intending to try the pad both ways, inside the bag and under the bag. I was thinking about some of that non-slip padding that can be bought for kitchen drawers or tool box drawers as well. I've got one of those I use for sanding to keep the wood from sliding.

Looking at the future weather outlooks, as well as what the history has been so far this month, it looks like the nights might be mid to low 50's and possibly even some warm 40's at BWCA. So I'm sure I'll bring both bags to the outfitter, and maybe set up my bag the night we rack there before heading out in the morning. That would really help me decide between the warmer weather bag and the mummy bag.

Thanks again!
UQ is sometime in the future, assuming my test run and my BWCA trip go well.

[Shug]

Whooooooo Buddy)))))) Enjoy the hammock quest.
Shug

[MAD777]

Welcome! Sounds like a fun trip you have planned!

[hangingcool]

Thanks again everyone! The Devil's lake outing was a great success, great weather, good food, good climbing. The hang went well, I used the blue foam pad inside a 40 degree bag and slept on top of it with a fleece bag liner type blanket with only the foot area zipped up. I was warm and comfy all night.

Can't wait to leave for BWCA on Saturday!