First outing with new hammock and tarp

[ampersand]

As part of a friend's wedding celebration this past weekend, a bunch of us spent the night in a walnut orchard. The trees were a little too short to get a perfect hang, but they at least gave me a chance to set up my new hammock and tarp.



At left is the best picture I managed to get of the setup before my phone died (in the foreground is my girlfriend's 10' x 10' flat tarp). At right is the view I woke up to in the morning. Minor difficulties aside, it worked out wonderfully. For reference, I'm using a WB Blackbird hammock and a WB SuperFly tarp.

I did run into a couple slight annoyances. First, I think because the trees weren't tall enough, I ended up putting too much tension in my hammock suspension. While the hang was still comfortable, it made for a slightly more prominent calf ridge (or at least that's what I think caused it). Not a big deal. I still slept like a baby. It just makes me really look forward to dialing in my hang even better.

Second, my tarp seemed to move around a bit after I hung it. I'm using a continuous ridgeline setup (this one) with a Dutch hook on one end and a Stinger on the other. I know it'll get better with practice, but is there anything I can be doing to limit the movement? Not only was it moving around when I was tightening on the Stinger; it also seemed to have migrated a good 6-8" overnight. Anyone else have that problem? It didn't rain at all — I actually had the tarp stowed all night — but I would've gotten drenched if it had.

[2ply]

Looks like you had a nice place to stay in the orchard.

[backpacker]

Looking good. Digging your new setup

[Bubba]

...
I did run into a couple slight annoyances. First, I think because the trees weren't tall enough, I ended up putting too much tension in my hammock suspension. While the hang was still comfortable, it made for a slightly more prominent calf ridge (or at least that's what I think caused it). Not a big deal. I still slept like a baby. It just makes me really look forward to dialing in my hang even better.

Second, my tarp seemed to move around a bit after I hung it. I'm using a continuous ridgeline setup (this one) with a Dutch hook on one end and a Stinger on the other. I know it'll get better with practice, but is there anything I can be doing to limit the movement? Not only was it moving around when I was tightening on the Stinger; it also seemed to have migrated a good 6-8" overnight. Anyone else have that problem? It didn't rain at all — I actually had the tarp stowed all night — but I would've gotten drenched if it had.

The WBBB has a structural ridgeline that generally keeps the sag consistent but if there is enough tension on the suspension you can feel some difference especially if you are accustomed to a little less tautness on the SRL. The closer to horizontal your suspension goes the more exponential tension is applied to it. Since your trees were farther apart and your suspension was less than 30 degrees, you probably had a fair amount of tension on the suspension which probably moved the trees once you got in the hammock. This might have caused the tarp to loosen and fall during the night.

[Gideon]

Looks like fun; the pic makes it look like your head was quite low compared to your feet. Many like to hang the head "slightly" lower than the feet but your angle looked significant. Anyway, I've had too little of an angle on my hammock before and found the ridgeline became super tight and the lay wasn't as comfortable. Sometimes it just can't be perfect. Looks like a pretty nice tarp tent in the foreground.

Gideon