Had my first night in my new Claytor Jungle Hammock

**Noshtero** · 07-19-2008, 10:01

And it was.... interesting. First off, I chose a night that turned into a massive thunderstorm. Nothing like trial by fire. I was hoping to have a clear night for my first hang. I got terrential downpour instead. Oh well. I didn't get home until 10:30 at night, so I was also hanging it in the dark. The one saving grace was it didn't start raining until an hour after I was in the hammock. So it was dark when I set it up, but at least it wasn't wet.

So first thing. I must be mechanically uninclined because I could NOT figure the cinch buckles out. I bought the ones that everyone links to on here. I guess I just don't get how to feed the straps through it. I ended up with something that worked, but it would have been loads easier to just tie knots in rope.

It took me, roughly, an hour and 45 mins to hang the hammock and fly. Not exactly speedy, but first time and in the dark was tough.

I didn't do any tensioners on the fly because by then I was frustrated. I think I'm going to have to do a ridgeline. I read somewhere that the Clayot diamond fly doesn't need a ridgeline, but mine sure sagged in the middle when I pulled the guylines out tight. Maybe I was doing something wrong.

The first thing I noticed is that the hammock compressed me quite a bit. I'm used to laying in a regular hammock that has 3'ish spreader bars on both ends to make a nice flat surface. This thing rolled up on me, turning me into a hammock tube-o-Noshtero. I could force my arms out and open it up a bit, but it just collapsed back onto me. Now, being that it's pretty well cinched head and foot, logically it's not going to stay open, but is supposed to be like it was for me? I mean, I got used to it, but I definently had firm pressure on both arms all night, and it rolled my shoulders in towards the middle.

Throughout the night, about every 30 seconds or so I got a nice cold drop of rain on my bare legs. I wasn't getting rained on, I was getting dripped on. I am almost positive that the end of the hammock was under the fly, so I'm not sure what was dripping on me unless it was dripping from where the rope met the fly, and the wind was blowing it back onto me. I have a fancy strap and cinch buckle system for the hammock, but I'm just using the stock ropes for the fly. Should I be using a different method for the fly?

Also, I got some trickle-down water. Now, I thought with a carabiner going from the hammock to the straps, it wouldn't trickle past that. I didn't get a ton, like if it was a solid rope, but I got some.

Things that went right! My REI litecore 1.5 pad worked beautifully. It slid right into the pad sleeve on the Claytor and didn't move around at all. My sleeping bag worked great as well. I layed it open on it's side so the zipper was in the middle and just sort of wrapped it up around the sides. Nothing on top of me, just bottom and sides. It worked well, even with the wind and rain I didn't get cold. My Thermarest pillow was awesome. It fits right inside the hood of my bag so I can still pull the hood up over my head, which I did. My stick spreader bar for the bug net worked decently. It was cocked at an angle because I think I had uneven tension on the two shock cords. I set it up in pitch black, so I couldn't tell until the morning anyway. Except for the whole cinch buckles not being adjustable (which was my lack of knowing how to use them) the strapworks straps and biners worked Great!

All in all, it wasn't bad. I'll put some pictures up as soon as I get them off my camera.

Couple questions:
1) What should I be using to string up the fly?
2) Should I use a ridgeline?
3) How do I use cinch buckles? My setup is a 12' strap from strapworks with a biner on one end and a cinch buckle. Then a 2' strap from strapworks going through the hammock webbing and a biner to hold the ends together. I made a loop through the cinch buckle on the 12'er and snapped the biner from the 2'er onto it. It looked awesome, I'm just not sure if it's right and I SURELY got no "easy adjusting" out of the cinch buckle
4) Is it likely that the corner of my fly was dripping onto my leg?
5) Is the hammock supposed to apply firm pressure to your shoulders? I could see that getting uncomfortable after a few nights
6) Is there something else I need to do to prevent trickle-down water from reaching the hammock? I have a carabiner in the system, which I think stopped most of it, but not all of it. Drip string after the biner?

Sorry so long. I'm just really excited to report back since you guys helped me out so much in getting started!

Thanks for reading, and thanks for any and all advice!

Nosh

**Schneiderlein** · 07-19-2008, 15:33

Nosh,

congratulations on your first hang. I'm sure you'll figure out the little problems quickly.

For the cinch buckle, check out the photo from BillyBob58's gallery:

Once you get the cinch buckle set up correctly, you can easily change the tightness of your suspension. I suspect the shoulder squeeze was due to the suspension being too tight.

I use a similar cinch buckle setup and I do not get any water into the hammock from the suspension line. I think all you have to do is make sure that the cinch buckle is well covered by the tarp, so no water hits the line that goes to the hammock directly.

I'm sure Claytor users will have a lot more tips for you. Good luck!

**FanaticFringer** · 07-19-2008, 16:56

Not sure I'm following exactly what you did with the 2' pieces of webbing.
Sounds like you added a step that did not work so well. Of course there is no exact way to do all this. Some use a small piece of webbing such as the 2' webbing and connect it to the cinch buckle and sew it together.

This is how I'd do it.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...0795#post70795

**HappyCamper** · 07-19-2008, 17:48

Congratulations on your first hang! Hurray! I don't have a Claytor so I can't answer questions on its comfort, but it sounds like you did pretty darn well for a first hang -- and a hard rain too!

Should I use a ridgeline? That's up to you, but I like a structural ridgeline that will give me the same sag each time so I don't have to figure it out with each hang. Plus I can hang things off of it. I like 'em!

**Noshtero** · 07-19-2008, 18:50

Hmm Here's my suspension now:
Hammock end with the channel through it
2' strapworks poly strap through that
Biner through the two ends of the 2' strap to hold them together
12' strapworks strap with a cinch buckle somwhere on it to adjust it's length
Biner on the end of the 12' strap to secure it around a tree

I made a loop on the 12'er and fed that loop through the cinch buckle by feeding it up one side of the floating bar and down the other side. I could then pull on that loop as hard as I wanted and the cinch buckle would never slide. Unfortunately, since the strap was doubled up going through the buckle, it was a ROYAL pain to adjust. I had tried something similar to Schneiderlein's post, but instead of cord being tied to the cinch buckle, I tried to snap the biner that was holding the 2' strap together through the side of the cinche buckle. I think the biner must have been cocking the floating bar to one side because when I sat in the hammock the strap slipped through the cinch buckle. Have a rope apply a uniform pull on one side of the cinch buckle might work a whole lot better. I just had it in my mind that between the 2' strap and 12' strap, I wouldn't need any rope.

Would it make sense to run the 2' strap through the hammock end channel, then use a short length of rope to tie the strap to a cinch buckle? Or is there a better way to attach the 2' strap to the buckle? Should I ditch the 2' strap and just use rope. I was told that rope can tear the hammock because it doesn't slide like poly strap.

**FanaticFringer** · 07-19-2008, 19:07

Originally Posted by Noshtero

Hmm Here's my suspension now:
Hammock end with the channel through it
2' strapworks poly strap through that
Biner through the two ends of the 2' strap to hold them together
12' strapworks strap with a cinch buckle somwhere on it to adjust it's length
Biner on the end of the 12' strap to secure it around a tree

I made a loop on the 12'er and fed that loop through the cinch buckle by feeding it up one side of the floating bar and down the other side. I could then pull on that loop as hard as I wanted and the cinch buckle would never slide. Unfortunately, since the strap was doubled up going through the buckle, it was a ROYAL pain to adjust. I had tried something similar to Schneiderlein's post, but instead of cord being tied to the cinch buckle, I tried to snap the biner that was holding the 2' strap together through the side of the cinche buckle. I think the biner must have been cocking the floating bar to one side because when I sat in the hammock the strap slipped through the cinch buckle. Have a rope apply a uniform pull on one side of the cinch buckle might work a whole lot better. I just had it in my mind that between the 2' strap and 12' strap, I wouldn't need any rope.

Would it make sense to run the 2' strap through the hammock end channel, then use a short length of rope to tie the strap to a cinch buckle? Or is there a better way to attach the 2' strap to the buckle? Should I ditch the 2' strap and just use rope. I was told that rope can tear the hammock because it doesn't slide like poly strap.

Ok I see what you did now. At least part of it.

The rope will not tear the hammock. Do NOT believe that. Tons of folks have used it there with great success. Treklight, Eno and others sell theirs with rope.
In case you dont have any good rope, this Amsteel 1/8" rope works well. I'd get about 3' per side. http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?...9705&id=951636
Form a Prusik knot with that rope around the cinch buckle and run it back through the channel. www.animatedknots.com/prusik/index.php PM me for step-by step instructions.

**Mule** · 07-19-2008, 19:40

Congrats on your first hang. On my first one I ended up with my HH upside down and me laying on the bugnet with the opening above my head but that is another story. The drips are something that will have to be worked out by those who are there. So many factors could have caused it, but the big problem in my opinion is that you were not comfortable in the hammock. If you cannot be comfortable in a Claytor then something may have been wrong with the way you had it set up. Most find the Claytor to be as comfortable as any hammock out there, except possibly the Bear Mountain Bridge.
It sounds like you may have had the hammock pulled too tight between the trees or not tight enough. Laying diagonal in the Claytor should have been comfortable if you had what many call a "good hang."
On my Claytor I ended up adding a short spreader bar of about a foot through the tunnel where the straps go. Also one about 8 inches on the foot side. I did this by making a double strap that separated into two loops which went over the ends of the spreader bars and were tied on with cord through holes in the ends of the bars to hold them on securely. This gave me a much flatter lay much like a Hennessy Hammock does. It was very comfortable, but added weight so I ended up taking them off, but it did really help give me that wide open feeling in the hammock, and I used pull outs too, like on a Hennessy. Here are some pictures of a DIY hammock with Pull Outs.
Keep asking questions. The good people on this forum will keep answering them until you get the help you need. Mule

**Noshtero** · 07-19-2008, 21:31

Originally Posted by skskinner

Congrats on your first hang. On my first one I ended up with my HH upside down and me laying on the bugnet with the opening above my head but that is another story. The drips are something that will have to be worked out by those who are there. So many factors could have caused it, but the big problem in my opinion is that you were not comfortable in the hammock. If you cannot be comfortable in a Claytor then something may have been wrong with the way you had it set up. Most find the Claytor to be as comfortable as any hammock out there, except possibly the Bear Mountain Bridge.
It sounds like you may have had the hammock pulled too tight between the trees or not tight enough. Laying diagonal in the Claytor should have been comfortable if you had what many call a "good hang."
On my Claytor I ended up adding a short spreader bar of about a foot through the tunnel where the straps go. Also one about 8 inches on the foot side. I did this by making a double strap that separated into two loops which went over the ends of the spreader bars and were tied on with cord through holes in the ends of the bars to hold them on securely. This gave me a much flatter lay much like a Hennessy Hammock does. It was very comfortable, but added weight so I ended up taking them off, but it did really help give me that wide open feeling in the hammock, and I used pull outs too, like on a Hennessy. Here are some pictures of a DIY hammock with Pull Outs.
Keep asking questions. The good people on this forum will keep answering them until you get the help you need. Mule

Weight doesn't overly concern me, as I'm used to carrying a 5+ lbs tent. Spread bars in the support channels would be spectacular! I'd cut them as wide as my sleeping pad and it should be just perfect. I wonder what I should use; they're going to be supporting quite a bit of force. Hmm.. I wonder if something hollow would be strong enough? Then I could just run my cord right through it. It should self-center when the hammock is strung up.

**Mule** · 07-19-2008, 22:10

I used wood. It will be under a lot of stress. I think I used a 7/8 diameter wooden handle off something or other. You probably won't need it to be as wide as your sleeping pad but you can try it at that width first. Problem is, the wider it is the more stress there will be on the suspension system double loop, and the stronger the wood will have to be too. Mule