Some friends met me up for a weekend of hiking on the eastern section of the FT transiting Apalachicola National Forest. Thursday night the temps dipped to just below freezing so I figured this was a perfect opportunity to try out my new UQ/UC setup along with my upgraded suspension.
My HH went up in a flash thanks to the new whoopies, compliments of JRB. I got a ridgeline set and my MacCat tarp ready to go. The Te-wa 3-season was rigged to the underside along with an undercover from 2Q2Z. I was ready for bed.
I hopped in and covered up with my 30F down bag and put my feet on top of a few chunks of 1/4" volara foam. I was ready for a good night's sleep. The temps were likely just above freezing but I was bundled up in some midweight thermals, hat, socks, and a fleece jacket.
I slept soundly until early morning when I awoke to the dreaded CBS (cold butt syndrome). I also felt a bit damp so I reached out and felt the underside of the hammock and it was soaked (no late night accidents though). Looks like I had the undercover cinched up a bit too much for the weather or some temp/humidity combo had conspired to cause a lot of condensation. It was damp both above and below the UQ which kind of had me stumped.
I pulled off the UQ and mopped up as much moisture as I could. I slid one piece of the foam under my back/butt and tried to go back to sleep. I got a few more fitful hours of sleep then woke to a very frosty morning.
So, thanks to my noob mistakes I chose to be a ground dweller for the rest of the weekend. I'll get some more practice in between now and the FL hang in Jan. I'm sure I'll learn a lot from my fellow hammockers then too.
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