- Joined
- Oct 10, 2002
- Messages
- 1,551
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 on the hammockcamping forum recommended. 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. 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.
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've since learned how to properly use cinch buckles, and had my sag/compression questions answered. The next time should be a lot better. I'm heading to Briar Patch this weekend. I'm hoping to live in the hammock. If it fails, I'll have my tent in my car.
I'll get some pictures up as soon as I get them off my camera.
So first thing. I must be mechanically uninclined because I could NOT figure the cinch buckles out. I bought the ones that everyone on the hammockcamping forum recommended. 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. 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.
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've since learned how to properly use cinch buckles, and had my sag/compression questions answered. The next time should be a lot better. I'm heading to Briar Patch this weekend. I'm hoping to live in the hammock. If it fails, I'll have my tent in my car.
I'll get some pictures up as soon as I get them off my camera.
