Yesterday morning I was planning to head out for the night, once finished work in the shop at 5.30pm, down by the beech at Tyningham, East Lothian...a usual spot to chill out...I've 3 different areas to pitch up camp all within a 15 min walk from the car which is great especially seeing it's getting darker at nights and not wanting a major hike before setting up camp.
I had already mailed "Wanderinstar" on the Friday evening saying I'd seen the latest posts re the underblankets and that some had already received theirs and was wondering if he had posted mine. I was a bit concerned, as I wasn't sure how he was posting them, that it would get caught up in the next postal strike the coming Monday so mentioned that if it hadn't been posted I'd get it collected by courier as I wanted it NOW
and not for it to be lost in the backlog of parcels.
When I walked into the shop yesterday morning I got a pleasant surprise to see a parcel there for me...my underblanket. Now I was definitely heading out for the night...and the weather was perfect too.
I was hoping to get away sharp to get down and start to set up before dark but that didn't go to plan. Got to my usual spot at 7.30pm, went to collect enough wood to last the night & some for the morning and got the hammock up...next came the underblanket. I didn't spend too much time putting it up but did the best I could for the first time and in the dark. I attached the 2 shock cords at either end to the main hammock lines then, as I've got a Hennessey, threaded the guy lines through the webbing eyelets that were sewn into the sides...I presumed that's what they were for. It looked better once I'd put some tension into the shock cord lined running down the length of the blanket to draw it into the sides though it still didn't look quite right. There were the tail ends of the shock cord, from the sides, hanging loose so I tied these up to the main hammock lines too...this seemed to pull the ends in a bit more and shape it better. I was satisfied with what I'd done so far...it was covering the bottom of the hammock ok and should do the job though not quite right yet.
After a chicken curry, couple of beers and a wonder about I climbed into the hammock...it was great not having a scramble about with a thermalite which is what I usually use for insulation over the winter months. I had a great nights sleep...very warm and much more comfortable than the thermalite...you can really feel the difference of the warmth up the sides.
I took some pictures in the morning...as you'll see it could have been centred more but apart from that not a bad job for first time up. My only comment is, because the guy line runs through the eyelet, if they're meant too, it holds part of the blanket down so it can't come further up the side of the hammock...this was noticeable on my left side, when inside, as the eyelet was further up on that side towards my shoulders, with the Hennessey being asymmetric. I wasn't cold but could feel a slight difference in temperature if lying on that side compared to my right where you could see the blanket coming right up to the edge of the hammock....does that make any sense?? Next time I'll set up in daylight and spend a bit more time adjusting it so it's centred properly and the sides adjustments altered. I've already found a thread on here explaining more about the setup.
Have to say I'm absolutely delighted with the blanket!!! Thanks again Ian for all the hard work you've put into this. I go out throughout the winter months so this will ensure I'll always get a great nights sleep.
A few pics...
View a few yards from the trees
Breakfast on the go
Espresso
Looking forward to getting away next weekend...theres about 6 of us heading back to the same place...hopefully with the same weather too...it was like a summers day here
Vince
