I like Hammocks.

[No Idea]

Hi Sanji

Thank you. Glad it made you laugh. I hate reading stuff that doesnt move me and work not to inflict that sort of stuff on others.

...The boys and I at a moot? lol that could be interesting!

I was curled up in my hammock in the garden at 3 am this morning and was awakened by my little one bouncing on the trampline.

He sleeps for about 4 hours a night and then "entertains himself" for the rest of the night.

He is usually pretty noisy.

Not sure how normal mooters would cope with us.

 

[No Idea]

Actually, thats not quite right.

I slept through my kid on the trampoline, but was awoken by the neighbour opening his window and hissing "Its 3 o'clock in the bleedin morning!" and shutting it again.

Oh and my kid saying "Thank you Mr Neighbour!", then returning to his bouncing.

 

[No Idea]

.....We ended up sleeping on this hill.

Why was complicated. Its was about thesteering thing on the boat breaking and ending up in Kent on the way home to Dorset from the Dinghy show in london.

Dont ask how I ended up on a hill in Kent, it probably wouldnt make any sense even if I did try to explain.

Anyhow....

The hill didnt have any trees.

Couldnt use hammocks.

We dropped a tarp on the ground and slept in our sleeping bags on it and under another tarp.

In a heap.

Wasnt very nice.

Back got cold.

Nose got cold as the tarp was on it.

Then it rained.

The rain wasnt a problem

Until it started running in over our tarp..

We were still wet when we drove through Felixtowe....

Someone hid Dorset.

Took us another day and a half to find it.

Think I might see if I can find a really basic mapreading course for me.

Really basic.

 

[Bushwhacker]

neighbour opening his window and hissing "Its 3 o'clock in the bleedin morning!"

Perfect. Your very own speaking clock.

 

[No Idea]

I mention the dinghy show as I ended up doing some serious thinking about heat loss on that hill.

I came to the conclusion that getting wet is bad.

Being above any puddles is a must.

My instinctive habit of hammocks addresses that.

The tarp over the top stops the rain hitting you directly.

Thats a good thing.

However, how much above the hammock is important, as if its too high, the rain can blow under it.

Sometimes this has happened to me even when the tarp is only 6 inches above the hammock.

Force 7 - 8 wind driving rain straight along the direction of the ridge does this.

I think the lower edges of the tarp need to be below the bottom of the hammock to stop wind passing under and pulling out heat as it goes.

You can set it all up normally if its not blowing gale force and sheeting with rain.

The last experiment in the snow in the garden proved that you lose less heat from your back if the sides are covered to interupt the air flow across the skin of the hammock.

This was all very good, but I was pretty sure that crushing the sleeping bag in the hammock was the biggest loss of heat from my back.

The rainiy night in Kent seemed to prove that.

I needed to do a few more experiments.....

Did that lot make sense?

If not, I will scribble some more glorious illustrations.

 

[No Idea]

I needed to do some more heat loss experiments...

I needed a volunteer.

Wandered into the local leisure centre.

Asked a load of people if any of them would like to try some hammocks as I needed a guinnea pig.

One accepted for lunch in Mc Donalds.

Took her and a pile of hammocks and bags to that park with the trees in it. I felt safe there as there were enough people around to keep me safe from her.

It was still blowing force 7.

Set up the first hammock with no cover. Got her in it.

Put a tarp over the second and moved her in. She said that was a little warmer.

Put a bag into the first and got her in.

She said that wa warmer still, but her back was cold.

Put a tarp up over her. She said that was slightly better, but not much.

I have a bag with a two way zip. Its a baffled thing.

I opened the bottom slightly and threaded a hammock through the bag, and got her in the hammock and then pulled the bag up around her. Bingo! That was a lot better.

Put the tarp up over the top. She thought that was good.

The bag was shorter than the hammock, so the hammock kept the bottom open a ludicrous amount.

You also couldnt do up the baffles.

I then wrapped a tarp under her on the hammock in the bag.

This stopped the wind running through the bag.

Best yet.

Bought her lunch and called it a day for a few days.....

Did that all make sense?

 

[No Idea]

Went to millets looking for a 9 ft long sleeping bag....

 

[No Idea]

Sat down over a bottle of whiskey, which I discovered catches fire if you tip it on your hand and then shove your hand in a fire.

Blue flame.

Did some serious hammock thinking.

The string hammocks were a no go as they fall to bits.

The hammocks we were using were also a no go as they have strings joining the cloth to the rope, and this lets in the cold round your head.

It hadnt occurred to me to search for hammocks on the net, so these were the only two designs I had available - except for those I bodge together.

I needed the sleeping bag outside the hammock so its insulation doesnt get crushed.

I needed the bag usable from either end.

It needed to be waterproof in case I end up swimming in it - again.

I need it breatheable so I dont fill it with condensation.

The whiskey did its job.

I fell out of the hammock.

I could see some possibilities when I next woke up.

 

[No Idea]

I couldnt find any breatheable cloth, but I found that white wadding they put in sleeping bags and coats in a fabric shop.

I also found some strong black shiny nylon type cloth that looked good enough to test things.

 

[No Idea]

Went and found Mrs Volunteer.

I was interested in whether "wrapping" the hammock in netting, sort of mosquito stuff would stop the wind taking heat.

Got her to test it.

It does work. It also doesnt suffer from condensation.

Turns out she is a genius with a sewing machine!

She used it for half an hour and didnt break any needles.

We sandwiched a big square of 150cm wide wadding in the nylon cloth

Then we made one of my hammocks out of it.

She tested it.

Couldnt get her out of it.

Eventually I bribed her to get out by buying her another lunch.

 

[No Idea]

Turns out this hammock had two problems.

It wouldnt go round my bulk, and wasnt strong enough.

Luckily, I just ended up bruised from the concrete. No arrows or bikes this time.

Took her a while to stop laughing though.

Miserable.....

 

[No Idea]

Didnt managed to do any more hammock for a few days, as I had a mishap with a buoy.

It jumped out in front of me.

It was only a little crack.....

...until my kid got to it.....

He kept muttering at me as he fixed it

It took him lots of layers...

...and paint

 

[No Idea]

My oldest did this to give the boat a bit more protections from "Daddys Driving"

Miserable toad.

Fixed!

Time to go hunting hammock grounds again - only more carefully

 

[Ronnie]

I find it difficult to judge if what I am writing even makes sense, let alone is worth reading.

Makes no sense the same way haiku makes no sense - definitely worth reading.

 

[Sanji]

Yes!! I totaly agree, very worth the reading

 

[Highbinder]

Hello Highbinder

I know it might sound strange, but a sleeping bag underblanket never occurred to me.

I probably would have dissmissed the idea if it had, as my bergen is full and I cant get anything else in it.

Would have been a good experiment though.

It's a good idea - It is so much warmer and comfy than using a sleeping pad. Because it doesn't compress under your body it still insulates your backside. Just try it out in your garden, if you think its a viable solution then you can ditch your roll matt in your bergen altogether - when I got rid of my matt it freed up loadsa space.

Hope you don't mind me posting a pic in your thread but this shows how one sits pretty well.

It doesneh fit the whole length just under your head and torso really. You seem to be prety cluded up on DIY too I've seen people re-sow sleeping bags (basicly you dont need the head bit, and ideally you can cinch both ends to mimic the shape of the hammock). me I'm pants at sowing but it might be worth a shot.

 

[T1Viper]

He is using a worm for the first time and was a bit worried it might try dragging him off the jetty.

Nah mate, worms aint that strong lol

Tom

 

[No Idea]

Thank you Ronnie

Ive been thinking about the not making sense bit.

Going to have a go at fixing that.

 

[No Idea]

Thank you Sanji !

 

[No Idea]

Hello Highbinder

Post pics on here? Lol couldnt really complain as Ive posted hundreds

I love your pic!

What a lovely place to wake up!

DIY? Sewing? Me? Er...... I bought a sewing machine as I had No Idea.

I think my sleeping mat had a bit of an accident when Little Idea needed to pad his boat trailer.

Horrible little sod.

Underblanket....I can see it will work, but I dont want to put one in my pack.

You may have noticed Im not exactly thin.

You would be amazed how much I have to eat each day to maintain my shape.

If I put an underblanket in my pack, I might have to reduce my intake.

That is unthinkable !