Night out

[Originaltrav]

Out for a stealth hang on the Oldham /Ashton border tonight ,was gonna be me and my two boys 6+17
But two of my mates have been and bought gear and are having their first hang.
I'll let you know how we get on

 

[crosslandkelly]

Have a good one. Don't forget to take pics.

 

[welchyd1]

Jealous! Have a goodun buddy.

 

[Originaltrav]

Back from a stealth hang today with my boys ( only third time out still sussing out the gear) and a couple of mates who are first timers.
My boys and I have TW hammocks to which I've added whoopies , we all used inflatable mats .
Kane my 6 yr old no problem as once he's asleep that's it and he was toasty all night .
Sam 17 and 6ft 3" no problems really apart from cold feet , but he did bust the zip on his doss bag .
Me however 47 , 5ft 9"
1. Tried to sort out my sag so I could get a fairly straight lie , nope , saggy sides , feet popping over the edge, same at the other end as well .
2. Slid my mat (partially inflated ) in between the two layers . Got out the army surplus (new to me) Swedish arctic down sleeping bag with central zip and also came with a bivouac bag .
Bag felt nice and warm despite no baffle on the zip , but after a short time , mat moving about and cold spots .
Got the mat out and put it directly under my bag , felt ok , alas not long after moved , sticking out of hammock at foot end cold spots again . Getting a bit annoyed now , so I thought aha I'll use the bivvy bag .
3. Mat and bag in bivvy on top of hammock felt better , not for long, slipping and sliding about - dreaded cold spot again but I thought stuff it I'll just lump it.
Must have nodded of but woke up later with cold spots all over , condensation ! In the bivvy bag
Last chance now , binned the bivvy bag , got my mat and folded it in half to cover upper body and stuffed it in my doss bag , a bit better nodded off but wasn't very comfy. Not a very successful night for me .
Questions : is my hammock to narrow , is my mat to narrow, is my sag all wrong , is everything wrong.
The arctic bag isn't - will be ok in the spring I think , I will stick with my 4 season synthetic on my next hang in a couple of weeks .
Think I need to re-read The Ultimate Hang
The kids had a ball though and that's what counts overall but would appreciate some advice
Ta
Can't load pics from my iPad sorry

 

[Originaltrav]

Forgot to mention , my mates had similar problems but not as bad
Ta

 

[Bucephalas]

I feel your pain my friend.

I stopped using mats under my hammock because they would always find a way of escaping. Now I use either a foam roll mat between layers or "Thermawrap" which is a big silvered bubble wrap.
The foam mat offers better protection against condensation though.

I recently moved from synthetic bag to a down and I'm having the same problem with cold spots under my pressure points, namely my backend and shoulders to a smaller degree.
I'm planning to cut some foam mat and place this under my derriere and see how this works.

 

[redandshane]

Take no notice of the previous poster he is obviously Welsh and potentially a half wit lol

Use a CLOSED CELL Foam PAD with a hammock
And if anyone suggests wasting money on an under blanket or cocoon or such nonsense woven out of spiders webs ignore them as well

or get on the ground
Hope that helps

 

[Originaltrav]

Thanks guys
Think I'll try a roll mat ......had an idea that I might try with it , you know that sticky stuff you can put under a rug!! Maybe a couple of strips of that might do it , if anyone tries it before I do let me know .
Thanks

 

[Originaltrav]

Finally Sussed the pics ...here are some from last week

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[Originaltrav]

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[Originaltrav]

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[copper_head]

Looks like a good trip, hard time of year to try hammocking out, so all kudos to you

If you want some good advice on cold weather hammocking then I highly recommend Shug Emery's channel on youtube.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Lovely pics. Looks like you had a good time, other than a cold night.