Lightening the load

[Darwin13]

So i have a Warbonnet BB DL 1.1 at 24 oz
i also have an OES Tarp at 10.5 oz
All in 1 ridgeline at 1.1 oz

Depending on Temperature i will have eigther a pad or underquilt but will always have my sleeping bad to use as a sleeping bag or overquilt and that weighs 23 oz.

What I am asking is; Has anyone with a Warbonnet 1.1 dl made their hammocks lighter by doing post purchase modifications? Such as whoopie slings and any otehr modification I may not know about. And after these modifications, how much lighter was your hammock?

[Buffalo Skipper]

I have an older 1.1d with whoopies, straps and toggles. I come in right just a shade over 24 oz. I may be able to drop .2 oz if I switched from the AmSteel ridgeline to maybe a 1.75 mm Zing it, but I may be overestimating.

A buddy of mine has one of the foreign sewn 1.0 doubles. It weights about 1 oz less than mine. I use titanium stakes for about a 2 oz savings over aluminum (hammock pull outs and tarp combined).

I am hoping to order a new cuben tarp next week to replace my 22 oz monster. That will drop my weight by about 1 lb! Now that is weight savings, but will only get me about 4 oz less than your setup, at best.

Overall though, there is not a whole lot you can switch up to save weight on the Blackbird itself. Sounds like you are near the limit for your setup.

[Loneoak]

Seems like I read a post on Hammock Forums where some lady had hers to about 1 lb, after mods. If your not a member there, join up. It's a sister site to this one and has lots of information on hammocks

[gunner76]

I have a BB 1.7 double and it weighs in at 40oz. I use the stock adjustable straps with Dutch Hooks. I could probably save a few ounces by going to whoopie slings but the Dutch Hooks make it so simple to set up my hammock and are part of my KISS principle...Keep It Simple Stupid. I have ordered a Hammockgear cubin tarp that will save me about 8 oz over my current tarp of 15oz.

For some ultra lite hammock rigs, check out Sgt Rock's set up.

[Country Roads]

You can replace the heavy 1/8 shock cord with much lighter shock cord. Or just put a short loop of 1/16 shock cord on the triangle of cord on the shelf side, using a prussic. Then clip into the prussic with a mitten hook and light weight cord. You can probably reduce the weight of you hammock/suspension by 4 or 5 ounces, depending on your body weight (7/64 amsteel versus dynaglide); 1.75 mm zing-it for ridgeline; using lighter stuff on the shelf side and zipper side pull out; removing the zipper pulls and replacing them with either 80# utility cord or Tech line. Some of these don't reduce the weight a lot, but it does total up. You definitely lighten up your stock hammock.

You can also keep your tarp light by using the lightest rigging line you can: 1.25 mm Z-line from Z-packs or even lighter cord dyneema polyester cord from Litetrail.com. Pair the ridgeline up with Dutch hooks.

Also, as others have mentioned, check out hammock forums, especially a thread/video by Rip Waverly.
This is the way I rig my hammock. Lightweight, adjustable and uses very little hardware.
Actually this youtube video explains it a bit better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K15Bzd1Eo_E

[Darwin13]

What is a 'mitten hook' and 'dutch hook'? thanks for all the info!

[speyguy]

I'm in the same boat as you. I have a Blackbird 1.1 Double and have just not been using it because of the weight issue. Last time I hung I used one of my MYOG hammocks just because it's so much lighter. I love to hang but ground set ups are just so much lighter.

[10-K]

I've got a similar setup. It's just too heavy and trying to make it lighter is like walking around a semi taking off little piece here and there..

The good news is that you can sell that stuff for near what you paid for it - or used to could - is that still true?

[Six-Six]

I have the same hammock but got my weight savings by switching from my Mountain Hardware Switch Long (3.5 pounds) to a JacksRBetter Hudson River Quilt (20 ounces). In addition to the weight savings, I gained about 10 degrees in lower temperature rating. It's almost too warm when combined with my WB Yeti underquilt. I would wake up to 20 degrees outside but sweating at torso level. I was impressed.

[1azarus]

I've got a similar setup. It's just too heavy and trying to make it lighter is like walking around a semi taking off little piece here and there..

The good news is that you can sell that stuff for near what you paid for it - or used to could - is that still true?

I will reluctantly agree with 10k, although i am a committed hammocker. the hammock industry seems to be a few years behind the tenting community, and since the market is so much smaller ultra light development is not as fast. You can buy off-the-shelf ul tenting stuff that is... perfect. that being said, if you are very careful about your setup, you can make hammocking light enough to make sense to the most committed ultralighter. that means going to several vendors and being creative about what you carry. dutch clips? no way -- go without and go lighter. go with the smallest tarp that works, and consider cuben. don't make the hammock any bigger than it needs to be. use a torso length underquilt and use a foam sit pad in your sleeping bag or overquilt for foot insulation. only carry bug protection when you really need it -- you aren't sleeping on the ground so at least you don't have any crawl-in guests. all the hammock equipment manufacturers are really interested in helping you to hammock. talk to them about getting their lightest setup. i know that conversation will work with whoopie slings -- about all suspension questions! good luck to you and keep on trying.

[Country Roads]

What is a 'mitten hook' and 'dutch hook'? thanks for all the info!

Mitten hooks are like the hooks that pairs of mittens and gloves are hooked together with; here is a link to a site that sells them: http://www.backwoodsdaydreamer.com/p...astic-hardware

Dutch hooks can be found at this site: http://www.outdoortrailgear.com/cott...s/?tp=CONTINUE

[Rasty]

I've got a similar setup. It's just too heavy and trying to make it lighter is like walking around a semi taking off little piece here and there..

The good news is that you can sell that stuff for near what you paid for it - or used to could - is that still true?

I will reluctantly agree with 10k, although i am a committed hammocker. the hammock industry seems to be a few years behind the tenting community, and since the market is so much smaller ultra light development is not as fast. You can buy off-the-shelf ul tenting stuff that is... perfect. that being said, if you are very careful about your setup, you can make hammocking light enough to make sense to the most committed ultralighter. that means going to several vendors and being creative about what you carry. dutch clips? no way -- go without and go lighter. go with the smallest tarp that works, and consider cuben. don't make the hammock any bigger than it needs to be. use a torso length underquilt and use a foam sit pad in your sleeping bag or overquilt for foot insulation. only carry bug protection when you really need it -- you aren't sleeping on the ground so at least you don't have any crawl-in guests. all the hammock equipment manufacturers are really interested in helping you to hammock. talk to them about getting their lightest setup. i know that conversation will work with whoopie slings -- about all suspension questions! good luck to you and keep on trying.

The hammock also has to support 200+ pounds. I wouldn't think anyone would trust a 10 ounce hammock/tarp set up. Maybe NASA has a fabric that strong?

[kayak karl]

The hammock also has to support 200+ pounds. I wouldn't think anyone would trust a 10 ounce hammock/tarp set up. Maybe NASA has a fabric that strong?

you've been in that cafe too long. 13 oz. setup