View Full Version : First night going diagonal!
I got to use my Henasy for the first time friday night. Overall, WAY WAY cooler (and more comphortable!) than sleeping on the ground.
(Ok, not much of a revelation on this forum...)
but it did leave me with a question, How do you get into your sleeping bag once your in the hammok?
ShakeyLeggs
05-13-2007, 17:13
I got to use my Henasy for the first time friday night. Overall, WAY WAY cooler (and more comphortable!) than sleeping on the ground.
(Ok, not much of a revelation on this forum...)
but it did leave me with a question, How do you get into your sleeping bag once your in the hammok?
:welcome to the Hammock Hangin Mafia.
Getting in the sleeping bag is fun aint it:eek::D. I personaly don't use a sleeping bag, I use a down quit I bought from JrB
I got to use my Henasy for the first time friday night. Overall, WAY WAY cooler (and more comphortable!) than sleeping on the ground.
(Ok, not much of a revelation on this forum...)
but it did leave me with a question, How do you get into your sleeping bag once your in the hammok?
I get inside my sleeping bag prior to entering my hammock. Then I simply slide up into the hammock and I'm good to go.
I lay my sleeping bag out on the left side of my hammock with it opened up and then sit in it where I think my butt will be when I would be laying in it. Then I pull my feet up through the hammock and lay back and then zip the bag up. There is always a little wiggling to get it to be in the right position once I am in the hammock.
Like ShakeyLeggs said, Jacks-R-Better quilt
In the meantime, unzip the bag 3/4 way & pull it over top like a quilt
Life is better when you just hang around
:welcome to the Hammock Hangin Mafia.
Getting in the sleeping bag is fun aint it:eek::D. I personaly don't use a sleeping bag, I use a down quit I bought from JrB
NOOOOO! Don't tell me I need EVEN MORE equipment!!!
BigFoot2002
05-13-2007, 20:40
I use an army surplus poncho liner.
FanaticFringer
05-13-2007, 22:22
NOOOOO! Don't tell me I need EVEN MORE equipment!!!
Michele, a member over at hammock forums, is doing her thru-hike with a Western Mountaineering bag. Although she is using a Nest underquilt by JRB.
saimyoji
05-13-2007, 22:40
I just hang in a simple test-hammock with tarp overhead. In warmer weather, I slip the bag completely over the hammock (I use a full length zip bag) so its like a peapod, I guess. Top and bottom coverage, with hood.
RockStar
05-13-2007, 23:05
I just hang in a simple test-hammock with tarp overhead. In warmer weather, I slip the bag completely over the hammock (I use a full length zip bag) so its like a peapod, I guess. Top and bottom coverage, with hood.
When you say full length...how long is your bag. I was considering this method but, have a Womens Reg size bag. I'm 5'2". Also what is your bag rating and how cold can it get before you start being chilled? This idea appeals to me more than an underquilt.
saimyoji
05-13-2007, 23:27
Its a Mountain Hardwear X-country PG3D 40* regular. I add an expander to get about 8in. of extra girth, which is necessary to use with this method, otherwise too much stress on the bag. You don't want the bag to be supporting your weight at all, very dangerous, could rip. You'll need to figure something out to avoid that.
I've had it out pretty cold (about 35*) and been okay.
Lets see, I started by laying out my sleeping bag semi-open where I thought I would lie in it, but as soon as i put my weight in the hammok it slid down to my waist before I could lie in it (it is one of those summer withght pile bags),.
So i unzipped it a bit more and used it like a blanket, but got to hot on top and was to cold on the bottom...
so I wreseled with it for about 20 minuts top get the blanket below me instead of on top and was very comphortable for about half the night when I got cold on top...
Some more wressling later i got the thing jipped mostly around me and was good till morning.
I had a pile sweater with me, incase the bag wasent warm enough, but ony used it as a pillow...
I got to use my Henasy for the first time friday night. Overall, WAY WAY cooler (and more comphortable!) than sleeping on the ground.
(Ok, not much of a revelation on this forum...)
but it did leave me with a question, How do you get into your sleeping bag once your in the hammok?
good question,most of use use a quilt or use our sleeping bag as a quilt:cool: neo
Moon Monster
05-18-2007, 13:46
Nothing extra for me. I get in similar to when on the ground: Get in HH. Weight on back-side and shoulders. Pull bag over feet. Weight on feet and shoulders. Pull bag over back-side. Weight on feet and back-side. Pull bag over shoulders. I have to wiggle and tug a lot to get it up, but my HH is plenty supportive enough for this. I don't find this hard at all even with a narrow WM Highlite. I wiggle and tug into a bag almost the same way on the ground anyway.
I also have bought nothing more than a HH. I still use my Thermarest and WM bag just like I would on the ground or in a shelter. I've been OK down to the low-30s, maybe also with my rain jacket underneath also. I like having the bag all around me. Even with the down compressed, it's enough insulation for me and it allows better use of the hood. I take my shorts off and put them in the bottom of the bag to keep my feet insulated, but I do that on the ground also.
I know everyone is different with respect to temperature. But, that's my story for above freezing. My bag is only rated to 40 anyway. It's been great to not carry anything different than just swapping my tarp to the HH.
Well I just got back from Damascus where I got to talk to Mr. Tom Hennasy himself. He showed me the trick.
Hi again to all the WB'ers I met down there as well!
BillyBob58
05-30-2007, 23:48
Yes, what was the trick that Tom showed you? Did he say to sit in the hammock, insert feet into hammock and stand up, pull bag and hood oner back/shoulders/head, zip partly up and sit/lay down in hammock? If so, that will certainley work, though if it's wet you will need something left out of the hammock to stand on, so that you don't get your bag wet or muddy. Or did he have a different trick?
Well, here is what I finally settled on. Super easy in a top loader, and only very slightly harder in the Hennesy. Put bag, preferably a left zip, in hammock and open bag wide. Try to smooth the bottom part of open bag out and sit in hammock normally, but on top of bottom of open bag( and on top of a pad if using one). Pull your feet into hammock in normal fashion and slip your feet into sleeping bag ALL WHILE STILL SITTING UP! Still sitting up and smoothing out wrinkles in the bag, I just pull the bag hood up over my head and lay down and finish zipping up.
It sounds like a lot of steps, but it's really all just one or two quick flowing steps once you know what to do. I can be in the hammock and bag all zipped up with the hood over my head and neck collar/hood cinched down to a breathing hole in a minute or two max. If I do most of this while still sitting up, it's really not much harder or different than getting in a bag on the ground. And I still have the wonderful heat retaining capabilities of a mummy/neck collar/hood/breathing hole! :banana
Of course, if you don't need those capabilities it's super easy to use a quilt or use your bag as a quilt. That is definitely the way to go if you don't need that hood and neck draft colar.
Enjoy your learning curve! If you are like most, it seems to me, you won't voluntarily go back to the ground.
Yes, what was the trick that Tom showed you? Did he say to sit in the hammock, insert feet into hammock and stand up, pull bag and hood oner back/shoulders/head, zip partly up and sit/lay down in hammock? If so, that will certainley work, though if it's wet you will need something left out of the hammock to stand on, so that you don't get your bag wet or muddy. Or did he have a different trick?
Ya, that was it. Although i will try your method in July, and no, there is no temptation to go back to the ground.
I got to use my Henasy for the first time friday night. Overall, WAY WAY cooler (and more comphortable!) than sleeping on the ground.
(Ok, not much of a revelation on this forum...)
but it did leave me with a question, How do you get into your sleeping bag once your in the hammok?
i lay on a pad and use my bag as a quilt:cool: neo
Footslogger
10-01-2007, 13:08
I use an army surplus poncho liner.
=========================================
I tried that when I first got my hammock and found that it didn't offer that much warmth. Are you talking about using it in the summer months ??
'Slogger
Footslogger
10-01-2007, 13:13
I have an REI travel sack (light weight synthetic mummy bag) that has a draw string at the foot end and arm holes near the top. When I use it with a hammock I put on the sleeping bag like a jacket with my feet sticking out the bottom. Then I stand up into the hammock, lay back and draw the foot end of the bag closed. Reverse that for getting out to answer nature's call at night or for getting up the next morning.
I should qualify my hammock use as being limited to the warmer months these days and I have the original (pre-symm) ultralight backpacker model hennessey.
'Slogger
BillyBob58
10-01-2007, 19:25
I have an REI travel sack (light weight synthetic mummy bag) that has a draw string at the foot end and arm holes near the top. When I use it with a hammock I put on the sleeping bag like a jacket with my feet sticking out the bottom. Then I stand up into the hammock, lay back and draw the foot end of the bag closed. Reverse that for getting out to answer nature's call at night or for getting up the next morning......................
'Slogger
Oh yeah! That type of bag would work great in a hammock! The old get in your bag 1st trick, but no worries about putting the foot of your bag into the mud.
i lay on a pad and use my bag as a quilt:cool: neo
Thats pritty much the conclusion I reached as well.
Great minds and all...
my first cool weather hang was this last weekend taking a group of newbies camping at loft mountain in shenandoah for some hiking and the meteor shower. temps dropped to low 40's.
I had minimal trouble wigling into my fleece bag liner and my kelty 15* mummy bag which i left unzipped about 2/3 of the way so when entering i would sit inside the open bag (and liner) then zipped up the liner and the bag and wiggled around a little to get in the comfortable spot on my therarest 3/4 length 1" thick self inflating mat. I also set my coat next to my pad where my knees tend to lay if i curl up and i had to unzip my bag about 2 feet during the night to cool off.
using an underquilt and sleeping under a topquilt may be easier. but i'm pretty darn happy with what i've got for now.
paradoxb3
10-27-2007, 09:42
Just wanted to say I got my Claytor jungle hammock this week (suggested by neo) and slept in it for the first time last night (test run in the back yard). I found it to be very comfy as well, and stayed warm all night in my walmart special "arctic 0*" mummy bag. It's syn. and I honestly dont even remember the fill rating.
I havent yet picked up a sleeping pad, so i just slept in the bag normally rather than "quilt mode." I carried a digital thermometer with min/max recording, and the temp dropped to 45* last night. I'm a warm sleeper DID keep warm all night but i could definately see the advantage of a sleeping pad.
I've tented on the ground with no pad as cold as about 25* two nights in a row in this sleeping bag. It wasnt snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug but I survived. I wouldnt trust that 0* rating without more bottom insulation.
i spent alot of money on my hennasy hammock and a larger tarp for it. I bought a nest under quilt from jacks are better, Bought larger straps to wrap around trees. bought jacks are better storm shield and a 20 degree down bag. I cut out a butt pad from a closed cell foam pad to help on the pressure points.
My setup cost me about $600.00 and i froze my nuts off in temps down to 36 degrees.
take-a-knee
10-31-2007, 00:00
i spent alot of money on my hennasy hammock and a larger tarp for it. I bought a nest under quilt from jacks are better, Bought larger straps to wrap around trees. bought jacks are better storm shield and a 20 degree down bag. I cut out a butt pad from a closed cell foam pad to help on the pressure points.
My setup cost me about $600.00 and i froze my nuts off in temps down to 36 degrees.
Was your head covered, if so, with what? A watch cap is not sufficient. I think maybe something was wrong with your underquilt adjustment
I spent last night in my hennessy at 39F on one oware 1/4in pad inside my Exped synthetic Wallcreeper(rated 45 I think), wearing running shorts and a tee shirt. There was an intermittent 3-5mph breeze, no tarp. I was starting to get cool at dawn, nothing really uncomfortable. I think I would have been toasty with a second 1/4in pad.
SGT Rock
10-31-2007, 00:05
I sweat my butt off the other night in 35F and didn't put on extra clothing, my weathershield, or even my tarp.
BUT, that said...
Staying warm in a bag is sort of like clothing. There are so many variations on how humans handle cold weather. One person may hike around in shorts and a T-shirt in 40 degree weather, while another has on three layers of stuff in 50 degree weather trying to stay warm.
So which do you recomend? A pad, an underquilt, or some combination of the two?
FanaticFringer
10-31-2007, 01:07
So which do you recomend? A pad, an underquilt, or some combination of the two?
I use my underquilt (JRB Nest or No Sniveller) down to around 40F or so. Lower than that and it makes more sense to me to just use pads unless you have a thicker underquilt such as the new JRB Rocky Mt. one. I use one of these with pads and it works great www.speerhammocks.com/Products/SPE.htm
I carry a pad as a pack frame so I have one ready to supplement my underquilt.
SGT Rock
10-31-2007, 07:51
So which do you recomend? A pad, an underquilt, or some combination of the two?
I'm still a lightweigh guy at heart, so for most of my camping it is a pad (9.72 ounces) and a quilt (21.27 ounces, and this is actually my underquilt I am using as a top quilt) which will do me down to 35F when combined with clothing options. The pad is not as comfortable as an underquilt, but it is cheaper and lighter. That said, if I expect temperatures under 50F, I'll bring my other quilt warmer down quilt (18.02 ounces) + underquilt suspension (1.13 ounces) so I have options.
So if it is cold I have my underquilt on the hammoc, the pad inside and under me, and my warmer top quilt on. I was like this the other night and it was down around 35 - I was sweating.
For winter I add a weathershield combo (14.49 ounces + 0.46 for a stuff sack) and carry an emergency ground cloth in case I have to go to ground to stay warm (0.88 ounces). This breaks up the wind and adds some weatherproofing to my kit.
I have never slept in a hammok, it sounds great though!
FanaticFringer
10-31-2007, 16:29
I have never slept in a hammok, it sounds great though!
Hey Walter come check us out over at www.hammockforums.net
This site was started by Attroll who also helped start this site and is a hanger himself.
For some really great noobie info. on hammock camping , check out www.tothewoods.net
BillyBob58
10-31-2007, 20:49
I use my underquilt (JRB Nest or No Sniveller) down to around 40F or so. Lower than that and it makes more sense to me to just use pads unless you have a thicker underquilt such as the new JRB Rocky Mt. one. I use one of these with pads and it works great www.speerhammocks.com/Products/SPE.htm (http://www.speerhammocks.com/Products/SPE.htm)
I carry a pad as a pack frame so I have one ready to supplement my underquilt.
At Neo's get-together in Tenn last weekend, it was 43* with very little wind and dry. And yet again, I did just fine in my Supershelter with the one basic HH OCF pad and the space blanket ( no extra kidney or torso or CCF pads or Garlingon insulators added, such as I use when it's much colder) . I'm not sure I could have gone a whole lot lower on this night without being a little uncomfortable, though I'm sure I have in the past gone a good bit lower with this basic setup. At dawn, I was not aware that my back felt particularly warm, but neither was it cold.
But, what was different this time was that I had much less sleeping bag than on previous tests, a very light duty summer semi-rectangular quallofil bag used as a quilt. So, there was no synthetic bag insulation under me, for whatever that might be worth, and much less on top than normal.
If I had my usual Cat's Meow, I think I would have been just fine lower, and I would not, as Tacoda said, have "froze my nuts off in temps down to 36 degrees". That must have been pretty disappointing, I hope he can work that out.
Well, a brand new winter approaches with opportunities for every body to figure out what works for them. And as Rock just said, we all vary greatly. And we individually vary from one night to another on what we may need to be warm, based on many variables.
BillyBob58
10-31-2007, 20:55
PS
Or, if it gets much colder than hi 30s or low 40s, it's super simple for me to just throw my go to ground backup Ridgerest and or Thermarest 3/4 Ultra light/SPE in there, which with the basic SS will get me to the teens easily. Since I usually have the pad with me anyway, and have been glad I did in the past, above timberline! No trees! On the ground! Oh No! :eek:
FanaticFringer
10-31-2007, 21:25
PS
Or, if it gets much colder than hi 30s or low 40s, it's super simple for me to just throw my go to ground backup Ridgerest and or Thermarest 3/4 Ultra light/SPE in there, which with the basic SS will get me to the teens easily. Since I usually have the pad with me anyway, and have been glad I did in the past, above timberline! No trees! On the ground! Oh No! :eek:
Hey BillyBob tomorow is the first of November. Know what that means? It's near time for the JRB bridge hammock. If I remember correctly , your getting one right?
Diagonal? I'm thinking you will sleep better horizontal.;) A half filled water bottle works wonders for leveling your hammock.
I always get in my sleeping bag before sitting back into the hammock. Still need to wriggle a bit but it is the best way this fat guy can do it. When in warm weather I just use the bag as a blanket.
BillyBob58
10-31-2007, 23:15
Hey BillyBob tomorow is the first of November. Know what that means? It's near time for the JRB bridge hammock. If I remember correctly , your getting one right?
Yep! Of course, that also means I'll have to figure out how to keep warm in that. Pads I guess. Either my SPE, or I believe it has it's own pad pocket? I must admit a pad was really super easy to use in Neo's Claytor. Boy, I wonder what that JRB is going to feel like? I guess we will soon know.
take-a-knee
10-31-2007, 23:48
So which do you recomend? A pad, an underquilt, or some combination of the two?
I had no luck at all with a thermarest in a hennessy or even the wider army pad. Rock's site (HikingHQ) turned me on to the wider pads from Oware and I've had good luck with them, they stay in place without shifting like the other pads did. I've been amazed how warm they are (if you use two of them) and they are light. Some people get a lot of condensation sleeping on top of them but I've not had a lot of trouble with this. Sometimes there will be a little moisture but no puddles like some have described. Their only downside is packing them, I just roll them and lash them on the back of my GG Vapor Trail. I think Rock uses his as part of his padding for his gearskin.
I also have a Potomac UQ and I'm looking forward to seeing how low I can sleep with the pad/UQ combo.
JoeHiker
11-01-2007, 12:31
I used one of those Oware pads a couple of years ago. It was good that it didn't slide around but I didn't like it much due to the condensation thing. Plus I just didn't like the feel of having a pad underneath me.
Still I never had any trouble getting into my sleeping bag in the hammock (when I used to use a bag, that is). Scrunch it all down near your feet. Get in and pull it up around you. Done. Takes a bit of movement but it's not that difficult.
sasquatch2014
11-30-2007, 16:03
I am not sure but maybe it is because most of you are hanging in HH but I don't have a bag issue. I use a Clark NA and I just open the bag and sit down and that is it. then again it might be because I am carrying all my winter fat stores (year round).:D
2713
My home a few weeks back in Harriman SP New York
Ya, me to...the fat stores that is.
Somthing I hope to leave on the trail next year
scout005
11-30-2007, 19:18
i'm thinking of switching from tent to hammock. one question: are you sleeping with your head and feet higher than your butt in a hammock? no way i could do that. with all the advances in hammocks, have they figured that one out? i know this question has been asked a thousand times so, thanks for your patience.
In the hennassy, you sleep "asemetricaly", or diagonal to the line you hang from (hence the thread title...), whick keeps you more or less level and prevents bannannaing.
FanaticFringer
11-30-2007, 19:48
i'm thinking of switching from tent to hammock. one question: are you sleeping with your head and feet higher than your butt in a hammock? no way i could do that. with all the advances in hammocks, have they figured that one out? i know this question has been asked a thousand times so, thanks for your patience.
Lying on the diagonal in a hammock will help flatten you out. To get truely flat in a hammock, you'll either need to build you a bridge hammock or buy one from Jacks r better. Have you checked out www.hammockforums.net
Also check out www.tothewoods.net
scout005
11-30-2007, 21:12
thanks for the info. i'll check it out.