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I held out on the underquilt for a couple of years and tried everything else. Sometimes the thermarest was ok, if i was so exhausted that i fell asleep on my back and didnt move. Maybe i just turn over too much. The underquilt is like being wrapped in a snug warm little cocoon...
The other thing about the thermarest that i found was that it stops one of the hammocks good traits.
When you roll over in it, you dont have to lift your weight off it, turn over and then lower again in the same spot, but rather just let it roll under you:- you are always the lowest point.
As my earlier post alluded to I had bought a Warbonnet Ridgerunner hammock (it's a bridge hammock). i'm yet to use it in the great outdoors but have made use of the absence of my wife this week to sleep in it each night. A few photos set up on the deck. The area is covered so no need for a tarp.
Set up as it has been slept in for the past few nights.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...014/10/860.jpg
the Lynx summer under quilt.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...014/10/861.jpg
I hope to be in the Vic High Country for the weekend before Melb Cup to join a few Victorian friends who believe it's gods gift for a 4 day weekend. I'll be able to road test it with tarp.
Initial thoughts after 4 nights and a few mid arvo cat naps. These thoughts are benchmarked against a side by side comparison to the Hennessey Hammock borrowed from the neighbour.
As against the hennessey the ridgerunner is more spacious and, for me, comfortable. The hennessey was comfortable in a cocoon type of feeling. The ridgerunner is a flatter lay but nicely slopes up for your head to provide a pillow like support. I was comfortable laying on my back and comfortable on my side (with legs straight) if i pushed my bum up against the seam on the side of the hammock (laying in the middle the material doesn't have the support for my hips and i felt the scoliosis tension on my lower spine. I was comfortable laying in a semi fetal position with the knees slightly bent. Most comfortable on the side was in the coma position. Long and short the hammock accommodates 90% of the sleeping positions for the majority of people.
The cut of the seams gives you a nice view out of your surrounds. I was genuinely surprised how comfortable it was. So much so i returned to sleeping in it after i had satisfied the minimum requirement for research.
My only complaints are these:
a) the spreader bars makes setting up a tarp to be close to the hammock in poor weather bit of an engineering mission. I have a Cuben fibre tarp which is prone to puncture so the spreader bars are a problem.
b) the design of a bridge hammock with the "A" suspension lines then the whoopie sling suspension requires a distance of at least 4m between anchor points. I'd say 3.7m is the absolute min otherwise you can't hang at the recommended 25 degrees. Moving to a strap suspension to delete the whoopie suspension might buy you some width. Or remove the whoopee sling and carabiner the eyelet to the tree straps but then you need to rely on nature providing the perfect hang environment. 4m doesn't sound much when you type it but when you are looking at 2 points to hang it is more difficult to accommodate than you would be lead to believe.
c) the thought of sleeping under a tree. Scouts training has me looking up before setting up. Can't avoid that in a hammock. The pine trees of the Eastern seaboard of the USA are a safer bet than the gum trees in Oz. I had the hammock set up last weekend between 2 trees just off the deck. Lovely spot with nice afternoon shade and the sound of the creek on our property in your ear. After the storm on Tuesday night there was a 2" diameter 3m long branch laying at the spot i had planned to set up for these evening tests. It would have hurt like holy buggery (sick pun intended hehehe) or killed me with a strike to the head.
Turning to the under quilt. It's fabulous and for anyone that thinks they can suffice with a mat is a tight-arse to the detriment of their own comfort or has rocks in their head. Spend the cash and do it properly the first time. And talking of properly, in my limited experience (which means not having tested it side by side) buy the full length under quilt. I don't see the point in having your body and bum warm and then rely on a mat for the lower torso. A mat consumes more space in your pack than the additional space of the full length UQ compared to the torso length UQ. The extra weight is negligible (full length UQ packs to about 1/3 the size of a 700 loft 500g down sleeping bag and weighs about 400g packed).
I made the mistake the first night of fitting the UQ inverted (baffles pressed against the hammock) and quickly found the cold spot. My initial thought was the UQ was a waste of money and then decided to investigate to appreciate it was my error. Since then it was toasty warm with temps getting to about 10 deg overnight. Last night was nippy with the wind chill factor but once i created a cocoon of trapped heat with the sleeping bag unzipped and the UQ i was toasty save for my face.
The tarp, cuben fibre (0.75oz) made by Zpacks in the US. Tarp dimensions (rectangular) 3.4m x 2.6m (11' x 8'6") with 3 tie outs on each long edge and 3 ties outs on each short edge + the 4 corner ties outs. I had Zpacks fit 4 panel pulls approx spaced to the spreader bar width so i can pull the tarp out where the bars will contact the tarp. With 3m guy lines on each corner and a guy line at the centre of the long edge + 2 x 5m zing-it ridge line with Dutch Gear fasteners the tarp in its sack comes in at 415g. It just seems fragile to me and given i have a tendency to be rough with my stuff it could end in tears. We'll see how it fairs.
I'll take some photos of the set up once i get a change to road test it in the great outdoors. I'm all set now, just need a weekend in the bush.
MLD
FYI, around 40% off hennessy gear-
Hennessy Hammock
blah blah no interest or personal gain etcetc
Great buying $149, couldn't resist.