Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more

General => Gear Questions, Information, Reviews and Competitions => Topic started by: b0ogaloo on September 10, 2011

Title: New hammock
Post by: b0ogaloo on September 10, 2011
My new hammock arrived yesterday  ;D
Excuse the image quality . the forest where I hung it this morning was in the cloud base . light was terrible

This is a custom built hammock from Mat @ UKHammocks . its not cheap but it is kinda nice  :mrgreen:
I asked Mat for a double layer with footbox , Whoopie sling suspension. internal pockets and double zippered bug net ( zips on both sides of net)

The hammock arrived after 14 days . first impressions were bloody hell thats small and  light, build quality is superb and the material its manufactured  from is almost like a synthetic silk

I also received a new tarp last week for winter hammocking , Its huge at 3mx4.5m  but the plan is to hang it like a ridge tent and get  sil-nylon doors fitted to it

In the photo below the ridge line is at 6' 6 "

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XYw9a7htk9Q/TmubK8xpgxI/AAAAAAAAFJw/peIxznhDj6Q/s640/IMGP2923.JPG)

This is the prussic knot and karabiner method i use to tension the tarp on the ridge line

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J_0cy6azKBM/Tmubf2COIpI/AAAAAAAAFK8/mc29pZnGwfw/s640/IMGP2942.JPG)

Pack size of the hammock is tiny compared to my DD and its about half the weight , of course the DD has the karabiner mod done to it so that accounts for a lot of weight ,

Pictured beside a 1ltr nagalene bottle. it could be compressed to half that size
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SwbNrU0MRqA/TmubRMbwthI/AAAAAAAAFJ8/TjfR2j8NwcQ/s640/IMGP2926.JPG)

It comes packed in a bishop bag. note the drawstring openings at each end . the bag stays on the suspension when its hung and makes  unpacking and packing very easy

The suspension system uses tree huggers and whoopie slings , I also received two amsteel soft shackles but opted to go with the marlin spike hitch and toggle

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KJUcy48Qguc/TmubTBXaQvI/AAAAAAAAFKE/VCbp68rWINw/s640/IMGP2928.JPG)

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o_2Dbqwf37s/Tmubcu_VDNI/AAAAAAAAFKw/zPhU5fZPWiQ/s640/IMGP2939.JPG)

Its a gathered end hammock which has a structural ridge line which keeps the sag consistant and the noseeum mesh off my face

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-t7PjAzMnlnc/Tmubdk8cvyI/AAAAAAAAFK0/J4Xky415mhM/s640/IMGP2940.JPG)

With the noseeum mesh folded back you can see the ridge line

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6pmGMf1-G5c/Tmubsnq-QWI/AAAAAAAAFLs/ilIRHwRl6yI/s640/IMGP2954.JPG)

The hammock feels huge compared to the DD , i asked for a foot box to allow me to lie on the diagonal across the hammock.
Photos crap but you get the idea

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mab0tDDGQRg/Tmubz24jDgI/AAAAAAAAFMQ/bUthizsqCZ4/s640/IMGP2963.JPG)

Feet in the footbox

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Xojc-1mYjrA/TmubarHJrsI/AAAAAAAAFKo/hNla4e820m8/s640/IMGP2937.JPG)

Diagonal lay on my side

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-iG9rFFbjFiE/Tmub3PqgT0I/AAAAAAAAFMg/kpOOi0TXoaE/s640/IMGP2967.JPG)

I had asked for a few internal pockets  for storing my camp shoes , head torch book etc . these were sewn n the perfect position , easy to access and big enough even for my size 11 crocs

Again sorry for the crap photos

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4i8yZDA8jZI/TmubuNnjFbI/AAAAAAAAFL0/OKBYcu_a9W0/s640/IMGP2956.JPG)

The Hammock is incredibly comfy. lightweight and the build quality superb if this bloody wind would feck off i'd get it tested properly with a few nights on the Lough

After all struggling to get decent pics I got the stove lit and got the moca filled , cant be having with any of that instant gravy granule crap

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gnFZ28QyPag/Tmub7CPKHsI/AAAAAAAAFMw/Bahn5_fjPtg/s640/IMGP2971.JPG)

As well as the Hammock and tarp I also bartered some fishing gear with Pablo for a new knife . I was after something a bit smaller than my usual camp knives and he came up with this

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gkD4m9JNEyI/Tmub9viLnmI/AAAAAAAAFM0/yeLqVeAjPzI/s640/IMGP2972.JPG)

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jpm36E2Ou78/TmucAusvnHI/AAAAAAAAFNA/d5mQSFxtYl8/s640/IMGP2975.JPG)

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-c2ZkmufWWX4/TmucCDVtjJI/AAAAAAAAFNE/7PmnvI1spgw/s640/IMGP2976.JPG)

Its perfect for whittling  the hours away , I can choke right up on it for fine detail work and it is of course razor sharp

Andy