Originally posted by TimberWolf
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I gave my DD hammock its first field trial in the south of France last week. I'd packed light, using only aircraft cabin luggage space for my sports bag containing a hammock, micro sleeping bag, a micro sleeping bag liner, beach towel and the old faith string and bin liners, plus odds and ends such as 100ml of sunscreen (max allowed) and electronic gear. So armed with a cheap Ryanair ticket and having prepared the ground by marking forests and MacDonald locations on a map, I was all set to test the Frenchies on their grasp of English.
First night, after I'd crept into a suitable forest at twilight, I optimistically retired in only my underpants and awoke shivering around 1 am to dress a little more, and an hour or two later to dress even more. Later, I also inserted my towel between the layers of the duel layered hammock base. It gets surprisingly cool in a hammock, even in temperate weather. It must be around or above 16 degrees C I thought and I'm shivering! Sadly, adding towel insulation to the base of the hammock did not work as well as might have been hoped, as the towel just gets rolled into a sausage as soon as one let's go of the stretched open slippery hammock layers. A semi-rigid insulator would be needed and that would mean more luggage to cart around and I was ultra-lite.
I never really felt comfortable that first night and the hammock restricted movements to an extent that I thought my sleeping bag was too small in both length and width, as I was never able to zip it all the way up and adjusting things was a struggle, though I later discovered that outside of my hammock I can just about zip my sleeping bag up, though doing so makes me feel trapped and tempted to take a knife in with me just in case the zipper gets stuck, to which it appears prone. The sleeping bag is a 'micro lite' and can be compressed to the size of a grapefruit, and as such offers little defence against a light breeze. I discovered I'd broken yet another pair of shoes from all the walking that day too. I had been half expecting a bit of a walk as, after everyone got off the airport bus and I travelled on alone, I got out my compass and it read north when I thought it would ideally point south. Maybe there's a magnetic field around here or are due to head south any minute now I pondered. It's not an electric bus though I further mused, would there be a motor or a source of magnetism in the rear axle of a bus and anyway how far can 1 Euro 20 get you? Quite a long way in France seems, much further than in the UK. Lakes, swamps, railway lines, irrigation channels, motorways and thick undergrowth meant my trousers looked as if I'd been roughing it for a good few days already, only a few hours after arriving in France. Fortunately I 'd bought water from the only shop I'd passed earlier in the day, and had actually turned around to go back and buy it. Not that I'd have got desperately thirsty or would be short of a place to kip, but it's nice to stay hydrated on the first day with uncertainties ahead.
Next night I decided to retire fully dressed and selected a nice hill-top position on top of the highest wooded hill around. The view was great. However, I discovered in the early morning that this was also an exposed position and the wind picked up in the night, and even fully dressed woke up shivering once again. Not as much or as often as the night before though, so that was small progress.
Next night I went back to a less exposed position and stayed warm, but though the comfort level of the hammock was increasing nightly, the forest floor of pine needles tempted me with the prospect of laying flat and not needing to turn adjusting a sleeping bag into a struggle. In the morning I usually end up central to the sleeping back with my legs elevated, which isn't ideal.
So the hammock wasn't as comfortable as hoped in its first big field test. I'd need to carry more kit and get more used to it and I'm not sure it's worth it before exploring further ultra-lite, ultra-cheap options. I'd ideally change the cords on the hammock, which seems to be a popular thing to do with this hammock, as this was probably the source of some overnight sagging that I'd experienced, and I'd need to insulate the bottom somehow. Doable, but next thing to try is probably a bivvy bag and a return to forest floor dwelling!
First night, after I'd crept into a suitable forest at twilight, I optimistically retired in only my underpants and awoke shivering around 1 am to dress a little more, and an hour or two later to dress even more. Later, I also inserted my towel between the layers of the duel layered hammock base. It gets surprisingly cool in a hammock, even in temperate weather. It must be around or above 16 degrees C I thought and I'm shivering! Sadly, adding towel insulation to the base of the hammock did not work as well as might have been hoped, as the towel just gets rolled into a sausage as soon as one let's go of the stretched open slippery hammock layers. A semi-rigid insulator would be needed and that would mean more luggage to cart around and I was ultra-lite.
I never really felt comfortable that first night and the hammock restricted movements to an extent that I thought my sleeping bag was too small in both length and width, as I was never able to zip it all the way up and adjusting things was a struggle, though I later discovered that outside of my hammock I can just about zip my sleeping bag up, though doing so makes me feel trapped and tempted to take a knife in with me just in case the zipper gets stuck, to which it appears prone. The sleeping bag is a 'micro lite' and can be compressed to the size of a grapefruit, and as such offers little defence against a light breeze. I discovered I'd broken yet another pair of shoes from all the walking that day too. I had been half expecting a bit of a walk as, after everyone got off the airport bus and I travelled on alone, I got out my compass and it read north when I thought it would ideally point south. Maybe there's a magnetic field around here or are due to head south any minute now I pondered. It's not an electric bus though I further mused, would there be a motor or a source of magnetism in the rear axle of a bus and anyway how far can 1 Euro 20 get you? Quite a long way in France seems, much further than in the UK. Lakes, swamps, railway lines, irrigation channels, motorways and thick undergrowth meant my trousers looked as if I'd been roughing it for a good few days already, only a few hours after arriving in France. Fortunately I 'd bought water from the only shop I'd passed earlier in the day, and had actually turned around to go back and buy it. Not that I'd have got desperately thirsty or would be short of a place to kip, but it's nice to stay hydrated on the first day with uncertainties ahead.
Next night I decided to retire fully dressed and selected a nice hill-top position on top of the highest wooded hill around. The view was great. However, I discovered in the early morning that this was also an exposed position and the wind picked up in the night, and even fully dressed woke up shivering once again. Not as much or as often as the night before though, so that was small progress.
Next night I went back to a less exposed position and stayed warm, but though the comfort level of the hammock was increasing nightly, the forest floor of pine needles tempted me with the prospect of laying flat and not needing to turn adjusting a sleeping bag into a struggle. In the morning I usually end up central to the sleeping back with my legs elevated, which isn't ideal.
So the hammock wasn't as comfortable as hoped in its first big field test. I'd need to carry more kit and get more used to it and I'm not sure it's worth it before exploring further ultra-lite, ultra-cheap options. I'd ideally change the cords on the hammock, which seems to be a popular thing to do with this hammock, as this was probably the source of some overnight sagging that I'd experienced, and I'd need to insulate the bottom somehow. Doable, but next thing to try is probably a bivvy bag and a return to forest floor dwelling!
It may be that only an aircraft cabin (sports) bag will do, especially as bulky items like water and sunscreen are verboten. Hmm!
oops
Sleeper above sleeper
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