HAMMOCK CAMPING NEWS
January 2006
Here you will find the latest
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=============================================================
IN THIS ISSUE FROM SPEER HAMMOCKS January 2006
=============================================================
1----------------------HAMMOCK
CAMPING NEWS------------------------
A. 2005
The Year in Review
As the year draws to a close,
there is much in the exciting world of hammock camping to reflect upon. The fast pace of conversion to hammock
camping continues unabated with new manufacturers starting business as well as
new hammock models and accessories introduced by the existing makers. In the spirit of promoting the industry, this
newsletter includes a detailed list of known hammock and hammock-accessory
manufacturers—the worldwide list now totals 19!
In addition, lists of useful online hammock information sources are also
given near the end of each newsletter.
The advance in stay-warm systems
was impressive in 2005 and was driven by the ever-increasing number of new
users as well as the increased interest in winter camping. Many hammock enthusiasts even made their own
stay-warm systems and shared their experiences online. Several hammock and hammock-accessory
manufacturers introduced new stay-warm products in 2005.
Internet bulletin boards continued
to spread the good news about hammock camping.
The Hammock Camping List now totals over 1,200 members actively
exchanging and sharing ideas. The List
allows hammock enthusiasts and novices to share and learn from each other. It also allows hammock campers to arrange
outings in their area. Membership to the
Hammock Camping-L is open to anyone—see elsewhere in this newsletter for info
on how to sign up. Hammock camping also
continues to be a hot topic on numerous other outdoor related discussion
boards.
Our informal Southeast Hammock
Hangers Association (SEHHA) sponsored five well-attended campouts in 2005. Hosted by Speer Hammocks, these campouts are
open to the public and help bring both enthusiasts, novices, and want-to-be’s
together for fun weekends of sharing and learning. These campouts provide an ideal outdoor
opportunity for hammockers to demo their new or home-made gear. And the comradely can’t be beat! Five campouts are also planned for 2006—hope
you can make one or even all five! See
elsewhere in this newsletter for the campout schedules.
The coming year promises continued
excitement in the brave new world of hammock camping. Welcome aboard and hang on for the ride!
Ed “Not To Worry” Speer
B. DID YOU MISS A PAST
ISSUE?
Postings of
each newsletter on Yahoo Groups will be left on the Hammock Camping News home
page for subscribers to view any time; go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hammock_Camping_News/
Subscribers and
non-subscribers can freely view and download the current issue or any of the
back issues at:
http://www.hammockcamping.com/Newsletters/NEWS.htm
Note: Some
of the many web links in the newsletters do not survive in the email
versions--if this happened to yours, you might want to download the newsletter
from the hammockcamping.com site.
C.
Newsletter Publishing Schedule
The
publishing schedule for Hammock Camping News is:
Publish Date Submission Date
May 1, 2006 April
15, 2006
August 1, 2006 July 15, 2006
January 1, 2007 Dec
15, 2006
Please note
that the next issue is due May 1 and submissions for publication are due April
15.
D. 900 Fill down PeaPods and Top Blankets Now Available
Speer Hammocks is now offering 900-fill down hammock
gear! This is the highest-loft goose
down available anywhere, thus our Peapods and Top Blankets offer the ultimate
in uncomplicated lightweight warmth! The
900-fil down combined with our new baffle construction provides 40% increase in
thickness over the previous models with no increase in weight! This means greater warmth for you! PeaPods are insulated bags that completely
surround an occupied top-entry camping hammock.
Top Blankets are insulated quilts for use over a hammock sleeper or they
can be used as liners inside PeaPods.
Together they make the best system available for cold weather hammock
comfort. Now warmth at any temperature
is possible. Visit us at TrailDays05 in
http://speerhammocks.com/Products/PRODUCTLINK2.htm or call (828) 724-4444, 9-5 Eastern
Time, workdays.
E.
Segmented Pad Extenders--AFFORDABLE
WARMTH IS HERE!
Speer Hammocks announces their new SPE, the simple
lightweight and affordable way to provide 4-season warmth in any hammock. The SPE incorporates your own gear for
insulation! A central sleeve accepts
your sleeping pad or pads for bottom warmth while segmented side wings provide
shoulder, hip, and knee protection.
Multiple sleeping pads can be stacked in the central sleeve up to a
total thickness of 3”, allowing the user to mix and match pads for conditions
from 700F to well below zero!
Inflatable pads and closed cell foam pads in full length or
three-quarter length can be stacked as needed for warmth and comfort. The wings can be filled with closed cell foam
pad inserts and/or rolls of extra clothes, again providing adjustable
insulation. The SPE also accepts dead
leaves, the ultimate no-carried-weight insulation! Find out more about these remarkable
accessories at: http://www.speerhammocks.com/Products/SPE.htm
Contact SpeerHammocks.com at 828-724-4444,
or info@speerhammocks.com
F.
HAMMOCK CAMPING BOOK
Hammock Camping: The Complete
Guide To Greater Comfort, Convenience and Freedom by Ed Speer was published in
2003. The book is based on Ed's many
years of hammock camping around the world and his experience making and
designing his own hammocks. In addition
to key chapters on "How To Stay Warm In A Hammock" and "How To
Make Your Own Hammock", the book contains numerous entries from Ed's trail
journals that show just how hammocks can be used in actual wilderness
settings. The book is well documented
with numerous photos, drawings and tables of information. For those not inclined to make a hammock, one
chapter presents brief reviews of all the commercially available camping
hammocks. Appendices give valuable
information on Ed's hammocking tips, hammock manufactures, the Leave No Trace
organization, and web links to additional hammock information. This book is sure to become the standard
reference manual on hammock camping.
Autographed copies and free shipping on all orders from Speer
Hammocks. Order online at http://www.HammockCamping.com or
call (828) 724-4444, 9-5 Eastern Time workdays--$19.95. Also available at major Internet book sites
or a bookstore or retail outfitter near you.
G.
MAKE-YOUR-OWN HAMMOCK KITS
It's fun and easy to make your own camping hammock with the
simple kits from Speer Hammocks.
Based on our successful hammock design, the kits come
complete with all the fabric, webbing, Velcro, pull tabs, guidelines,
ridgeline, hardware, etc. needed to make a complete hammock with bug net and
rain canopy. Even the thread is
included! Making your own hammock is
highly rewarding and each one should give years of satisfactory use. The only thing needed is a household sewing
machine and minimal sewing skills (only easy edge hems, straight stitches, and
one flat felled seam are required).
Check out the kits at: http://www.SpeerHammocks.com Check
out the kit sewing instructions at: http://www.hammockcamping.com/Free%20Reports/SewingTips.htm
H. HAMMOCK
CAMPING WEB SITE
http://www.HammockCamping.com.
This site provides a general exchange of hammock camping news and
information. Excerpts from Ed's new book
and F-R-E-E copies of these newsletters
are featured here, as well as lots of F-R-E-E
hammock camping reports and handy hammocking tips. Anyone wishing to post information on this site
should contact us at: Ed@SpeerHammocks.com.
I.
HAMMOCK CAMPING-L Discussion Group
Join more than 1,200 fellow outdoor enthusiasts in an open
discussion on all aspects of hammock camping.
Learn from the experts before you buy or make your own. Or help others by sharing your
knowledge. The widespread use of camping
hammocks is the latest development in wilderness travel. Be a part of this exciting phenomenon. The Hammock Camping-List is hosted on Yahoo Groups
and works like any other online "list”; however you do not have to be a
member of Yahoo in order to join. All
you need is a valid email address to join the group. NOTE that subscribers to this free Hammock
Camping News e-zine are not automatically signed up for the
bulletin board (you must sign up yourself).
All messages are archived and searchable by members. Whether you are a novice or a veteran hammock
user, there is much to learn and share on The Hammock Camping List!
To join, send email to: hammockcamping-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Or sign up online at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hammockcamping
J. Follow Leave No Trace!
As hammock campers we have the duty to not only act
responsibly in the backcountry, but to also set a proper example for others to
follow. One of the great advantages of
hammock camping is the ability to reduce our adverse impact on the environment.
Everyone is encouraged to join and
support the worthy Leave No Trace organization and to follow their
outdoor ethics. To learn more, visit:
K. Season’s Greetings!
T'was
the night before summit, and all on the ground,
Not a hiker was sleeping; no campsite was found.
The walkers were vexed by ground so unstable
No flat spot was found the size of a table.
The campers tried nestling on top of their packs,
but the lumps and the bumps were twisting their backs.
Try though they might, no rest could they find,
And one did exclaim, "My poor aching behind!"
When out from the trail there arose such a clatter,
They sprang from their bags to check out the matter.
Downward they looked with their aches and their pains
From their long sleepless evening they felt quite insane
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,
But a fantastic sleigh, and eight ginormous reindeer,
With a little old driver, with huge hiker gams,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Ham.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Speer! now, Hennessy! now Bana and Byer!
On, Bliss! on Jungle!, on Amazonas! and Lyer!
To the top of the hill now! to the top of the wall!
Now stop yo'self! stop yo'self! stop yo'self all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the switchback the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of hammocks, and St. Ham too.
And then, in a twinkling, he tossed out a sack,
then another, and another, and they all just stared back.
As my bag slipped away, and fell to the ground,
He was dressed all in Gore-Tex, from his head to his foot,
And he looked quite refreshed with his well-rested look.
A bag full of tarps he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a thru-hiker opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled -- his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a Slim-Jim he held tight in his teeth,
And hiker stench encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and hands that were strong,
And as he strung hammocks, he sung a fine song.
"Woe to you groundling, with the rocks and the roots
Without enough enough sense to take off your boots!
Watch this now and closely, I'll just show you twice;
Once you can do this, you'll escape snakes and mice!"
He tied up the beds, and lined them with care
With pads and thick bags and a pillow to spare
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I would sleep like the dead.
He spoke not a word, but kept straight to his work,
He tied all the knots; which he cinched with a jerk,
He drove in some stakes, and strung up a tarp,
then pulled them all tightly in the quickening dark.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his teams gave a whistle,
And downward they slid off the hill like a missle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Hammocking to all, and to all a good-night!"
Shane Steinkamp, moderator Hammock Camping List
shane@theplacewithnoname.com
2-------------------------Feature
Article------------------------------
A Look at Insulation
and How Much Is Enough
Sleeping In Hammocks
NOTE: Staying warm in a
hammock is serious business, especially in extreme conditions—your comfort and
even your safety are at stake. This
discussion should be taken as a rough guideline and only used as a starting
point. Why? Because a lot of what follows are
guesstimates based on personal experiences and your own personable metabolism
is responsible in a large part for how comfortable you will be at any given
temperature. Also there are many
intangibles that sometimes play a part... humidity, how tired you are and the
number of hours since you ate any food are just a few of these. With a disclaimer like this, one would
question as to why say anything at all.
That is a good point. My feeling
is that most people need something to start with, a point of reference. In that regard, I hope this helps fill that
void.
For background, there are three mechanisms for heat
transfer: conduction, convection and radiation.
Conduction is often thought of as with solid objects since it is a
molecular exchange of energy that requires direct contact, but it occurs when
any material comes in contact, like when cold air is in contact with your warm
skin. Convection occurs when a fluid is
heated and the warm areas of the fluid expand, rise or in general mix with
cooler areas of the fluid. In this
discussion we are primarily concerned with our warm boundary layer of air
rising and being displaced by cooler air.
When there is no wind, this is called natural convection and occurs
because warm air is lighter than cold air... warm air naturally rises and is
replaced by cooler air. When the
replacement of warm air with cooler air is assisted by the wind, we call this
forced convection. Radiant heat transfer
occurs between two objects that are at different temperatures and have space
between them that infrared radiation waves can traverse. I’m not going to talk about radiant heat
transfer in this discussion but radiation is why direct sunlight is so warm.
Top Side Insulation
How
Much Top Loft Do I Need?
I propose
the following equation as a guideline for loft in a typical breathable sleeping
bag or quilt and it assumes you are wearing some light weight sleeping clothes
that keep you comfortable to 70°F with no additional insulation:
[temperature rating °F] = 70 -
([thickness inches] X 20)
|
Top
Loft |
Temperature
Rating |
|
0” |
70°F |
|
1” |
50°F |
|
2” |
30°F |
|
3” |
10°F |
As used here, Top Loft is the thickness of insulation covering your top side,
not the sum of the insulation on top and below you in a sleeping bag. Note that sleeping bag manufacturers add the top
and bottom insulation thickness to calculate loft. Two other things, don't forget that you need
some type of insulation underneath you with insulating capabilities that follow
the same type of criteria and that you have to stay out of the wind because
forced convection currents (moving air in this case) can effectively rob you of
much of your insulation. When you are
sleeping on the ground your weight compresses the underside insulation of your
sleeping bag and with highly compressible sleeping bags this seriously reduces
the effect of the bottom side insulation, so you will need some type of
sleeping mat for insulation that does not compress as much when you are using
these types of sleeping bags.
Bottom Side Insulation
Okay,
what do I need beneath me when I am sleeping on the ground?
Often the ground is not at the same temperature as the
outside air and to further complicate things sometimes the ground acts like
insulation while at other times the ground acts like a heat sink. The extremes in how the ground acts are best
understood by looking at the contrast between soft forest duff and solid frozen
ground, a virtual block of ice.
Obviously whether the ground is dry or soaking wet can also be a
factor. All these things make specific
ratings questionable... and that is before one factors in differences between
individuals. Nevertheless, let’s
proceed.
A
Therm-a-rest® is a Therm-a-rest®, NOT!
Probably the
most popular sleeping mats are the Therm-a-rest® brand of self inflating open
cell foam mattresses. One of the more
popular models is the ProLite 4. It is
one of the Therm-a-rests® that uses their die-cut foam to make it lighter and
pack smaller, so it isn't really designed to get all the insulating capability
that one could get from a 1.5" open cell foam mattress. It is designed such that weight and pack size
are more important than cold weather performance.
R-value is how Therm-a-rest® mats are specified in terms of insulating
capability. Here is what I think
Therm-a-rest® currently produces or has produced in recent years in their self
inflating line of backpacking pads (the R-value numbers are valid for fully
inflated mats):
1.0" ProLite 3 .......R-value = 2.3
(die cut foam)
1.5" ProLite 4 .......R-value = 3.2
(die cut foam)
1.25" Trail ...........R-value = 4.2 (solid foam)
1.75" Expedition ......R-value = 4.4 (die cut foam)
1.75" Basecamp ........R-value = 5.8 (solid foam)
2.0" Luxury Camp .....R-value = 6.1
(solid foam)
1.0" UltraLite .......R-value = 2.6 (die cut foam)
1.5" GuideLite .......R-value = 3.8
(die cut foam)
2.0" LE ..............R-value = 4.1
(cored foam)
1.5" Explorer ........R-value = 4.7 (solid foam)
1.75" Standard ........R-value = 5.8 (solid foam)
I don't know how Therm-a-rest® expects you to make use of these R-value
numbers, other than a higher R-value means a higher insulating value. Insulation is not just about being warm or
cold, there is toasty, warm, okay, cool, cold and freezing. I don't pretend to really know how to convert
those R-values into temperatures that you will be happy with, but I can make a
guess. I would propose a guesstimate
using the following formula where the constant (k) is somewhere between 12 and
16.
Low Temp (degrees F) = 70 - k * R-value
Using this guesstimate, you would get something like this:
ProLite 3 ......42 to 33°F
ProLite 4 ......32 to 19°F
Trail ..........20 to 3°F
Expedition .....17 to 0°F
BaseCamp ....... 0 to -23°F
Luxury Camp ....-3 to 28°F
UltraLite ......39 to 28°F
GuideLite ......24 to 9°F
LE .............21 to 4°F
Explorer .......14 to -5°F
Standard ....... 0 to -23°F
Now these numbers are somewhat pulled out of the air to demonstrate what
R-value should lead to. So what do you
do if you are using a Therm-a-rest® that isn't warm enough? You can obtain a warmer one or you can
augment what you have by placing a closed cell foam pad underneath it in cold
conditions. For instance, if your
ProLite 4 isn't warm enough, placing a RidgeRest closed cell foam pad
underneath it with its R-value of 2.6 should augment your Prolite 4's R-value
of 3.2, giving you an R-value of 5.8 (3.2 + 2.6 = 5.8), which is the same
R-value as the BaseCamp and should offer about the same warmth, something good
to somewhere in the vicinity of 0 to -23°F.
At least that is the way it is suppose to work.
Closed
Cell Foam Pads
Therm-a-rest® also produces closed cell foam pads that are
unique in that they are not solid on the top and bottom surfaces, which
provides more comfort with less weight.
Their current models of this type are as follow:
3/4” Z-Lite .............R-value = 2.2
5/8” RidgeRest ..........R-value = 2.6
3/4” RidgeRest Deluxe ...R-value = 3.1
Applying the same equation yields the following table:
Z-Lite .............44 to 35°F
RidgeRest ..........39 to 28°F
RidgeRest Deluxe ...33 to 20°F
There are many other closed cell foam pads used for
backpacking that are either solid or egg crated, etc. Most of these don’t have R-values specified
and it makes it difficult to figure out their temperature ratings. Without any other information, I assign solid
pads an R-value based on their thickness.
This is obviously not always correct but is the best I know to do. The egg crated pads are perplexing because
you don’t know for sure whether you can effectively trap air in the small
crated parts of the pad. If you can
their R-value would approach a value determined by their maximum thickness...
if you can’t then the R-value would approach a value determined by their
minimum thickness. The following table
summarizes the values for generic closed cell foam pads:
1/4” ....R-value = 1.1 .... 57 to 52°F
3/8” ....R-value = 1.6 .... 51 to 44°F
1/2" ....R-value = 2.2 .... 44 to 35°F
5/8” ....R-value = 2.7 .... 38 to 27°F
3/4” ....R-value = 3.3 .... 30 to 17°F
Insulation in a
Hammock
Things involving insulation change in a hammock. Top side insulation doesn’t particular change
but you are not in contact with the ground anymore and that does significantly
change bottom side insulation. Also worth
noting is that backpacking hammocks tend to wrap around your sides which
affects the width requirement if you are using pads... you will need a wider
pad in a hammock.
If you are using blankets or quilts in some fashion on the
outside of the hammock where they are not compressed by your weight, I believe
the same loft requirements that are used for top side insulation apply equally
for bottom side insulation. However,
there are some differences worth noting for bottom side quilts or sleeping bags
that are separate from the hammock and they are fit and ventilation. Gravity no longer gently drapes the bag on
top of you, it pulls it away and you may not have easy access to the
adjustments that affect the ventilation of the outside insulation. You have to pull it snug but not so snug as
to excessively compress the insulation while at the same time not allowing
unwanted ventilation. This is not always
an easy task for the complex shapes that occur when someone is in a comfortable
hammock whose fabric is selected to stretch enough to comfortably caress the
contours of your body so that it doesn’t produce uncomfortable pressure
points. For these reasons, I think that
some modification is prudent for bottom side quilts or sleeping bags that are
separate from the hammock. This is my
best guess for separate bottom side quilts or sleeping bags:
[temperature rating °F]
= 70 - ([thickness inches] X 15)
The following chart shows the comparison I see for top side
quilts or sleeping bags versus bottom side quilts or sleeping bags.
|
|
Temperature
Rating |
Temperature
Rating |
|
Loft |
Top
Side |
Bottom
Side |
|
0” |
70°F |
70°F |
|
1” |
50°F |
55°F |
|
2” |
30°F |
40°F |
|
3” |
10°F |
25°F |
Ground mats that are traditionally used in tent camping can also
be used in a hammock. The temperature
rating may be different in a hammock because the outside of the hammock is
exposed to outside air (and wind--but wind is not factored into these
equations). Some pads provide enough
insulation to be used by themselves while others require addition pads to
provide enough insulation. Also worth
noting is that the compressible pads tend to compress more in the low spot of
hammocks (your tush) than they do on the ground. The following chart is for hammock use, reflects
these phenomena and uses the previously described equations with k equal to 10
for the more compressible self inflating pads and k equal to 12 for closed cell
foam pads. It also shows how pads can be
stacked to increase the effective temperature range. Stacking pads will occur more often when pads
are used in hammocks because more bottom side insulation is generally needed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Therm-A-Rest Pads® |
Thickness
(inches) |
R-value |
Without
Extra Pads (°F) |
With
1/4" ccf Pad (°F) |
With
3/8" ccf Pad (°F) |
With
1/2" ccf Pad (°F) |
|
|
|
|
ProLite
3 |
1 |
2.3 |
47 |
34 |
27 |
20 |
|
|
|
|
ProLite
4 |
1.5 |
3.2 |
38 |
25 |
18 |
--- |
|
|
|
|
Trail |
1.25 |
4.2 |
28 |
15 |
--- |
--- |
|
|
|
|
Expedition |
1.75 |
4.4 |
26 |
13 |
--- |
--- |
|
|
|
|
BaseCamp |
1.75 |
5.8 |
12 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
|
|
|
|
Luxury
Camp |
2 |
6.1 |
9 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
|
|
|
|
UltraLite |
1 |
2.6 |
44 |
31 |
24 |
17 |
|
|
|
|
GuideLi |