u/beerkmansworld

Driving 5 hours up to the Adirondacks in the morning. Firm plan is to go Little Tupper Lake to Rock Pond and camp. Shakier plan is to continue on to Lake Lila through some iffy portages. Either way I’m going to enjoy those 5 days.

Really nothing like the anticipation of a good trip after everything is packed up and in place.

Note: I did notice the back cam strap was a little wonky after taking this photo. Realigned and parallel now.

Yup, I’m weird. Of all 4 seasons, I enjoy deep winter camping the most. I don’t have a hot tent, I love fighting the cold normally in a good tent with proper gear. I’m in the northeast US and the White Mountains of New Hampshire is my winter happy place. Not as cold as plenty of places, but cold enough! -10F is not uncommon when I camp, and many times colder. Wind is also a somewhat factor.

Normally I take my Mountain Hardwear Trango tent, Nemo Tensor Extreme and Western Mountaineering Puma (-25F) bag along to camp. Warmth is top notch. That tent is a PITA to get in and out of as a 6’1” human being.

This year I took the dive into hammock camping. I have the WB Ridgerunner (Bridge Hammock) and WB Blackbird XLC (gathered end). Love both, but I’ll declare my undying love to the Ridgerunner alone. To me, it’s just the most comfortable of the two, has the best built in storage of the two, and although I bought both with double layers, the Ridgerunner takes a sleep pad easier and with less fuss than the Blackbird. YMMV.

Right now I have an Arrowhead Equipment Ridgecreek XL 15 degree underquilt. It is great, and so far, has been nice and comfortable during the summer months along with the shoulder season when I bought it. As great as Down is, for winter and moisture danger, any additional UQ’s I buy are probably also going to be synthetic, and from Arrowhead most likely. Their quality, speed and responsiveness have me sold.

I know that gathered end hammocks are usually best for winter camping. As there’s more material and UQ enveloping you, versus more so underneath you in a bridge. Wind protection also an advantage for a gathered end.

My plan is to use a -ridgeline to ground- winter tarp with doors to cut the wind out and also layer more UQ’s. Do everything I can to replicate the advantages of a gathered end while using my bridge. Weight isn’t as much of a factor as I Pulk Sled in my gear when there’s snow. Groundsheet will also come into play.

TL;DR: Rambling over. How cold have you successfully used a bridge hammock and what advice can you offer? How many UQ’s of what rating do you bring along? Trying to save my pennies for all I’ll need for a good winter camp season. Lastly, love this community for being so helpful.

Single night camp on Forest Service Road 71 in the Green Mountains, VT. Thanks to u/leosopholis for pointing out they were available now, I was able to purchase carbon fiber spreader poles directly from Warbonnet.

They work perfectly. Nest together just like the stock poles, and also come with the protective end caps. Definitely will appreciate the weight reduction when hiking.

I’m adding a tip that’s worked well for me when attaching the underquilt. Instead of having to fiddle around trying to clip the carabiners into the corner webbing, I’ve added keychain rings to each corner. Just connect the carabiners to these in seconds. I have noticed zero additional gaps when the UQ is beneath me.

First of all, a big thank you to this community for all the lessons I’ve learned from your helpful posts and responses!

Kicked off canoeing season with a leisurely tour of the Floodwood Loop area in the ADK. Originally intended to be 9 days and 8 nights, but the last day was all rain, so I decided to wrap it up early while still dry.

Normally I take a tent on these trips, but it’s always a chore finding level ground to set up, so this year I started my journey into hammock camping. What a damn smart move! Not only because of the ability to find more spots, but the absolute comfort improvement I experienced. I’ve always been of the mindset “you’re going to sleep like shit when camping, it’s just a part of it”. Now I have a new mantra “you’re going to have a really difficult time wanting to get out of bed in the morning, after the great sleep you just had”. It was a blast and I learned much.

Some things I noticed / need to work on:

1: The Arrowhead Ridge Creek XL 15 degree underquilt was amazing. In a previous post, a user explained to me that having an underquilt is like receiving a warm hug. 200%. This UQ was perfect fitting, extremely well built, and handled 32 Fahrenheit nights with ease. I’m normally skeptical of temp ratings, but this was a champ. I love the lightness of down, but having a UQ made of a synthetic that could still retain heat even if damp was a decider for me. Packed down extremely small with a compression sack, also.

2: I brought my 15 Fahrenheit down sleeping bag. I used it in a “Top Quilt” configuration. Kept it zipped up about 18” to make a “footbox” and quilted over me instead of me being inside it. Worked great. I think this is the one area I’m not 100% convinced about yet. I can’t wrap my head around buying a Top Quilt yet, when my sleeping bag can essentially do the same thing (my ignorant opinion, please tell me how I’m wrong, as I do want to know). The bag weighs 1 lb 14 ounces, am I going to save a massive amount of weight with a quilt instead?

3: I need some more work with the Superfly. A: being over 6 feet tall, my instinct is to get the fly’s ridgeline tall enough so I can almost stand up straight in it. I’ve found that having it this way means a lot of airspace underneath for wind / weather to get in laterally. Lesson learned is to drop it down and learn to stoop. B: I need to get some hardware for the tie downs. Taut-line hitches for each guy out line is a pain in the ass. Working with small diameter guy cordage, they’re a pain to tie and you can’t really keep them tied when it’s time to break down camp. Dutchware will have my business soon enough. C: You can go right to hell, paracord! Stretchy, saggy ridgelines. Prusik knots barely hold for tensioning the tarp. Bought Amsteel from a boating supply store today to make a better ridgeline for next time. (How the hell do you fuse the ends? Lighter flame just mushrooms the end!)D: I did end up taking my side pulls lines off the tree, as it was bothering me the whole time, since I am there to enjoy nature, not harm it. See canoe paddle used in its place at a different spot.

TL;DR: had a great time canoe camping, and an even better time than usual because of hammock camping. Please review and provide any suggestions you wonderful people have. Thank you!

I’ve always been a tent camper, but my canoe camping trips to ADK have not always met with flat ground, making finding a tent site a little bit of work. As the season is about to start for me, I knew I wanted to have more flexibility, so I bought the Ridgerunner. 2 sleep nights so far and it’s excellent. -First purchase.-

I was initially deadset on only using my air pads, as I have one for each season. And although my sleep was great those first 2 nights with a Nemo winter air pad, I’ve been reading up here about the comfort and more insulative properties of an Underquilt, I went ahead and bought an AHE Ridge Creek XL 15 degree. Excellent build quality and finish. -Second purchase.-

The closest I had to a rain fly that would “work” with a hammock was a 15x12 Amazon tarp. Heavy but waterproof, and lots of attachment points. Also, no doors per se, so not truly 4 season. So I bought a WB Superfly. 13 foot, with all the additional options. -Third purchase-

So now, here I am Permethrin’ing all my gear for a 9 day solo trip to ADK starting next weekend. All the while looking into UQ protectors, lighter suspension options, ultimately looking at gathered end hammocks for down the road when I want to get a little lighter.

Am I doomed to endlessly upgrade, improve, enhance? I’m fully enjoying the ride, don’t get me wrong, but I see no end in sight here, and I’m smiling.

-Side note: if you’re treating your double layer Ridgerunner with Permethrin, adding a fan significantly speeds up the drying time. Puffs up like a marshmallow if you aim the fan right.-