[at-l] the Official Brief GA RUCK report

[ericmarcano@yahoo.com (Nighthawk)]

It was 2:30am when nature's call and a slight chill on my back awakened
me. I surprised to have slept comfortably in my Hennessy Hammock that
late into the night considering the strong winds, freezing rain, and an
occassional snow flake or two. But nevertheless, there I was trying to
decide if I should get up and answer nature's call or simply wrestle
with my discomfort for as long as I could.

For curiousity's sake I took a peek at my zipper-pull thermometer,
wondering what I would have to deal with once I left the comfort of the
hammock. I read it once. I read it again. 15 degrees (later reports
suggested a low of 18). Sure enough, I stepped outside and it was cold.
This was to be expected, though. This year's GA Ruck at Amicalola Falls
State Park saw more than its fair share of nasty weather.

My car was frozen with ice, the doors nearly stuck. I set my water
bottle on the trunk, took a short walk, answered natures call, and by
the time I returned, most of the water turned to ice. After enjoying a
Snickers bar that nearly fractured a tooth, I jumped inside the hammock
and slept like a baby 'til 7:30am.

I slept in the hammock utilizing a sleeping pad made from a truck-sized
car shade with a thin layer of fleece glued to it (big thanks to Rob for
letting me test it). My sleeping bag was a North Face Cat's Meow 3D
rated to 15-degrees. My clothing consisted of smartwool socks, 100-wt
fleece pants under my hiking pants, a polyester mesh T-shirt, a 100-wt
fleece top and a Moonstone Cirrus jacket. I also wore a North Face cap
with wind-proof earflaps. The clothing items I wore were essentially the
ones I was wearing that evening around camp and at the GA Ruck
festivities. I simply kicked my boots off crawled into the hammock and
sleeping bag and dozed off.

During my 2:30am wake-up call I noticed my back did get a bit chilly
(I'm a cold sleeper), however, after eating a bit and having some
fluids, I warmed up quickly and opted not to add a Mt Washington
sleeping pad to the set-up. I also tend to sleep on my side with less of
my back exposed to the hammock's surface underneath me. This may have
contributed quite a bit to my overall comfort.

Also, I noticed that my feet were cold due to the wind blowing across
the hammock. I covered them with a trash bag, slipped them back into
the sleeping bag and the make-shift vapor barrier warmed my piggies
up nicely.

There are a couple of things I would have done differently now that I've
had some time to think:

1) lower the angles of each side of the fly to decrease the amount of
   wind blowing into the hammock. I admit it: I was too tired and lazy
   to make the adjustment after I initially laid down. Made the testing
   more interesting, though.

2) replace the 100-wt fleece top with a thicker fleece vest (or just add
   it). Fleece's lack of compressibility would have added an effective
   extra layer of insulation under my back.

3) maybe add a vapor barrier lining or VB socks/pants/top.

Keep in mind that this test was performed while having several back-up
plans available to me in case of failure (i.e. the car, a cabin and the
laundry room). Also, as a disclaimer, clothing and other items and
combination of items utilized for this test were those that have worked
for me specifically, with the exception of the truck shade. This test
serves only to suggest that in the event of unexpected low temperatures,
it may be possible to spend a relatively comfortable evening in the
Hennessy Hammock.

-Nighthawk



--

 - Posted via http://forums.backcountry.net