Building the Go Anywhere, in Anything UL Camp Kit

Hammocks... ugh. This is for me... so hammock lovers don't get a case of the ass. BLUF: Most miserable sleep ever.

As is typical for me I went all in. I tried a friends out who raved about his Warbonnet Hammock XLC, one of the best (and most expensive on the market). I casually tried it out and thought it was comfortable for those brief 3 minutes and I pondered how easy it would be to set up for those times I wasn't going to be stationary and on the move when travelling or in warm weather. Small footprint, lightweight, easily pack-able, bug netting, overhead cover to keep the precipitation/dew of of you... everything you'd need. Brilliant craftsmanship.

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I was miserable... couldn't sleep... kept getting wadded up in a ball in the center of the hammock... yes, I know you're supposed to position yourself a certain way. That's great when dealing with a cadaver, but since I'm still pumping 5.4 liters of blood, I'm alive and move. Nothing is worse than having your head lower than the rest of your body to ensure you completely block your nasal passages with congestion (see, "waterboarding").

Add to that, thinking I would be comfortable in the warm, humid August evening in central Pennsylvania, I was never more disappointed. I froze my ass off, literally. Since it was hot I would perspire, but the breeze under the double-layered material of the hammock served as an efficient radiator. Despite the jungle bag I had for covers, it turned into a jumble wad in the center of the bag and was useless at providing a level of insulation between the night air and my posterior.

God bless you folks who actually enjoy and utilize these sleep systems... but it's not for me. :tango

If you're looking for a deal on a Warbonnet Hammock system... give me a holler. Like new, used twice. Carefully stored in the CIF.
 
Haggis said:
The Helinox is the Cadillac UL for sure but at $250 a pop kills the low budget premise of the kit we are trying to build. Instead we are looking at this Marchway model...
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All the info finds it to be made in the same factory as the Helinox one but is just a tad heavier. Supports up to 300 lbs. Weighs in at 4.7 lbs. Good reviews from the UL hikers and it comes in at just $75. That's $125 more dollars to buy more kit, so sign me up.
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I got a similar one for Christmas and am very happy with it so far, granted I only have about 5 nights using it since I forgot to pack it for the Winter trip. It is made by King Camp http://amzn.to/2FZYLdO and runs about 129 on amazon.

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BushHead said:
Have you thought about doing the hammock thing instead of tents? Some swear by them, I've tried it, better than the pad/ground thing, but I like my cot better....
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I have tried the hammock thing, and it is comfortable, but I found that by the time I get the hammock, tarp, sleeping bag, and underquilt it ends up being the same size or bigger than just grabbing a tent and sleeping bag with a mat.
 
Haggis said:
I don't do extended nights in a hammock, plus we want something we can get out of the weather together in. We are thinking an Alps Mountianeering Aries 3 person tent...
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We are willing to sacrifice a few ounces of weight for a little extra height and width over a two person tent. This tent has dual doors and vestibules and a footprint is available. It weighs in at 6.2 lbs so it's a bit on the heavy side but it also makes for a good canoe/rental car tent. Price is $145 for the tent, $38 for the footprint. Great reviews on this as well.
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I have an old version of the Taurus 4 from Alps Mountaineering that I purchased somewhere around 2004. I have well over 200 nights in it and still have it in the garage as a back up. If their quality is anything like it was at that point you will be very happy with it. http://www.alpsmountaineering.com/products/tents/camping-tents/taurus-4
 
BlkWgn said:
I have tried the hammock thing, and it is comfortable, but I found that by the time I get the hammock, tarp, sleeping bag, and underquilt it ends up being the same size or bigger than just grabbing a tent and sleeping bag with a mat.
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That's a good point
 
TangoBlue said:
I froze my ass off, literally. Since it was hot I would perspire, but the breeze under the double-layered material of the hammock served as an efficient radiator. Despite the jungle bag I had for covers, it turned into a jumble wad in the center of the bag and was useless at providing a level of insulation between the night air and my posterior.
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ENO makes several variants of an underquilt to address this known issue, The Ember 2 is the "entry level" variant and more than sufficient for 3 season camping IMHO.

https://www.amazon.com/ENO-Eagles-N...qid=1521564157&sr=8-3&keywords=eno+underquilt

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TangoBlue said:
If you're looking for a deal on a Warbonnet Hammock system... give me a holler. Like new, used twice. Carefully stored in the CIF.
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Hold that thought. I'm dirtbagging it at Expo West and if the ENO Doublenest works out, we'll have to talk. Savannah is already mad that I didn't buy TWO hammocks :)
 
Dave said:
I'm dirtbagging it at Expo West and if the ENO Doublenest works out, we'll have to talk
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I can bring my Warbonnet for expo if you want to test it out. It is a huge upgrade from an ENO
 
TangoBlue said:
If you're looking for a deal on a Warbonnet Hammock system... give me a holler. Like new, used twice. Carefully stored in the CIF.
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Dave said:
Hold that thought. I'm dirtbagging it at Expo West and if the ENO Doublenest works out, we'll have to talk. Savannah is already mad that I didn't buy TWO hammocks :)
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As you probably noted on the Warbonnet site, they too make an under-liner as well. My version is the XLC - perfectly sized for your gargantuan dimensions and included is the double layered bottom for positioning the quilted/down under-liner. This model is the near un-obtainable Multi-cam version, rendering you nearly invisible in day or night conditions. Passer-bys will only hear you snoring. In my case, swearing.
 
For campstoves we are considering two, both have good reviews and cost about the same.

The first is the Etekcity UL portable campstove...
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...made from stainless steel and aluminum it's a bit heavier of the two but has a Piezio ignition feature so you don't have worry about a forgotten lighter. Weight comes in at 4.6 ozs and cost $10 on Amazon.

The second is the BRS UL stove...
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This sucker is made from titanium, weighs in at a mere 2.5 ozs and cost only $17. It also looks a lot like the MSR Pocket Rocket which retails for $45.

I might buy both and give them a side by side comparison as to their effectiveness.
 
Haggis said:
For campstoves we are considering two, both have good reviews and cost about the same.

The first is the Etekcity UL portable campstove...
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...made from stainless steel and aluminum it's a bit heavier of the two but has a Piezio ignition feature so you don't have worry about a forgotten lighter. Weight comes in at 4.6 ozs and cost $10 on Amazon.

The second is the BRS UL stove...
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This sucker is made from titanium, weighs in at a mere 2.5 ozs and cost only $17. It also looks a lot like the MSR Pocket Rocket which retails for $45.

I might buy both and give them a side by side comparison as to their effectiveness.
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I own the Icetek Sports campstove and have been quite happy with it. This little unit is rolled out in a Chinese factory somewhere that then stamps 1 of about 30 different vendors names on it and ships them across the sea to us. The Etekcity look you've posted looks to be just another variant with some small variations. Good burner control is really the only thing that will set these different single burner units apart. I have some friends that have some really cheap ebay versions (like $3) and they're either on or off. There's no boil, simmer, warm...it's flash fry or nothing. I've had good luck with the Icetek Sports one as it has enough control for my trail side culinary skills. In a real pinch (camping in a humid river bottom after heavy summer rains) I've even used it to dry out tinder and start a campfire.
 
I looked at the BRS and ended up buying the pocket rocket2 (the newer version). Its 2.6oz, and when I had a leg bend they mailed me another for free, something to be said for service at times. A mini lighter fits in the case for the stove also.
 
Since the weather around here has been cold and wet we had sort of put building this kit on the back burner. But dammit good weather has to come some time so we dropped some dimes on the big ticket item of the kit, namely the tent.

We went ahead and bought the Alps Mountaineering Aries 3. We also got the footprint for it as it has a trapezoid base. Since its pretty crappy outside I set it up in the living room to check it out. Set-up was quick, intuitive and took about 5 minutes with one person setting it up for the first time. Excuse the clutter, busy week...
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It's a bit big and heavy for a straight up backpacking tent, but the extra space it gives will allow it to work great for car/kayak camping as well as the overnight hiking use. It looks and feels like a quality piece of equipment and we like the design of it from the double doors to the raised roof section. I can see us contently sitting out a rainy evening in the Pennsylvania woods in this shelter.

As I add kit I'm going to update the first post with the cost and weight of each item added for future reference.
 
BlkWgn said:
I have tried the hammock thing, and it is comfortable, but I found that by the time I get the hammock, tarp, sleeping bag, and underquilt it ends up being the same size or bigger than just grabbing a tent and sleeping bag with a mat.
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I like the option of carrying a hammock an tent on the bike. If it's going to be warm and dry I prefer the hammock over the tent. 2 tree straps and you are done and air flow underneath to help keep me cool. If I know the weather is going to be nasty, or I'm a bit funky and need a change, then the tent goes up. If I had to choose only one then it would be the tent without a doubt.
 
Despite not having the weather or the time to actually go camping we are still building this kit up. Last week Michelle was looking for some compression sacks for my daughter's camping kit on a site called CampSaver.com. There she noticed they had Klymit Static sleep pads on sale for a mere $33, that's $14 cheaper per pad than the lowest price we've seen so far ($47). With free shipping Michelle jumped on it and ordered two.

A week later they showed up at the door. Packed into a stuff sack with an attached repair kit pouch they pack down to a 4"x 8" cylinder.
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Taking one out, it took about 25 breaths to inflate. Seemed pretty comfortable on the floor of the living room but that sure might change after an all nighter in the woods some where. The pad felt more comfortable laying on my side than my back but I'm a side sleeper anyways. I never felt the floor in the side sleeping position. I'm just shy of 6' and I fit with some space to spare. They should work fine.

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So In the end Michelle saved us $26 bucks to spend on the next piece of gear for this kit. That's enough change to buy a couple of packable pillows to go with these pads.
 
Haggis said:
Despite not having the weather or the time to actually go camping we are still building this kit up. Last week Michelle was looking for some compression sacks for my daughter's camping kit on a site called CampSaver.com. There she noticed they had Klymit Static sleep pads on sale for a mere $33, that's $14 cheaper per pad than the lowest price we've seen so far ($47). With free shipping Michelle jumped on it and ordered two.

A week later they showed up at the door. Packed into a stuff sack with an attached repair kit pouch they pack down to a 4"x 8" cylinder.
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Taking one out, it took about 25 breaths to inflate. Seemed pretty comfortable on the floor of the living room but that sure might change after an all nighter in the woods some where. The pad felt more comfortable laying on my side than my back but I'm a side sleeper anyways. I never felt the floor in the side sleeping position. I'm just shy of 6' and I fit with some space to spare. They should work fine.

View attachment 38585

So In the end Michelle saved us $26 bucks to spend on the next piece of gear for this kit. That's enough change to buy a couple of packable pillows to go with these pads.
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I LOVE my Klymit stuff...sleeping pad and sleeping bag.
 
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