Last trip of May

 

At the End of May

At the end of May, I went on a hammock trip – the last one for now. Over the summer, I'll be sleeping on the ground again. But I had bought a few extra bits for my hammock: a gear sling, some gear hangers, a small lantern, and I wanted to test them before a school camp with work. The plan was to sleep in my hammock inside the wolf enclosure at the zoo where we were going on the camp.

Tarp Setup

I've tried different setups with my 3x3 oilskin tarp. But it's actually a bit too small for hammock camping – in heavy rain I'd probably get wet at the ends of the hammock. So I decided to try a diagonal tarp setup this time. That gives me a ridgeline of 4.2 metres instead of 3 metres – a big difference.

There was quite a bit of wind coming from one direction, so I offset the "diagonal" slightly and ended up with one completely closed side facing the wind and a nice lean-to on the other side.

So I think a 3x3 tarp is sufficient. At least I absolutely love oilskin compared to polyester. It's just so incredibly nice that an oilskin tarp doesn't make any noise.

I've changed my "quick ridgeline" setup a little. I switched from bankline to Dyneema and carved a different spool. The new one has many more holes in it so I can hang bits of gear from it. It worked incredibly well, with no slack at all, and it was quick to set up.

Food

Dinner was risotto with cheese from Rema (15 kroner (€2) for a packet, enough food for me three times). The chicken and mushrooms were frozen before the trip to keep longer. I cooked the risotto in the pot and fried the mushrooms and chicken on the lid/frying pan, then mixed everything together at the end. I love that copy of the Czech mess kit – it's just fantastic.

Breakfast was the leftovers from dinner, coffee made with the Stanley filter, a couple of homemade rolls with salt and herbs, and a frankfurter. A fantastic breakfast.

Camp

I found the perfect spot in the woods for my hammock, and it was pure luck. I didn't spend much time looking around. But after choosing the trees, there happened to be a hole in the ground right next to them – perfect for a fire. There were also three large stones, and there really aren't many of those in that forest.

Apart from that, I gathered firewood while the first pot of water was boiling and built a small wall. Does it have any effect when it comes to reflecting heat toward the hammock? Nope. But I had to gather branches for the fire anyway. And somehow it just adds a bit of coziness to have the camp enclosed.

Gear

I only brought the essentials, though still more than would fit in my shoulder bag. The tomahawk (Cold Steel Norse Hawk) came up short because it has a rounded poll. I used wooden tent pegs on this trip, and that tomahawk is simply a terrible hammer. So it's going up for sale. I've seen some really nice "make a cheap axe look awesome" posts on Reddit, so I might try that instead.

The Stanley coffee filter is new to me, and it works well for a single cup of coffee. But it clogs up when I try to brew a whole pot, so I have to stir it with a spoon – and then coffee grounds end up in the brew. That doesn't bother me much; I could probably drink mud. But if anyone has tips for using the filter, I'd love to hear them. It's also larger than I expected, so I may just stick with cloth coffee filters on trips.

Grill Grate

I bought a cheap stainless steel grill grate from China online. It folds up and just fits inside my cook kit bag. It worked really well for a piece of gear that cost 50 kroner (€6.70): stable, a good size, and definitely worth the money. It's also exactly the same model that several retailers have white-labelled as their own version and sell for twice the price. But that's often the case with discount gear.

Kettle

The kettle has had a small upgrade. The lid on my kettle didn't stay on securely, nowhere near as firmly as the lid on my Pathfinder cup, for example. And I like clipping the kettle onto my bag, so I attached a small chain from the lid to the kettle so I won't lose it by accident.

The Trip

The trip itself was simply fantastic. The weather was good and dry. I didn't need my anorak for anything other than a seat pad. My sleeping bag stayed open all night.

There were young owls in the forest that I could watch with my cheap IR night vision device. Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted the photos and videos of them.

Lessons for Next Time

The tomahawk needs to be replaced whenever I'm not bringing metal tent pegs.

The metal coffee filter takes up far too much space on a trip like this.

I've ordered a compression sack for my hammock setup. It's brilliant that the XL sleeve fits over the hammock, gear sling, sleeping bag, and pillow. It makes setup incredibly easy. I can pack everything tightly inside the tarp, but that requires unnecessary repacking when I'm heading out without the hammock. I'm curious to see how compact the whole setup becomes in the compression sack.

Videos

I recorded a few short videos during the trip. Pure atmosphere.