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Initial Impressions - DD Superlightweight Hammock and Mosquito Net

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  • #1

    Initial Impressions - DD Superlightweight Hammock and Mosquito Net

    I recently purchased the DD Superlightweight (SLW) hammock and mosquito net from Diamond Dave (thanks David) and have had a chance to pitch it a couple of times (though not the opportunity to sleep in it yet). Here are my initial impressions...

    Wow these are light!
    Wow these are small!

    The soft shackles and whoopie slings are a brilliant idea and sooo easy to use/ set up even though I did feel a little bit apprehensive about whether they would support my weight they were fine. Kudos to whomever invented these things they are brilliant.

    As you may know my only other hammock experience is with my TW Hornet XL, so I can only compare it with that (A little skewed as they are different 'animals' designed for different types of trips etc.) However, they both are top notch quality wise (both in terms of materials and build quality) .

    The DD SLW is of course much narrower that the TW and this is where my only concern lies.

    In the TW I can get an extremely comfortable diagonal lie, sleep on my side and front and generally have acres of room. The DD felt 'constrictive' in comparison and hugs the area around the shoulders quite tightly. Whilst this is Ok when lying on your back I'm not sure that I could spent a whole night this way and I doubt that a comfortable diagonal lie is achievable unless you actually put your head/ neck on the outside edge of the hammock.

    So in summary an extremely well made and thought out light weight low pack size piece of kit, ideal for when size/ weight considerations are more important than comfort.

    As a ‘gear-head’ I’m super impressed with the SLW set-up, I have a local meet to go to on the 16th-18th of October and hope to use the DD SLW set-up for the whole weekend so I shall report back on how I get on.

    In addition I now have the DD underquilt (which I have tried with the TW, with much success) I will be trying this with the SLW in October as well.

    If anyone has any questions or any tips on using the DD SLW set-up then please do comment.

    Cheers
    Steve

  • #2
    Thanks fella, good review to give people food for thought

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    • #3
      Its made up my mind, I wouldn't want to go any narrower than my TW

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      • #4
        Thanks for the initial review, looking forward to the full review, with mozzie net and having slept in it, I'm hovering over the buy button on a few hammocks, just cant make my mind up yet, I've heard that you have to be carefull about what your wearing in the SLW hammock so as not to crease or rip the fabric with it being so lightweight, that is a BIG concern I have, I tend to use and use hard, my last hammock, DD jungle modular was a cracking bit of kit, still looking for that magic combo of pack size v function and durability ?

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        • #5
          Ok Part 2-
          Unexpectedly I manged to get out for a cheeky overnighter on Saturday night so I took the opportunity to have my first overnight hang in the DD SLW
          I wasn’t expecting much after my initial short ‘throw it up’ session as I thought that I wouldn’t be able to get a comfortable night’s sleep in the DD SLW (see post #1 of this thread) . However, you shouldn’t judge a book by its’ cover….

          My pal and I were first on-site at about 13:00 on Saturday so I had plenty of time to experiment with the DD SLW.
          It was now that the ‘eureka’ moment happened (now remember I’m a hammocking noob so I know a lot of you will be rolling your eyes when you read this and muttering ”…well obviously!”... but I didn’t know!).

          When I tried the SLW earlier I had only set up the hammock, now I put on the ridgeline as well. That made all the difference! I spent ages experimenting with ridgeline length adjusting the amount of hammock ‘sag’ and eventually got it adjusted where I could get a very comfortable diagonal lie! Problem solved and my main issue with the SLW gone!
          Next I added the SLW bug net and this is where I have a couple of minor niggles with its’ design. Don’t get me wrong, as a bug net it does the job admirably, it was easy to cinch around the bottom of the hammock to form a sufficient ‘seal’ against the many flying critters flying about. The internal ridgeline also kept it away from my face/ body etc. However, there are two areas where the design gives rise to minor niggles.
          1. Once you have attached the DD underquilt (more of which later) and put a top quilt/ sleeping bag in the hammock the bug net cannot be slid to one end of the hammock out of the way. (You can’t pass the Top/ bottom quilt and hammock through the small drawstring holes at each end of the bug net. So once the bug net is ’deployed’ unless you want to dismantle your set-up, that is the way it stays.
          2. It is difficult to move the bug net out of the way when entering the hammock i.e. I found that I kept trapping the bug net under my bum when entering the hammock and I couldn’t find a convenient way of tying up the net as its’ shape/ design made that impossible to do. (Take a couple of clothes pegs next time?...(Hardly elegant though!)
          It was then that I thought about attaching my DD underquilt. Doh! It wasn’t until then that I realised that the four ‘end’ attachment chords would have to pass through the drawstring holes at each end of the bug net and whilst it was easy to do I realised the issue with the bug net (1. Above).

          I’ve used the DD underquilt on my TW Hornet XL before so was confident about its’ insulation properties, and as expected it was easy to fit to the DD SLW (obviously as they are both from DD). However, to get a ‘proper’ fit is a little fiddly. The length of the bungee cord/ carabiners on the underquilt take quite a bit of adjusting and I found that two of the loops on the hammock were a lot smaller than the others (I suspect a small manufacturing error rather than by design) so I had to untie the cord(s) from the carabiners (as the carabiners wouldn’t pass through the smaller loops on the hammock) and retie them. I shall have to find a better way of setting up and adjusting the DD underquilt. Obviously to provide ‘full’ coverage on a diagonal lie the underquilt cords will be different lengths (so that the UQ mirrors the diagonal lie of your body rather than the straight hang of the quilt).

          A minor quibble and I would be very interested to hear from any forum members what they do in order to get the perfect adjustment of their DD underquilt. Although I did eventually manage to get mine set up perfectly it did involve a lot of untying and retying carabiners to shock cord and sometimes looping the shock cord once or twice between the hammock and underquilt and tying knots in the shock cord to get the requited length right. (Has anyone come up with an easy way of adjusting these each hang? Use of some toggle adjusters in some way perhaps?)

          Anyway, sleeping bag added and I was done.

          Then the next niggle hit (and I’m hoping that this is/was due to my lack of pitching knowledge and I’m looking to you guys to tell me the answer to this one!...no pressure!!)
          The sides of the hammock once ‘inside’ come up high/ are very steep. This means that getting out of the hammock is very difficult. The side of the hammock comes up under your knees when you swing your legs out in order to stand up (so your bum is lower than your knees which are ‘hung up’ on the side of the hammock) I found it impossible to stand from this position and pitching the hammock lower or higher didn’t make a difference. Your knees are forced up so high that no matter how low the hammock your feet cannot touch the ground. Most times I ended up ‘rolling’ out of the hammock onto the ground (in a controlled way) but more often than not pulling out my sleeping bag in the process!

          Now I don’t have this issue with the TW Hornet XL, so is it that the reduced width of the DD SLW (compared to the TW) is causing the issue? Or is it a function of how the hammock is pitched? I’d be very grateful for and advice/ input on this please.

          Now I had it set up I was chuffed my major fear of not getting a comfortable lie was now a thing of the past and so fast forward to post campfire scoff, beers and bull$hit, time to turn-in!
          Getting in the hammock was a little awkward (see niggle about the bug-net getting trapped) but once in it was bliss! Apparently I was snoring within 10 minutes!

          I was warm, comfortable and bug free. My only ‘downer’ was the awkwardness of getting gout of the hammock twice (see niggle above) to get rid of some of the beer in the night. However, I woke up feeling great having had an excellent night’s sleep. In fact I realised that what I though had been a good sleep when ‘ground dwelling’ was in fact only just acceptable. After my night in a hammock I actually felt rested and refreshed, a far superior nights rest.

          In summary- What a turn-around from my initial impressions, although not quite as comfortable as the TW Hornet XL (because of the size difference) I had no problems getting a comfortable night’s sleep in the DD SLW. Given the bonus of small pack size, low weight and ease of set-up I think I shall be using the DD SLW much more than I had anticipated.
          Yes a few minor niggles; limitations of the bug net design, adjustability of the underquilt cords and the two small loops on the side of the hammock, none of which are show-stoppers. One more important issue – the sides of the hammock causing exit issues, which I’m hoping was an error/ inexperience on my part (but suspect that it may be a ‘feature’ of the DD SLW as I don’t have the same issue with the TX Hornet XL).

          Anyway, I hope that wasn’t too boring and I really would appreciate any suggestions/ guidance with any of the issues I’ve had.

          Overall I’m really pleased with the DD SLW (thanks once again David) and had an excellent night’s sleep. If I can solve the ‘exit’ issue this may well make the ‘favourite’ kit-list!

          Cheers
          Steve

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          • #6
            Thanks for the updated review, I see what you mean about the mozzie net and underblanket, not a biggie for me coz if it's flying insect time my net is always up, ( jungle hammock ) but, it is something that DD could improve on, larger openings maybe ? maybe worth dropping them an email to highlight it ? As for the getting out of the SLW, I can't help there coz I don't have one lol but once your legs are out, can you not 'just' lean forward or is that not possible ?

            Thanks again, all the best

            Al

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            • #7
              A bit late coming to this thread here but it may still help you or others. I use the DD underquilt on my Warbonnet BB XLC and as you can imagine had to do a fair bit of adjustment to get it sitting well enough to work. I found that untying the shock cords and adding dual hole cord locks to each piece made it possible to instantly adjust all the cords without having to keep tying and untying knots and it also allowed you to dial it in more accurately. The cord locks were good enough to hold them without there being knots and a year on still haven't slipped once. I think I picked up about 10 on the bay for a couple of pounds. Hope that helps some.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Switch
                A bit late coming to this thread here but it may still help you or others. I use the DD underquilt on my Warbonnet BB XLC and as you can imagine had to do a fair bit of adjustment to get it sitting well enough to work. I found that untying the shock cords and adding dual hole cord locks to each piece made it possible to instantly adjust all the cords without having to keep tying and untying knots and it also allowed you to dial it in more accurately. The cord locks were good enough to hold them without there being knots and a year on still haven't slipped once. I think I picked up about 10 on the bay for a couple of pounds. Hope that helps some.
                Can you post a couple pics please mate? I've got a bb xlc on its way and intended to use it with the same dd underquilt...would be good to see what you've done. Cheers

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                • #9
                  I'll post my experience of it although I don't unfortunately have pictures of it on the hammock in a way that would prove useful. All I can say is it's not ideal and it'll take some perseverance but there are ways to make it work quite well.

                  ​Below are pictures of the dual cord locks I've put on the ends of the shock cord. These make it possible to quickly and more finely tune suspension. I tried a lot of different ways of hanging the quilt and spent a few cold nights before getting something that worked to the point of being able to just take it out the bag and clip it on and not have to adjust anything each time. I currently hang it with a triangle thingy (quilt hanger from UKHammocks) on the bottom/foot end of the hammock only....the top end of the blackbird doesn't like them so much and it also doesn't need them there. I have the shock cord that goes from the footbox end of the quilt going to the triangle tighter than the other side which gives good coverage of the footbox on the diagonal lay. The key to getting this quilt to sit right is at the head end though. I only use the 2 suspension cords which are closest together at the top end of the hammock and attach them to the continuous loop at the adjustable buckles for the hammock suspension. I found that using the other 2 shock cords at the top didn't work well as they're too far down the quilt to attach to the continuous loop without pulling the hammock inward at those points. Forget those points and just use the top inner two at the apex of he taper. Also...the one mistake I kept making early on despite making a concerted effort not to do was having the suspension too tight at the top end. I can't emphasise enough how much of a problem this causes for the quilt due to the suspension being narrower than something like a HG quilt or the likes. I found myself having to keep pulling the quilt back into place or waking up cold as it had slipped in the night when I'd been turning over. The quilt as I currently have it dialled in stays put all night and that was just down to loosening the top suspension ever so slightly.

                  I'm trying my best here however it's something that's quite hard to explain without taking time to fiddle with. It's also hard to say how much the success of the quilt is down to the triangle thingy at the bottom end and also the use of a 2qzq underquilt protector as that does stop the wind blowing the warm air out of any potential gaps that may exist. I intended to use the quilt as a stop gap and it's currently working well enough for it not to be an issue and has served me well in its current set up. I have used this comfortably below zero. I don't know the exact temperature but it was cold enough for 2 litres of my water to freeze solid. It will take a lot of tinkering but it is possible to work.

                  I hope that helps although I know it's difficult to get a picture of without full pictures and also trying it out yourself. If there's anything else you're not sure of then just ask.

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                  • #10
                    Appreciate you taking the time to explain it mate. As you say, it's probably tricky to explain via text only. I'll get meself some of those locking things though and see if I can help it a little. I did use this quilt with my ticket to the moon hammock and found that the head end on my head side kept sliding under me through the night. Possibly down to being too tight as you have said. I will also try slackening off this bit next time.


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                    • #11
                      Can you remember which ones you used from the bay mate?


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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by nerocircus View Post
                        Can you remember which ones you used from the bay mate?


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                        Sorry. I can't remember the exact ones however most people seem to be selling the same generic ones. I got 2 different sizes just to ensure I had the right size although they were only a couple of pounds delivered. I think they may have been the 5mm ones.

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                        • #13
                          Nice one, I'll get on it, cheers :-)


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