In looking at past and future trips, many of them involve me and another family; I always find it awkward to stay in a "family" tent and my personal tent is just a bit much for little old me (a 3-person, which fits 2 people great but when just me was excessive.) So last fall, I decided to take the plunge and purchase a hammock set-up.

I did a lot of research and reading, finally deciding on a Warbonnet Blackbird (double layer, 1.1 fabric), a superfly tarp, and a 3-season Yeti underquilt. By the time I had accumulated all of the pieces, winter had set in on the high plains of Wyoming; besides for a few quick set-up/tear-downs on "warm" days (possibly above freezing), I had not had the opportunity to overnight in it. Plus, living in town, I have 2 trees in the backyard, being 30+ feet apart.

Spring has finally sprung, so I purchased a 12-foot post, planted it about 15 feet from a tree and got set-up for my first real hang. My wife thought I was crazy to be so excited about camping in the backyard, my neighbor was extremely curious about this "camping" hammock (as he had used something similar in Vietnam), and the baby had more fun than could be imagined just crawling and drooling all over my other baby (my hammock.)

All day I fudged around with the set-up, getting it comfy, having the wife lay in it so I could check the underquilt fit, etc... Night finally fell and I got to go play! It got down to the mid-30's that night, and here are the lessons I learned:

1. I used a mummy sleeping bag that I spread out over myself to use as a "top-quilt." While I kept warm enough, it was far from perfect and I will be looking into a real top quilt later this summer. The zipper was not in a great place if I spread it open and maneuvering into it was a bit of a chore as it zips on the opposite side as the hammock.
2. Under-quilts are all they are cracked up to be. In touching the sides of the hammock, there was a VAST difference in temperature between the fabric inside the underquilt and that not touching the underquilt.
3. The lay in the WBBB was very good. I spent enough time during the day to get it set nicely for me, and I feel I will get quicker each time with set-up. The right side (with the shelf) is a bit confining and kind of gets in the way at times, but the shelf makes that worth it. YMMV
4. The superfly is a great tarp. It does not come with tie out lines, and I had purchased a figure-9 tent tie-out kit for the 4 corners. This worked okay, but I need to "hook" them in better to the figure-9's. With wind, the tarp loosened up a bit overnight; this was my fault, though, and something I feel I can fix in the future. I also did not use the pull-outs in the middle of the tarp, which could have increased the problem with it loosening over-night. Live and learn.
5. I need to bring my fleece cap. I forgot to find it during the day and then I convinced myself that I wouldnt like to sleep in it. My head got cold. Next time, wear a hat, if your head gets cold then take it off. If you dont have the hat with you, when your head gets cold, it is hard to warm it up. Another lesson learned.
6. Put down a pad for the footbox. The yeti under-quilt is a 2/3 length, so it goes from my shoulders to around my knees (I am 6'1"). While my feet never got super cold (as I had them in the foot area of the mummy bag), I had to move them around a lot and always have 1 foot on top of the other. I have a blue-pad ready to cut to size, but I wanted to make sure the lay was right before cutting it up. I definitely do see the appeal of a full length under-quilt, and maybe after a few real hangs will look into those.

Overall, it was a great experience! I am very glad I hung in the yard to learn about the hammock in a pretty controlled environment. I slept very well and only woke up once in the middle of the night when nature began to call. Maybe next time, my wife will let me turn on the sprinklers to check the weather-proofness! I can see the rolling of her eyes now....

Testing your equipment at home is ALWAYS a good idea.

I can tell you from my experience that you will get used to the set-up and teardown of the gear. You will soon be able to set everything up in a leisurely 5-10 minutes and teardown is even faster.

Oh, and your sleeping gear will stay dry always.

Thanks for the report. I look forward to breaking out my warbonnet BB in a few weeks for the backyard hang with the dog. Over the weekend I bought him a covered foam pad to sleep on while camping. I just hope he doesn't eat it.

Maybe next year I will spring for an underquilt. I use a 1/4 inch ccf pad now. And I truly love my superfly and always use the tie outs. Makes it so much roomier underneath too.

I can see that things will get quicker to set up/take down. I took a long time getting the angle of the straps right (being a physics teacher, I calculated up my angle and then found the tension in the straps. Future students take note of a great test question!) I definitely wont be doing that in the future, it was more fun for me than anything else. I will probably set-up my tarp first next time, just to see what it is like to set up the hammock while under the tarp (in case of bad weather.) I have WAY too much free time!
I have a single line ridgeline from whoopieslings on my tarp. I ran the ridgeline under the tarp, but I have found that this is an innie/outie argument in the hammock community! I will need to try the tarp below the ridgeline next time and see which I prefer.
I wish I could have my dogs out with me, but they are not well-behaved (Im a bad parent :( I didnt want them to wake the neighborhood every time a car went by or the wind blew

Welcome to hanging, Jbow. You'll find all sorts of ways to justify gear purchases.

As far as ridgeline above/below tarp--the real issue, I think, is with it under the tarp rain can run into the center and drip into your hammock. That is easily fixed with driplines at each end.