Cool times on Gray's Creek

[jdupre']

A dang site more comfortable than the "Hot Times ..." me and piper had during the heat of the summer. Mid 70 high temps and high 40's temps last night .........AND no mosquitoes again. Set up the hammock on the narrow spoil bank on the same site as our Icecapades trip.

I have pretty much all the bugs worked out in my shelter and sleeping gear. The double bottom hammock does a great job of holding the pad in place. And for all you hammock campers, this tip I learned on Hammock Forums is about a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10. Take your sleeping bag and zip it up about a third of the way, put your feet into that pocket and spread the rest of the bag over you ( with the zipper on the bottom) like a quilt and tuck it in around you. No tugging, stretching, pulling or cussing. You can literally get into the hammock and be covered and snug in under 10 seconds. Seasoned hammock campers know just how big a deal this is!

Next, I gathered a few local fire starting materials. These are the best I've found around here.

On the left is dried palmetto. In the center are dried cypress needles surrounded by black(cured) spanish moss. On the right is living spanish moss, just like it comes off the tree.

Little to do , I made a short video starting the fire with the metal match. Nice blaze in under a minute.



More later

Joey

 

[islandpiper]

Joey, dang.....missed a good trip. And, I could have stood down by the water and watched for the Sheriff's boat SINCE THERE IS A STATEWIDE OPEN BURNING BAN still on.

I was at Bass Pro in Denham Springs today and they have even canceled their marshmallow roasts due to the ban.

Good job with that spark-meister though.

piper

 

[jdupre']

Burning ban?? Oh, oh! My bad.

Yeah, piper, you missed a good one. I would have to say the weather was just about perfect.

I have my cook kit pretty much squared away for the types of quick meals I do.

Coffee, sugar, filters and fuel for a couple of days. Salt and pepper for the impromptu squirrel or fish-kabobs.

 

[islandpiper]

(PSSST.........DON'T TELL JOEY I TOLD YOU THIS......I'VE SEEN HIM FEAST ON POP TARTS LAID NEAR THE FIRE IN THE MORNING AND HE SEEMS TO ENJOY IT!!)

Joey, your cook kit looks great. I'm in the process of ordering a new boat from Keith and Seedtick. I'll just have them put another inch of freeboard in it so I can carry everything else we need to eat like royalty out in the swamp. You have the salt and pepper, so i won't have to figure that in.

I'm still working on the inflatable Dutch Oven. Till I get the bugs worked out I guess I'll still bring the cast iron one.

piper

 

[jdupre']

Now, Poptarts. That's haut cuisine, there, boy. I've found the best appetizer for simple food is ... hunger. Works every time. :mrgreen:

I don't want to hurt my friend piper's feelings so I have to FORCE myself to eat his cooking. I have to choke down cornish game hen, hot flaky bisquits and pineapple upsidedown cake. What a guy won't do for friendship. :lol:

Joey

 

[islandpiper]

That was last year's menu.....working on the new stuff, to be announced. piper

 

[oldsparkey]

Pop Tart's breaded in Kellogg's Corn Flakes and then fried..........

 

[islandpiper]

Chuck, that gives me chest pain, even thinking about it. I'd really rather have a baked potato with a gob of butter and a shake of salt and pepper.

(and a plate of fried spam, and some scrambled eggs, and biscuits with sausage gravy, and some warm apple pie. Note to self: buy another Dutch oven. )

piper

 

[catfish]

at least some of us are camping ,joey sounds like you had some good R&R. :wink:

 

[Kayak Jack]

How about pop tarts wrapped in bacon?

Okra, wrapped in bacon?

Viennies, wrapped in bacon?

Gre-itz, wrapped in bacon? or, Kitty litter, wrapped in bacon?

Buttermilk biscuit, wrapped in bacon?

There are many variations possible; and none of'em came from da UP.

 

[jdupre']

Yeah, catfish, I race around all during the week so I get lazy on a camping trip. "See that squirrel over there, Piper? I could go over there and take a shot at him, but that would mean having to get up out of my comfortable chair, pick up the pellet gun,load it and .............sigh......... Did I mention this is a real comfortable chair?" :mrgreen:

 

[Kayak Jack]

One of these years, when we get up the energy, Joey and I are having a lazy contest. maybe.

 

[jdupre']

Jack, if the contest entails walking any great distance, I conceed right now. :mrgreen:

 

[Kayak Jack]

Yer too easy, Joey. We haven't even spent a day or two discussing contest rules yet.

 

[jdupre']

Yer too easy, Joey. We haven't even spent a day or two discussing contest rules yet.

Yer right, Jack. A couple of days discussion over a few rounds of single malt and sour mash are a MUST.

 

[Kayak Jack]

... and at sometime, during that foggy discussion, I'd appreciate a tour of the double bottom feature you have sewn into your hammock. I figure that by now, you have probably surpassed Betsy Ross as a skilled seamstress.

 

[Paddlin'Gator]

That double bottom Joey incorporated into his hammock is something Tom Hennessy overlooked in designing his hammocks. Back in about 1958 I purchased a WWII surplus jungle hammock that I used for decades, mostly in Florida swamps, and never had a single insect bite through the bottom. It had a double bottom that consisted of a light weight outer layer that hung down several inches below the real load bearing bottom. Worked like a charm. Been thinking about adding a similar thing to my Hennessy.

Joe

 

[Kayak Jack]

I've never had a bug bite through my Hennesseys, but I know that others have. To get a double bottom to hold a pad of some kind, and hold it close to the load bearing bottom, it would have to be a bit closer than a few inches, I'd think. Not being a seamstress-type (I have an awl with thread, and I use dental floss as thread), I'druther not just start sewing until I know more about what the heck I'm trying to do.

Two pockets, one open from each end would make sense to me. Shorter pads are easier to carry in a kayak/canoe.

 

[oldsparkey]

Joe.......

It would offer several advantages ..... A free air area where the bugs could not get to you and a place to stuff a pad for insulation instead of having the pad in the hammock and trying to keep it under you. Might be a trick to set up due the the wider middle in the Hennessey then the narrower area in a standard , side entry , hammock.

I know of one commercial made hammock that is bug proof and the camper will not get bit and that is the Clark Tropical that I have. Camped on Fisheating creek we had tons of skeeters and not one got me while in the hammock , not saying the little monsters did not try cause they sure did. Clark says it is skeeter proof and I believe him after that trip.
Joe ( lazyriverguy ) was out spraying the bottom of his Hennessey with bug dope , another way to keep the bugs away from the bottom.

Joey.......

The sleeping bag trick you mentioned ... I like to have the zipper on the one side. This way I have some of the bag under me and can toss the rest aside till the night cools down , then flip it over for warmth and if it gets really cold , zip it up.
Hot weather camping a sleeping bag liner works good or just a plain old cotton sheet since that is all the bag liner is.

Chuck...........

 

[Paddlin'Gator]

It would offer several advantages ..... A free air area where the bugs could not get to you and a place to stuff a pad for insulation instead of having the pad in the hammock and trying to keep it under you. Might be a trick to set up due the the wider middle in the Hennessey then the narrower area in a standard , side entry , hammock.

Chuck,
The double bottom on the old jungle hammock was simply to keep the bugs away since they were primarily for use in the South Pacific, not in cold climates. Being able to slide an insulating pad in there would be a real plus, but as you said, it could be a challenge on a Hennessy.

Joe