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Railblazed Hamyak

Sleeping out on the yak

So, after reading Holger's article on the Clark Hammock, I became very interested in acquiring a hammock for myself. I spent a couple of weeks reading up on various hammock forums and searching out different manufacturers of hammocks. As it turned out I chose the Clark Hammock as my new sleeping system. There are lots of pluses with hammocks over tent camping, but one thing is, usually, necessary- and that's a couple of well spaced trees. 

Camping on barrier islands and beaches where there's no trees can be problematic for hammock aficionados. You can, of course, setup a hammock like a bivouac tent- though you're then back on the ground. What I've done here has been done before but I think, for my purposes, I have improved on the idea.  

 
I wanted to make it possible to erect the hammock off of the aka's on a beach. 
 
 
I took one of the new RailBlaza Railmounts and did some modifying. I made two of these along with two brace bars to suspend the hammock from. 
 
 
I did the math and the hammock is suspended at 30°, as recommended by the makers. As it worked out, the length of the braces also create a spacing of 12'- another requirement. Lastly, the braces, 32mil aluminum, 3 mil thick, are just under the length of a amas making it an easy task to lash them down while sailing. 

It took a bit to get it setup the first time, fiddling with cutting guys and figuring out how to "get it right", but now- it goes up quickly and it's as solid as can be. The whole thing weighs in at 81 kilos and that includes the braces, the sleeping bag and pad, and me. The braces and suspension system weighs out at just under 4 kilos- most of the weight being the aluminum braces poles at 3.8 kilos.
 
 
I anchored the guys with 4 large ToughStakes, as reviewed by Josh some months ago. The stakes only weigh in at 198 grams and can hold up to 275lbs each. With 4 of them holding up the braces, two on each end, it's as solid as you could want. I have only tested the hang for under 30 minutes, but I did some pretty good bouncing around in the hammock to see if anything was going to give. It all held fine and now the next test is to sleep overnight. I do believe though that I'll have no problems with this as it really feels very solid. 

After the July trip up the Queensland coast shadowing Josh, I will make a Haka for the kayak. When I make the Haka I plan on spacing the boards 32mils apart to accommodate the hammock braces by sitting in-between the boards. It will give the haka structural support and it'll be a good use of space to store the hammock braces while sailing!
 
By Shep
Articles Rigging Railblazed Hamyak
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