4-Season Forrest Mountaineering Wall Womb

Curator

10 years ago

Hanging from a single point, this bivy system at least offered convenience if not total comfort.

The head area is extra long creating a tunnel to protect the climber. The generous opening also allows the climber to sit up a little and remain inside the closed bivy sack.

A neat system of clips held the “deck” up off the climbers sleeping bag allowing moisture to run off before it could pool up.

A detail view of the foot area. Notice how the suspension straps at the knee emerge from the top material. The webbing passing through the “deck” would be hard to completely weather proof but it did create a clean edge which allowed better shedding of moisture.

Main suspension point.

The center suspension point was essentially a single main strap with two stabilizer straps coming off on either side. The stabilizers were one connected piece of webbing that could move freely through a loop on the main center strap. Ingenious and simple.

Another view of the unique three point center section

Looking toward the head area showing the clip system to support the “deck”.

All metal clips and buckles have “made in the USA” on them. Bill Forrest sourced his materials close to home.

The foot box

A very compact kit

The foot area showing the fully enclosed zip up bed and a few small repairs.

From the 1983 Forrest Mountaineering Catalog:
Forrest 4-Season Wall Womb Single Anchor Hammock
The Forrest Wall Womb has become a standard in the wall climbing community. The functional design of our single anchor system makes this hammock extremely easy to set up, and it provides a comfortable and adaptable bivouac site even in the most vertical of environments.
Made of breathable 8 oz. nylon, the Wall Womb features fully adjustable shoulder support lines. These lines are spread apart by an expanding pole which reduces compression at the shoulders. The Wall Womb comes with a stuff sack, and an expander pole*.

*This model didn’t seem to come with an expander pole to spread the shoulder straps. Either Forrest didn’t supply one for this version or it was missing when originally purchased.

This hammock has an interesting zipper closure creating a protective bivy sack with a clean “deck” fully enclosing the climbers sleeping bag. It seems very snug and comfortable.