View Full Version : How safe Do you feel In a Hammock
The HotDog
10-18-2005, 16:05
I was wondering how safe do people feel in the hammocks.
The last time I tried to sleep in my hammock I did not feel safe and could not sleep well. My senses were hightened and my heart beat fast I just could not calm myself down enough to go back to sleep again. I know logically its safer than a tent but still something wasn't right:(. I'll try again though.:)
dougmeredith
10-18-2005, 16:18
In general, I don't feel any different in a hammock than in a tent. Sometimes a little voice in the back of my head asks what would happen if the hammock failed.
Doug
flyfisher
10-18-2005, 17:38
Generally, my thoughts are along these lines:
1) Did I really sleep on the ground at one time?
2) Feel this.. No roots, no rocks, it feels precisely like it did last night and the night before. It's like carrying around a little apartment with me and I get to sleep at home every night.
3) Poor folks on the ground. Makes me feel sorry for them.
Sleep.........
Just Jeff
10-18-2005, 18:17
That's a pretty good summary, Risk.
It's just a different environment. Spend a few nights in the hammock and the novelty will subside a bit so you can calm down. But you'll still be giddy when you see tenters on the trail and realize that you'll be SOOOO much more comfortable at night... :)
Hammock Hanger
10-18-2005, 18:20
Generally, my thoughts are along these lines:
1) Did I really sleep on the ground at one time?
2) Feel this.. No roots, no rocks, it feels precisely like it did last night and the night before. It's like carrying around a little apartment with me and I get to sleep at home every night.
3) Poor folks on the ground. Makes me feel sorry for them.
Sleep.........
Ditto!!
Sometimes I sleep so sound and so deep in the hammock that it amazes me. I feel as safe as in any tent or shelter. If it is something big enough to do me harm, it could happen in a shelter or tent.
I truly love to cowboy camp out under the stars but this is so uncomfortable. Love lying in the hammock minus the fly and looking at the stars in pure comfort.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz:D
Just Jeff
10-18-2005, 18:31
I truly love to cowboy camp out under the stars but this is so uncomfortable. Love lying in the hammock minus the fly and looking at the stars in pure comfort.
Yep...that's why I take my homemade Speer so often. No bugnet, no fly...just lay there and look up at the stars...
Nothing like the sun right on your face in the morning, too...and in case y'all didn't know, sunlight on the trail ISN'T the shade of silnylon in the mornings! :)
This pic
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=395&c=550
and this pic
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=394&c=550
are the reasons I can't ever see myself in a hammock - I would never sleep just waiting for one to slither along the rope. :eek:
Tent+floor= a happy Cynj
No ambassadors of the reptile world allowed. :D
Did I tell you about the salamander that "explored" my face in the middle of the night last time I tarp camped? That's why I'm switching to a hammock with an integral, zip closed bugnet. That way our reptile friends can't visit me either.
i gotta second flyfisher's comments... i sleep better in a hammock than in my own bed...
CynJ, i think you asked about this once before... get a Hennessy... no way a snake will get in through the screen or the velcro opening... and if he crawls on top of the fly, how is that different than a tent?
HotDog, how much of it was 'newness', and how much was that you couldn't see out? depending on the type of hammock, or how deep you lay in it, you might be feeling a little vulnerable/blind... not having your feet right on the ground might be part of it too... keep at it... it's worth the good sleep...
I don't want to rain on y'alls "human bear bag" parade but sleeping on the ground isn't ALL that bad especially if you have a decent pad.
Plus, it's nice to be able to reach out and cook dinner and breakfast, even in the rain.
shades of blue
10-18-2005, 19:05
In a speer hammock, if you have it low enough, you can cook also. You can lay stuff below the hammock without having to worry about it getting condensation from the tent....and it's SO comfortable. The only downfall for me is combating the cold. Still, you can set up your hammock in the middle of the day and take a nap...almost anywhere on the trail....can't really do that in a tent.
Hikerhead
10-18-2005, 19:33
Hotdog, when you can set your Hammock up on the other side of the ridge not visable from the trail, you'll feel safe. Not camping within site of the trail has to be one of the better reasons for hammocking, IMHO.
I had a first last week. I picked a tree that I shouldn't had. It was on the small side and at about 2AM it did a slow bend. It didn't fall but it put my back on the ground. So with my back on the ground and my feet in the air, I went back to sleep. :jump
peter_pan
10-18-2005, 20:56
[QUOTE=Sly]I don't want to rain on y'alls "human bear bag" parade but sleeping on the ground isn't ALL that bad especially if you have a decent pad.
Sly,
There is someting wrong with feeling good about a system that you describe as, " isn't ALL that bad".
Hammocks are truly great...No caviats, no qualifiers, no bull.... just pure luxury plus very light weight and low cube.
Pan
PS. you don't have to remove the sticks and rocks before you put down the pad either...heck you can just hang over the rocks and sticks.
SGT Rock
10-18-2005, 21:19
I feel more comfortable in my hammock than I do in a bed or on the ground. I've never ben afraid of anything "getting" me when I'm in it although I did actually dream about a bear sniffing me out in one LOL.
I cook from mine, you just fold the bottom over and lay on the fabric while you cook:
http://www.hennessyhammock.com/use-as-a-chair.htm
D'Artagnan
10-18-2005, 22:15
One of the main things I like about my HH is that I don't have to search for a level, clean spot to place a tent. All I need are a couple trees. Thankfully, the sections of the AT I've been doing have a multitude of those. The only down side is that as I'm hiking I'm constantly surveying the distances between trees and asking myself if I wouldn't rather be laying in my hammock than carrying it on my back. I've never really considered the snake issue. I would think they're more common in and around shelters than up the side of a tree I've happened to hang my hammock from. I actually feel safer in a hammock off the ground than in a tent on the ground or in a shelter. YMMV
I don't want to rain on y'alls "human bear bag" parade but sleeping on the ground isn't ALL that bad especially if you have a decent pad.
Plus, it's nice to be able to reach out and cook dinner and breakfast, even in the rain.
I'd rather have a bad night in a hammock than another night on the ground.
Ramble~On
10-18-2005, 22:35
:-? I often puzzle at the realization when I wake up that I hadn't moved at all in my sleep. This never happened in a tent and very rarely in bed...I toss and turn a lot in my sleep. I have set up my hammock and camped in places that I would never have thought of camping in with a tent. I recently spent my first night hanging out on a cliff face. I have never given any thought to a snake visiting me in the middle of the night or day while in a hammock.
In California I once was taking down my tent and found a rattlesnake under it.
I feel 100% totally and completely safe in a hammock. I sleep better, am more comfortable and have shed weight from my pack. The hammock goes up quick almost anywhere with no worries of level ground, pooling from rain, rocks, roots etc. I set my hammock low enough to be able to use it as a chair while I cook.
Level tent sites, rocks, roots, rain runoff, stakes, poles, groundcloths, sleeping pads...............I don't miss tent camping.
About a year ? two years ago I was a diehard tent camper. I decided to try the hammock idea and the first trip out with it I was hooked. It took some getting used to and getting "good" at setting it up but my tents are getting dusty. Snakes, bear, skunks, mice, boar and all the other little things that go bump in the night are all only doing what comes natural to them and whether you are in a tent or a hammock matters not. When in the woods you are in their house. Encounters of the "worst" kind are extremely rare...so get a good nights sleep.
The HotDog
10-19-2005, 00:00
I have a hennessy hammock and I think if I put a My tarp on it it might help.
See I actually have never been backpacking I do 99% of my camping with my boy scout troop so I am used to sleeping in a four-five person tent and a cot, with a tentmate of course. I have been trying to get were I can go backpacking. I would love to wake up in the morning and hike along a trail and see the sun rise over the mountains and clear the mist from the peaks:D
LOL... you hammockpeople are incorrigible. ;)
Ramble~On
10-19-2005, 00:32
and well rested;)
Fiddleback
10-19-2005, 09:51
Safe? Safe from critters? Safe from boogey men (or women)? Safe from falling out of bed?:)
I've read some articles that suggest campers in a tent are safer from predators than those that sleep under the stars. I assume the theory is the animal becomes overly cautious when it cannot determine what/who is in the tent. The most stirring account I've read detailed a mountain lion standing and growling at an occupied tent but not approaching and eventually leaving. I've not seen any writings discussing the same thing relative to hammocks other than several references to animals not being aware of the hammock at all. However, I do recall one story of a bear approaching a hammock and, I think, taking a swat at it. Coversely, I read one account wherein a bear came across a hammock and backed away/went around it.
Over the years I've read maybe a half-dozen stories about bears entering a tent while the camper was inside and many, many stories about bears raiding empty tents. No such stories for hammocks. But given the few hammocks vs. all the tents there's not much that can be concluded from the anecdotes.
Years ago I got my start in backpacking in the MD/VA/PA area. Issues of safety/security in the tent never crossed my mind...there just wasn't a 'threat' in the Appalacian forests -- the black bears hadn't even made their comeback yet. In the past several years I've camped in grizzly and mountain lion country and I've definitely felt 'different' by not being at the top of the food chain.
Two summers ago, I started using a hammock and did my first solos. During the night I find my heightened sensitivity to "lions, tigers and bears" is actually less...because I fall asleep quicker and sleep more soundly.:clap
FB
"ME & U"
10-19-2005, 10:48
Hammocks Rock! On the last night of our LT hike in July, we had to pull a stash in the brush of some shmoke town in western MA due to lack of hitch-hiking daylight, anyway... 30 days of hiking and not one remarkable critter. Day 31, the biggest, nastiest, wreck your night, townie skunk ambled right under my hammock and man I'm telling ya it was a riot! Me about crapped in her hammock right next to me, I'm cracking up next to her and she's like "throw a rock at it"...
...(crickets)...
"You nuts?"
I slept like a log that night but my partner had issues. The place was crawling with night time noise makers and she's a bit skittish.
I was thankful to be off the ground and I had a sort of "above looking down" feeling.
I also had a moose about slam into me one night. That was heart stopping! Luckily he spotted me first and had the space to stop. I actually heard him slide which woke me up. Talk about a wild dream, I could even hear him sniffing me out. Lesson learned, stay off the trails! This was an open area near Bourne Pond in VT and trails we're basically everywhere so take your pick.
At any rate, I'm staying in my damned hammock. It's safe there!
Hammock Hanger
10-19-2005, 11:03
... However, I do recall one story of a bear approaching a hammock and, I think, taking a swat at it. Coversely, I read one account wherein a bear came across a hammock and backed away/went around it.:clap
FB
At about 1 in the morning I had a bear appraoch my hammock just north of Abington SHelter. I made noise and he took off. At about 3 in the morning he came back. I made noise again but this time he wasn't so easy to scare. I yelled out that I was not a taco and to go away so I could sleep. Didn't work. I had no tarp on so I watched as he sniffed the air about 4 feet from me. Turned sniffed at the pack that I had belted to the tree. I thought he was gonna try and rip it off but he didn't. After waht seemed like a very long time of watching (actually about 5 minutes) he walked off down the trail towards the shelter.
I am not real big into the bear bagging stuff. Probably only did a few times on the trail. However, I had read in the shelter register that there was a bear in the area and I had seen scat, so I DID bear bag that night. It is not that I can't throw a bear bag rope, I actually teach it in the ADK, where I always bag!
I've had feral pigs, a young skunk and a porcupine waddle under my hammock while I was in it. I always just lay quiet and watch. Kind of one of the things I went into the woods to see, nature...
tlbj6142
10-19-2005, 11:21
Hammocks are truly great...No caviats, no qualifiers, no bull.... just pure luxury plus very light weight and low cube.I have a HH and use it quite a bit. But, if I were to make a longer quilt so I could pull it over my head, I'd sleep on the ground (on my stomach). I could sleep on just about anything that way.
I still have an issue with getting very stiff knees while sleeping in my hammock. Not sure if i need to slide up to the head end a bit more, or put more, or less, sag in the hammock. Just haven't found the right combination yet.
bulldog49
10-19-2005, 11:32
Hammocks are truly great...No caviats, no qualifiers, no bull.... just pure luxury plus very light weight and low cube.
If you primarily hike in cold weather, as I do, lack of warmth is a big qualifier against hammocks. And, whenever I can, I prefer to camp in open spaces which means I will sleep on the ground anyway.
tlbj6142
10-19-2005, 12:02
That's a good point. Hammock are about worthless "out west". They are the $hit on the AT and other Eastern trails.
If I were to do the PCT or CDT, I'd go tarp in a second. Heck, I've heard of several folks completeing the entire PCT with 100+ days of cowboy camping.
I had no trouble adjusting at all, I'm no more or less nervious about critters than in my tent and far more comfortable are more likely to just sleep through the night. I have an Hennessey and I have to admit I'm not overly fond of the blind spot created by the high side (maybe I sleep in it wrong, but I'm comfortable), some noises just beg to be checked out and its difficult if they come from my left, for the most part however, I had no problem.
I was heading towards Hot Springs in 2003 when I got caught in a pretty bad storm and decided to just camp in the woods, stayed dry and comfortable all night after a few adjustments to the fly. That was the first night I spent alone on the trail, I had my pack with food under the hammock, and I really just had no concerns since I was away from anything larger critters might associate with food on a regular basis.
My friends referring to it as my bear burrito did not bother me in the least.
My friends sneaking up at night and grabbing my leg through the bottom to "demonstrate the bite radius of a black bear" bothered me a little more. The laughing led me to believe this was not a serious scientific demonstation...
My friends using the lines to hang socks to dry was the biggest "problem"... Hiker socks get hung DOWNWIND guys, DOWNWIND.
Jonas4321
10-19-2005, 15:25
HotDog-
<snip>
My senses were hightened and my heart beat fast I just could not calm myself down enough to go back to sleep again.
<snip>
Man, I am right with you there. I am not a great outdoorsman (though I love being out there), and I was a Scoutmaster for 7 years and camped all the time. I do not like what I cannot see, and I can imagine all kinds of things based on the smallest of sounds. I'm not scared of my own shadow, but I am jumpy outdoors in the dark when I am by myself.
My first night in a hammock was 15 degrees F in deer country. I must have been jolted awake 10 times that night because of the crunch-crunch-crunch of deer traipsing through the crusty snow near my hammock.
I can tell you this- it passes. I have now been hammock camping for almost 2 years, and I cannot remember the last time I was awakened by any sound short of a all-hell-breaking-loose lightning storm. I am now asleep in 5 minutes or less whether or not I try to stay up and read- I am just that comfortable.
Keep working at it, anything this comfortable is worth the adjustments.
J
peter_pan
10-19-2005, 15:42
[QUOTE=Jonas4321]HotDog-
My first night in a hammock was 15 degrees F in deer country. I must have been jolted awake 10 times that night because of the crunch-crunch-crunch of deer traipsing through the crusty snow near my hammock.
I can tell you this- it passes. I have now been hammock camping for almost 2 years, and I cannot remember the last time I was awakened by any sound short of a all-hell-breaking-loose lightning storm. I am now asleep in 5 minutes or less whether or not I try to stay up and read- I am just that comfortable.
Keep working at it, anything this comfortable is worth the adjustments.
Note to Bulldog49, There are many of us on this site that use hammocks year round... there are a variety of ways to keep warm on the bottom... do a search... also check Just Jeffs site for options.
Hot Dog , et al,
Deer will come to where you urinate for the salt... we had them visit years ago, Since then we learned to identify our best viewing area then salt that spot with urine... when deer are in the area they are frequent visitors and this make watching them easier.
Pan
Does anyone know if the overall percentage of hammock campers is increasing in relation to tenters?
Agree with Risk and the other pro-hammock commenters here. Hammocks increase your security in just about every way.
Another way they make things safer is that you can easily camp almost anywhere. If you'd underestimated the difficulty of a particular trail section, or had your knee start flairing up, or had a bad reaction to something you ate, or whatever... you just get away from the trail and make camp when you need to. No more trying to push on to some tentsite or shelter before dark, risking increased injury or exhaustion.
Doug Frost
I agree with Doug Frost.
In my HH I feel very secure because:
away from the overused sites that attract animals
away from the overused sites that attract party animals
the HH color blends in to hide us
small animals have to climb to get us
big animals dont step on me
after learning the knot to tie I've never had my HH come off the tree
heavy flooding rains dont pour mud in the door
stop anywhere when I'm tired without having to 'push on'
Just Jeff
10-20-2005, 11:11
Adding up all the nights Whiteblaze members have spent in hammocks would probably number several thousands. I don't recall anyone posting anything about a night in a hammock that was more dangerous than a night in a tent, and I'm sure it would show up here eventually if it had happened.
That doesn't make it absolute, but IMO it's safe to go with the stats on this one.
tlbj6142
10-20-2005, 11:13
I think someone in a hammock was attacked by a Bull Moose a couple of years ago during mating season.
tlbj6142
10-20-2005, 11:16
Honestly, I think you can see "better" or "more" from a hammock than you can see from a Tent. So, I don't quite understand the fear, unless you were a strict tarp camper before switching to a hammock.
It's probably natural to be hyperalert:confused: to sounds when sleeping in new places, or under new conditions. But it's a pain in the a## because it keeps you awake. Hence, the little foam earplugs - they don't block all sound, just take the edge off enough to relax without snapping to attention at every little noise the woods make.
These plus a hammock have given me incredibly pleasant nights' sleep:p while backpacking. You get used to the idea of being suspended in air.
flyfisher
10-21-2005, 14:14
It's probably natural to be hyperalert:confused: to sounds when sleeping in new places, or under new conditions. But it's a pain in the a## because it keeps you awake. Hence, the little foam earplugs - they don't block all sound, just take the edge off enough to relax without snapping to attention at every little noise the woods make.
These plus a hammock have given me incredibly pleasant nights' sleep:p while backpacking. You get used to the idea of being suspended in air.
LOL! I slept next to the Mad River in Ohio on Tuesday Evening. I walked in to a stealth site well after dark. After I settled down, I became aware of a deer snorting somewhere within earshot on my side of the river. I am not sure if he was signaling that there was a dangerous hammock camper in the neighborhood or trying to attract some pretty doe.
There were still some crickets in the chill and even a few brave Katydids that had not fallen silent in the autumn air. Later, when the nearly full moon had risen to overhead, I noticed that the crickets and other insects had become quiet and the night was as still as it is in the middle of winter.
A couple hours before dawn, I woke to the sound of a truck driving along the dirt track on the far side of the river (about 20 paces away) I'd guess it was a bow deer hunter, having given up for the night and driving home to warm up.
The sounds of night are always interesting. Usually they are more interesting than the sounds of a house creeking in the night or a water softener squealing during a rinse cycle, or neighborhood dogs barking after being wakened by a passing car or motorcycle.
Thanks a lot for those photos, Cnj, as if I needed more trailside nightmare topics. You can hang a hammock fairly close to the ground, so even if you did roll out you would not go far. I did have a rope break once, but that was because someone on some site suggested too light weight a rope which, of course, saved some weight in my pack, but... Then there was the time I was slowly lowered to the ground by the tie-on-to-a-dead-tree syndrome which someone else mentioned above. In short, hammocks are amazingly stable and kind to wiggling. BTW Did you know that a King Snake will kill a poisonous snake in a fight, so do not worry if a black snake falls into your hammock. The last time I saw a poisonous snake, it was on the floor of a garage, a floor only slightly larger than those found in shelters along the AT. Sleep well.
http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/projects/SNAKEBIT.HTM
Camper101
10-25-2005, 15:23
I love my hammock!!! the first night was not extrodaniry but it seem everytime i camp with it the better i feel and the more i want to sleep in it. I love just rolling over and looking out the netting and seeing anything and anybody outthere
I bought my first Hennesy Hammock at Trail Days this past year. I wasn't totally conviced, so the guy said I could bring it back if I didn't like it. So, first thing I did when I set it up was to test it for strength. I am now sure that after bouncing my 200 lbs up and down won't break the hammock... but
I was solo camping on the AT and no one was around. I set the hammock up as it was getting dark. At about 1 in the morning I felt a hard smack on my back and realized I was on the ground. *** happened? I was dazed for a few seconds and had to find my way out of the hammock. When I got out, I realized I tied the hammock to a dead tree and my weight pulled the tree down. I was extrememly lucky that the 3 foot fall didn't land my head on some rocks, not to mention that the tree fell right next to my body instead of on top of it.
Ever since then, I have been a little weary sleeping in the hammock. I make sure any rocks are cleared under me and that the trees are strong enough.
I still prefer the hammock to any tent.
tlbj6142
11-18-2005, 16:18
How is this any different than sleeping in a tent? You always check for widow makers before you setup a tent. No reason to think you wouldn't do the same when setting up a hammock.
Youngblood
11-18-2005, 19:09
...I was solo camping on the AT and no one was around. I set the hammock up as it was getting dark. ...
Yeah, it is sometimes hard to tell about the status of the trees in low light. Even looking overhead for live branches can sometimes fool you because nearby trees may have branches that extend to the tree in question. You were damn lucky, the forces due to the hammock tries to pull it straight down on top of you. Your story is the closest I've heard to someone pulling a tree down on top of them... how far from the ground did the tree break off at? You were likely pulling with a force that was at least your body weight and with the HH, maybe as much as 2 or even 3 times your body weight.
One time I was backpacking with several people, three of us with hammocks. I was the last one in at dusk because we had some stragglers on a rainy day. The other two hammocks chose three trees that allowed us to setup 3 hammocks in a triangle. I set mine up after they had already set theirs up. I thought something was funny during the night and I saw what it was when I got up in the morning. One of the trees was dead and starting to bend, but it was wanting to fall towards the hammock that wasn't attached to it. When I looked up I saw that branches from adjacent trees made it appear that the dead tree had live branches... they had checked but got fooled. Again, we were lucky. I look a lot more carefully since then and check the health of the tree at ground level a little better looking for tell-tell signs of a problem also.
Coolabah
11-19-2005, 03:33
I bought my first Hennesy Hammock at Trail Days this past year. I wasn't totally conviced, so the guy said I could bring it back if I didn't like it. So, first thing I did when I set it up was to test it for strength. I am now sure that after bouncing my 200 lbs up and down won't break the hammock... but
I was solo camping on the AT and no one was around. I set the hammock up as it was getting dark. At about 1 in the morning I felt a hard smack on my back and realized I was on the ground. *** happened? I was dazed for a few seconds and had to find my way out of the hammock. When I got out, I realized I tied the hammock to a dead tree and my weight pulled the tree down. I was extrememly lucky that the 3 foot fall didn't land my head on some rocks, not to mention that the tree fell right next to my body instead of on top of it.
Ever since then, I have been a little weary sleeping in the hammock. I make sure any rocks are cleared under me and that the trees are strong enough.
I still prefer the hammock to any tent.
Yeh I did a similar thing when first starting out. Same thing- tied to a dead tree (at the head end) well after dark in stormy conditions after a long day's walk , only it collapsed within seconds of me getting into my hammock. The top of the tree narrowly missed me, then my sons in their tent ( big gash in tent, nil gashes in sons thank goodness). Look back on this one and shudder- each and every time.
As for animals- have had my rear end (through the hammock) nipped by an inquisitive fox (quick yelp from me sorted this one out) and a Tasmanian steroid using giant possum scratching in the same place but that's it.
MedicineMan
11-19-2005, 04:16
the greatest dangers on the AT are at road crossings and shelters....has anyone done a retro study on where the small number of murders were on the trail? i'd bet at or very near a shelter.....so you question was about feeling safe...Hikerhead pointed out that with a hammock you can easily stealth camp....stop at the shelter,eat, socialize, sign the log, then down the trail a mile or two AND then get off the trail, left or right depending on how the ridgeline lays if you happen to be on one AND then deep enough into the canopy (longer in winter of course) to render you and your campsite invisible.
The chances of being visited by anyone or anything (except mosquitos and flies and the odd salamander) go to about 1:1,000,000
If your freeking out about snakes think that they are where the mice are and that aint your stealth site.
If your freeking out about bears, they're where the backpacks are full of food and laying unattended and that too aint your stealth site.
If your freeking out about psychos well they're at the shelters talking about gear and how to shave another 20 grams off their load.
Who knows what might happen if you get off the trail a wee bit....maybe a sunrise or sunset you didnt expect.........