View Full Version : Hammock Hunkering
Tipi Walter
11-07-2009, 11:03
What's the longest you've had to hunker down in your hammock during a storm? The reason I ask is because I just got back from a backpacking trip where I was caught in a nonstop cold rain and sleet storm at 5,000 feet and couldn't move for 3 days. I had a tent and stayed nice and dry and comfy, but I thought about the well-hung crowd and what they would've done for 3 days in a hammock.
Only a day it started raining around around mid morning and did not let up until the next morning rained close to 5". It was really nice to have a 10' by 10' sil tarp, it was the natural gathering place for my partner who was tenting and I to cook out of the weather, play cards, and shoot the breeze. I would have hated to spend all that time in a solo tent where I would have barely been able to sit up.
My tarp is so large that I can get up & walk around a bit, IF rigged right, I can even walk about upright. But usually I just sleep or read. On a different post I mention my last "Hunker down" I slept 14 hrs straight, then hiked in the storm anyway. The fried Chicken at Cowboy's was calling to me. :p
Like others, my tarp provides me with more room than i had with a tent, even when rigged with 4 walls to the ground. Plus i have the hammock to use as a comfy chair while sitting aorund in the rain.
only part of a day, but it's not like you're stuck "in" the hammock the whole time. as mentioned, a larger tarp provides quite a lot of room to roam. even the stock tarp works if you push the hammock out of the way... plenty of room to sit, just like in a tent (but you can actually see out without rain coming in the door). site selection is critical. the deeper in the woods, the better, as you eliminate blowing rain that way, and get the full benefit of being under cover from overhead (rain then only falls straight down).
kayak karl
11-07-2009, 19:48
37 hours on Sring Mountain, just north of Hot Springs. BRING A BOOK:D
Much more room under a tarp than in any two man tent. I can stand up, walk around with shoes on (no floor to worry about), sit/lounge in the hammock, sit on my bear canister, cook under the tarp, etc. Beats being stuck in a tent anyday IMHO.
MedicineMan
11-07-2009, 21:19
russb mentioned the #1 perq of a hammock and that's always having a chair with you, and a chair that's as comfortable as many lazyboy lounger types.....my longest in a hammock was 14 hours straight sleeping, and then another hour lounging/sitting/cooking/eating. Last hike I used the MLD HEX in cuben and it really is long enough to allow walking around if you wanted to....with the new 'beaks' coming out you can be completely surrounded just like in a tent if you want to and the beaks and fly can go all the way to the ground if needed--another advancement in hanging
Ramble~On
11-07-2009, 23:07
What's the longest you've had to hunker down in your hammock during a storm? The reason I ask is because I just got back from a backpacking trip where I was caught in a nonstop cold rain and sleet storm at 5,000 feet and couldn't move for 3 days. I had a tent and stayed nice and dry and comfy, but I thought about the well-hung crowd and what they would've done for 3 days in a hammock.
That must have been a hell of a storm if you couldn't move for 3 days. Where were you?
MikenSalem
11-07-2009, 23:27
Yall forget thats Walter he's got a 8 man 2 room tent I wouldn't be surprised if he had TV and satellite :{D If he did have a hammock it'd be the size of Noah's Arc
east_stingray
11-08-2009, 10:42
I was once stuck for a full day, which is a lot in the Ozarks. The weather usually changes every 10 minutes around here. Like everyone else said, I had a book and a music player and lounged until the storm let up.
Tipi Walter
11-08-2009, 11:35
37 hours on Sring Mountain, just north of Hot Springs. BRING A BOOK:D
That's more like it. 37 hours is pretty long. I was caught in a weird 96 hour rain/sleet/snow storm, but I moved in the middle of it before the temps dipped and froze up everything, so I stayed put in a once wet-now ice encrusted and frozen tent. You know the kind, where there's ice like poured concrete over everything and the shelter weighs about 15lbs.
Much more room under a tarp than in any two man tent. I can stand up, walk around with shoes on (no floor to worry about), sit/lounge in the hammock, sit on my bear canister, cook under the tarp, etc. Beats being stuck in a tent anyday IMHO.
I'm just wondering if you could do the same in a cold high wind with sleet? I saw an UL scout leader on my trip who was with 5 other guys and he set up his 8x10 tarp(I helped--it took two grown men 20 minutes in a biting wind)and we had guylines going everywhere. How the heck was this going to work? His buddy set up a two man wedge tent and invited the scout leader to join him and the guy dropped his tarp like a hot potato and took the tent option. In the morning we talked and he said he slept cold and would've really suffered under the tarp.
That must have been a hell of a storm if you couldn't move for 3 days. Where were you?
Guess where? You're old stomping grounds and my Shelter Testing Facility: Bob Bald!
Cannibal
11-10-2009, 22:23
I'm just wondering if you could do the same in a cold high wind with sleet?
Not the least bit of a problem with a winter tarp. My Warbonnet SuperFly has the same nice big coverage area, but as an extra added bonus it also has doors that close-up on the ends. I rode out a mild winter storm under one last year for a a day and two nights. As comfortable as I can imagine in those circumstances. Only real problem was I finished the only book I had by the middle of the day. After that I just practiced writing my name in the snow. :D
For me that would be the three days I was at the ALDHA Gathering in Hanover in 2005. It rained most of the three days. At one point there was water flowing an inch deep underneath my hammock, threatening to wash away my boots. The tenters in the field below where I was were bailing out their tents and moving to higher ground. I was already higher, and what was happening on the ground didn't affect me as much. I was using a cheap poly filled sleeping bag pulled over a non-bug Byer hammock under a 10x12 blue poly tarp. I drove in so weight was no problem and I wasn't worried about anyone walking off with my stuff.
I did learn, however, how important it is to have a drip ring (or similar device) on the hanging rope under the tarp so that water won't dampen the ends of the hammock.
paradoxb3
11-11-2009, 22:41
I spent 16 hours in my hammock on Tray Mountain during a week section hike of GA. Shelter space was available but the wind was blowing cold rain nearly to the back wall. I finally gave up and put up my hammock and stayed dryer than anyone else up there that evening/night. temps dropped to 28F in the morning, and all the rain froze (including the wet knots in my hammock straps) and then was dusted over with sleet. I learned another important lesson about rigging my straps that morning as well! :)
Tipi Walter
11-11-2009, 22:51
I spent 16 hours in my hammock on Tray Mountain during a week section hike of GA. Shelter space was available but the wind was blowing cold rain nearly to the back wall. I finally gave up and put up my hammock and stayed dryer than anyone else up there that evening/night. temps dropped to 28F in the morning, and all the rain froze (including the wet knots in my hammock straps) and then was dusted over with sleet. I learned another important lesson about rigging my straps that morning as well! :)
So, did the straps freeze solid and if so, how did you remove them?
paradoxb3
11-29-2009, 22:11
So, did the straps freeze solid and if so, how did you remove them?
yes, the knots in my straps froze solid, and i had one bottle of water that had been in the hammock with me that wasnt frozen, and as gross as this may sound, i warmed it up in my mouth and used it to thaw the ropes.... no further detail, use your imagination...
optimator
12-06-2009, 03:51
That's more like it. 37 hours is pretty long. I was caught in a weird 96 hour rain/sleet/snow storm, but I moved in the middle of it before the temps dipped and froze up everything, so I stayed put in a once wet-now ice encrusted and frozen tent. You know the kind, where there's ice like poured concrete over everything and the shelter weighs about 15lbs.
I'm just wondering if you could do the same in a cold high wind with sleet? I saw an UL scout leader on my trip who was with 5 other guys and he set up his 8x10 tarp(I helped--it took two grown men 20 minutes in a biting wind)and we had guylines going everywhere. How the heck was this going to work? His buddy set up a two man wedge tent and invited the scout leader to join him and the guy dropped his tarp like a hot potato and took the tent option. In the morning we talked and he said he slept cold and would've really suffered under the tarp.
Guess where? You're old stomping grounds and my Shelter Testing Facility: Bob Bald!
You thinking of getting a hammock or just trolling?
yes, the knots in my straps froze solid...
so how do you rig your straps differently now?
i've never winter hammocked, and haven't given frozen straps any thought...
thanks
paradoxb3
12-10-2009, 20:24
so how do you rig your straps differently now?
i've never winter hammocked, and haven't given frozen straps any thought...
thanks
I've been jumping back and forth with 2 different methods...
First: I've used a lightweight aluminum (climbing grade) carabiner on each end of the hammock, then tie to the carabiner -- if the ropes were to freeze, they could be unclipped instead of untied, packed up, then layed out to thaw later... also any mosture that wicks down the ropes drips off of the carabiner.
Second: The method described on this website: http://www.imrisk.com/hammock/improvedknot.htm
I got some new webbing for my claytor mosquito hammock (because the webbing it comes with sucks) and that knot works really well with the new incredibly less-stretchy webbing. I havent had that knot freeze on me but i suspect it would be much easier to take down if it did, and doesnt require the carabiner.
if anyone has a better suggestion i'm all ears, i'm still a hammock newbie! :cool:
paradoxb3
12-10-2009, 20:28
i've never winter hammocked, and haven't given frozen straps any thought...
sorry to double post but i forgot i wanted to point out that i wasnt "winter hammocking" when the knots froze... it was mid-late march (technically the "beginning of spring") during thru-hiker season in georgia, and had been in the mid-70s during the day the rest of the week! just goes to show how unpredictable the weather is down south in the mountains!
Wise Old Owl
01-01-2010, 20:14
Yall forget thats Walter he's got a 8 man 2 room tent I wouldn't be surprised if he had TV and satellite :{D If he did have a hammock it'd be the size of Noah's Arc
I have that... and the Direct TV and portable dish.... What are you trying to say?:p
Oh and its SOLAR POWERED>