Why I'm still not hanging

[Bulldawg]

I'll tell ya, I love my hammock. Not having backpack camped with anything else, I don't know how to compare it. But having car camped for many years I can compare it with that experience. While sleeping on the ground, even with a foam pad, I have spent many nights waking up every 45 minutes or so because of pressure points the body creates while on the ground. Now in my hammock, I can sleep ALL NIGHT LONG without getting cold. I carry a homemade synthetic down quilt. It is a bit larger than REALLY necessary, but I wanted it to be warm and large enough. It weighs 3.1 pounds. But now it is 7'x5' with TWO layers of climashield in it. I carry a North Face down bag, it's old, but still warm. It weighs almost 3 pounds. I also carry a Oware wide hammockcer pad, I don't what it weighs, it cannot be much at all. The hammock itself is homemade and the hammock with all the attachment gear weighs in at about 14 ounces. So for I guess about 7.5 pounds, I can sleep all night long, wake up without a sore back, sore knees, or sore shoulders, refreshed for another day's hiking. I will stick with my hammock.

They are so comfortable that my seven year just recently had me order her one for her first overnighter. She has laid in my many times and hates the ground as much as I do. My 6 year old son will be getting one also next spring as he loves both of ours.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

how do you sleep in, on or under 11 snicker bars

If I eat 11 Snicker bars, I'm not getting any sleep. Just saying.

[Marta]

how do you sleep in, on or under 11 snicker bars

Around the outside of...

[freefall]

I have a HH Exp-A-sym and use a Thermarest Prolite 3/4 length. I was using a 20* synthetic but just switched to a 15* down. I also have a silk liner.With the 20* bag I was set down to about 15*. I would wear my fleece hat and jacket to bed and slept OK. I am now planning on a winter hike and am considering some other options.
One thing I found is an under-quilt that you stuff with whatever you can find. It is basically two half sil-nylon tarps sewn together . When you get to your campsite and set up your hammock, just attach the under-quilt and then stuff it with duff. This helps keep things light and mobile. If you go through a section w/o duff you could use snow or anything that traps air.
I have not tried this yet but it makes sense. The layers shield you from the wind, and anything that traps heat will trap your body heat and radiate it back so you would get some warming from underneath without the need to carry a heavy underpad.
I have a hike coming up mid-May in RMNP and will be using this system. I'll let you know how it goes. An under-quilt w/o having to carry the insulation? Great idea!

[Doctari]

My tent set up:
Nomad tent; 32 Oz, somewhat complicated but can be set up (if I hurry) in 2 minutes. Packs to the size of a softball.
Groundcover 4' x 7' coated nylon, 14 Oz, it just fits in the pocket of my work pants.
Full size CC pad; 14 Oz.
Sleeping bag 64 Oz but I was going to switch to a RayWay tarp, so lets say 32 Oz
Required pillow case, 3 Oz
Required trekking poles (used as teh supports for the tent) 24 Oz
Total; 119 Oz / 7.5 Lbs

My hammock set up:
I havent the $$$ for sil nylon yet, so for now my tarp is 32 Oz takes about the same space as the sil nylon tent above.
Hammock, hammock sock & suspension; about 32 Oz.
"It's nice to have" pillow case 0.5 Oz.
Ray WAy quilt, 32 Oz
Under quilt, 28 Oz
Sit pad / extra under me insulation, 4.5 Oz
Total 128 Oz / 8 Lbs

My hammock set up, even without a silnylon tarp only adds about 1/2 Lb, but very minimal bulk to my ground set up. I can get down to 20 degrees with the above set up & the cost wasnt bad considering that I am using nothing from my ground set up.
I will admit that I still carry the trekking poles, but don't NEED them to set up my shelter.

[Undershaft]

I have a HH expedition A-Sym. I used a ridgerest pad and my 20F sleeping bag with dry camp clothes. Keeps me warm down to the upper forties if its not too windy. In midsummer I ditch the bag and just use a microfleece bag liner. No extra gear to buy and it works just fine. Getting into/out of the bag isn't really a big deal. And I have a right hand zipper.

[Fiddleback]

Fiddleback, thanks for discussing the flip side of my story and reminding us that gear isn't a one-size-fits-all type of thing. When it is even moderately cool overnight, I've never been really warm in a hammock in the field no matter what I did or carried. The only time I've been warm was in my own backyard with 3/8" CCF pad and a king size down comforter wrapped all the way around me and the hammock. Some of us just were not meant to be burritos - we freeze our dino whiskers off.

In the third of a century I called San Antonio home I learned to love burritos and hate the heat. So now I hang in western Montana.

You're absolutely right...not everyone fits each style or technique. But that's not a bad thing...what would we do if everyone who 'doesn't get' backpacking suddenly got it...? I'm not an absolutist...there are benefits to tents, most of them social.

The backpacking community has a big tent....umm, hammock...uh...well, you know what I mean.

FB

[FeO2]

For me:

Sleeping on the Ground = 2 to 3 hours in the morning hiking like an old man with arthritis until all the kinks work out.

Sleeping in a Hammock = fully rested without any aches or pains.

[Tinker]

I have a hammock, a Hennessy Hammock without the net. I have the original tarp and a few others.

But I just can't find a way to stay warm that is:

1. cheap
2. not bulky
3. not heavy
4. not complicated

Is there anything that meets all 4 criteria? I'm sleeping beneath my tarp for now ...

Jonathan

Try this:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/237103382ByZIeG

Get one of those bug netting covers from ENO or Byer or Travel Hammock to keep the biting insects at bay.

[River Runner]

. I am now planning on a winter hike and am considering some other options.
One thing I found is an under-quilt that you stuff with whatever you can find. It is basically two half sil-nylon tarps sewn together . When you get to your campsite and set up your hammock, just attach the under-quilt and then stuff it with duff. This helps keep things light and mobile. If you go through a section w/o duff you could use snow or anything that traps air.
An under-quilt w/o having to carry the insulation? Great idea!

A little scary idea if you ask me. When insulation is needed most (cold and wet conditions), any duff is also going to be cold and wet. Seems like cold wet leaves would provide little insulation, to say nothing of the chill produced by gathering them up and stuffing them inside the underquilt.

Sleeping directly on snow with only a thin piece of sil-nylon between it and you doesn't seem like it would be very warming either. If it were, mountaineers would be sleeping directly on the snow, wouldn't they?

[hammock engineer]

I have a HH Exp-A-sym and use a Thermarest Prolite 3/4 length. I was using a 20* synthetic but just switched to a 15* down. I also have a silk liner.With the 20* bag I was set down to about 15*. I would wear my fleece hat and jacket to bed and slept OK. I am now planning on a winter hike and am considering some other options.
One thing I found is an under-quilt that you stuff with whatever you can find. It is basically two half sil-nylon tarps sewn together . When you get to your campsite and set up your hammock, just attach the under-quilt and then stuff it with duff. This helps keep things light and mobile. If you go through a section w/o duff you could use snow or anything that traps air.
I have not tried this yet but it makes sense. The layers shield you from the wind, and anything that traps heat will trap your body heat and radiate it back so you would get some warming from underneath without the need to carry a heavy underpad.
I have a hike coming up mid-May in RMNP and will be using this system. I'll let you know how it goes. An under-quilt w/o having to carry the insulation? Great idea!

I would be careful about this. I remember being really cold last winter. I am not an expert winter hiker by any means. I just remember times when I was cold. The last thing I would want to screw with is stuffing an underquilt when I'm freezing.

I'm not sure that snow would work for this. But like you said, a testing you will go.

[Ramble~On]

Not all winter camping trips are equal but I wouldn't and won't test a new system in the field. Testing things in the backyard makes a lot more sense than driving, hiking and than testing something while being committed to it.
I like backpacking in all four seasons and winter is a favorite. I hammock and tent.

[Mags]

how do you sleep in, on or under 11 snicker bars

I sew the wrappers together to make a tarp.

[whitefoot_hp]

foam pads with some fabric in between you and them. Cheap light, not bulky if you go thin and combine aproach with inflatable. However, if you are all about cheap and light, perhaps you should look towards low weight ground camping, like torso pad, bivy, poncho.

[whitefoot_hp]

I sew the wrappers together to make a tarp.

i love the dual use approach

[johnny quest]

i use an spe with blue pads and a RECTANGULAR down bag that can unzip into a quilt. so far with my hh exped this seems to do fine. ive tried it down to 27 or so degrees and remained comfortable. the spe/pad is bulky but im willing to make that allowance.

[AlabamaDan]

Try this:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/237103382ByZIeG

Get one of those bug netting covers from ENO or Byer or Travel Hammock to keep the biting insects at bay.

Did that guy just make a hole in his sleeping bag somehow to allow the rope to pass, then slide the bag around the hammock like a sock? I've been thinking that would be a quick and easy solution.

The problem with just throwing a sleeping bag inside the hammock is that it compresses underneath you right? But, doesn't it do the same thing on the ground?

[johnny quest]

sure, but the ground has "some" insulating properties whereas the air under your hammock steals heat.
i wouldnt put a hole in my bag but i think you could jus zip it up to the bottom around the rope. most bags have two way zippers.

[whitefoot_hp]

I have a hammock, a Hennessy Hammock without the net. I have the original tarp and a few others.

But I just can't find a way to stay warm that is:

1. cheap
2. not bulky
3. not heavy
4. not complicated

Is there anything that meets all 4 criteria? I'm sleeping beneath my tarp for now ...

Jonathan

try eno double nest, (50 bucks) big anges insul air pad, (60-70 bucks) with current bag/quilt, voila! you are now sleeping like a king.

[generoll]

I swing both ways on this. On my two weeks this past month I spent one week in a hammock and one week tenting/sheltering. I can't really say that either was warmer, but...

The hammock was nice when the ground was wet. I found it about as hard to pick a spot with the right space between trees as I did finding a level spot for a tent. The hammock gave me a nice snug feeling once I finally got into it and got settled and centered. The extra CCF pad I carried made my pack much bulkier, which was an issue on the relatively rugged trail I hiked the hammock week. My CCF pad has slashes in it from the scrapes on different flora.

My rig was a BA airmat and bag to which I added the CCF pads from Gossamer Gear when hammocking. Next time I go hammocking (and I will) I am taking my small folding saw to trim the underbrush between trees. The hammock set up is slightly heavier then my Black Diamond tent, but getting up off the wet ground is also a big deal for me.

Practice at home next winter and see for yourself what works best. There's a learning curve to everything.