Hammock v. Tent

[penguinpursuit]

Hi all,

My S.O. and I are planning a SOBO thru hike starting early June after I graduate from college. We are trying to decide between a two person hammock and a tent. Does anyone have any experience with a two person hammock? I'd also love to hear people's thoughts on hammocks v. tents in general. Thanks :)

[Tuckahoe]

https://hammockforums.net/forum/content.php
For all things hammock check out Hammock Forums. You will find all the information that you are seeking there.

[Nodust]

Two people one hammock is terrible. You can share a tarp with two hammocks under it, that works great with the right trees.

[OCDave]

Two people need two separate hammocks. Non-negotiable.

I find my hammock unmatched for comfort but, it is not for everyone. What are your S.O.'s feelings on the matter?

[penguinpursuit]

Thanks for the link Tuckahoe64 I'll definitely check it out.

OCDave: He was originally interested in a hammock because he is very sensitive to sleeping on uneven surfaces. We were both a bit concerned about a double hammock though because we haven't really seen anyone talk about experiences backpacking with one. If a double hammock is a bad idea then I think we will go with a tent in order to cut weight. I haven't done the math, but I believe a 2 person tent would be lighter than 2 hammocks.

[Fireonwindcsr]

I'm gonna live the hammock life vs tenting. Anything off the wet ground works for me. I recently purchased a hammock from Eagle Nest Outfitters... 400 lb capacity with mosquito netting... $99. I previously purchased a couple hammocks from Woot.com for 19.99 & $24.99 respectively. With and without netting

[Fireonwindcsr]

I'm gonna live the hammock life vs tenting. Anything off the wet ground works for me. I recently purchased a hammock from Eagle Nest Outfitters... 400 lb capacity with mosquito netting... $99. I previously purchased a couple hammocks from Woot.com for 19.99 & $24.99 respectively. With and without netting


http://www.woot.com/plus/conquer-the-outdoors?ref=cnt_wp_3

[bigcranky]

Plenty of good 2-person tents that are way lighter than 2 hammocks, or even one hammock :) I have not seen a 2-person hammock that I would want to do more than take a nice nap in.

Tents: For maximum interior space, the Six Moons Designs Lunar Duo is the ticket, and not too heavy. Heck, at ~40oz it's lighter than my solo hammock setup. It's our long weekend tent. If you have the big bucks, the Zpacks Duplex should be on your short list. We have a Hexamid Twin, which is similar, but the Duplex adds two doors for much better access and ventilation. Wish they had it when we were looking for a superlight long distance tent.

Hammocks: Plenty of great hammocks, but weight can be as issue. Hammocks are far more comfortable for sleeping, but it means that couples are separated. My lovely wife *strongly disliked* the whole hammock thing. Also, while it's trivially easy to find a great spot to hang one hammock, it's much more difficult to find a perfect spot for two (and we had three, with our daughter, which was close to impossible if we wanted to be nearby.)

[Dochartaigh]

As far as weight, both a tent and a hammock needs insulation below you (air mattress can be used for a tent or a hammock, but hammocks more commonly use underquilts), and insulation above you (sleeping bag or a quilt can be used in both the hammock or a tent). Depending on what you choose, weight breaks pretty darn even between a tent and a hammock insulation-wise.

For the hammock itself, a Grand Trunk Nano 7 hammock is 7 ounces, Dutch complete suspension is 3.4 ounces (4' tree straps + speedhooks), bugnet is 6 ounces = 16.4 ounces x 2 people = 32.8 + 8 ounces for a bigger cuben tarp (Hammock Gear cuben tarp with doors 6.5 ounces + guylines) = 40.8 ounces.

So can you get a 2-person tent under 40.8 ounces? Certainly. A TarpTent 2-person tent is about 34 ounces + 5 ounces for a groundsheet (my 1-person tyvek groundsheet weighs 4 ounces, so a 2-person one might be even a little more) = 39 ounces or so. Pretty darn close, but I personally sleep 1000% better in a hammock and don't have to worry about uneven ground or even rain runoff.


Of course if you have $600+ you can get something like a 19 ounce ZPacks 2-person tent, and in that case there's no comparison weight-wise, but it's all about how much money you want to spend, and how soundly you want to sleep. Other considerations are if you'll ever not have trees to hang the hammocks from - many people have done the AT in a hammock so I don't see that as too big of a concern.

[Dochartaigh]

it's trivially easy to find a great spot to hang one hammock, it's much more difficult to find a perfect spot for two

One problem solved:

http://dutchwaregear.com/double-hammock-whoopie-hooks-pair.html

Don't know where you get the single spreader bar for that setup though (probably just a thicker Easton 1-piece tent pole I would assume).

[HooKooDooKu]

He was originally interested in a hammock because he is very sensitive to sleeping on uneven surfaces.
I good ground pad should take care of any 'uneven' surface. Of course you don't want to confuse 'uneven' with 'level'. It's usually easy enough to find a spot that is relatively flat. A pad will then take care of any little remaining 'uneven' ness. But even a level looking spot usually has some slope to it (so you have to look carefully and make sure your head is on the uphill side).

Right now is a great time to buy a tent. Lots of them are going on clearance, and some sites frequently have coupons (such as SierraTradingPost and CampSaver) that allow you to take percents off on top of the sales prices. Just google the web site's name and the word coupon.

[Bluegrass]

Going the tent route also makes it easier if you all decide to stay in a shelter. Being able to 'go to ground' requires a sleeping pad. A lot of people, myself included, find underquilts (UQ) much more comfortable in a hammock. Then the choice becomes hammock+pad for flexibility, or hammock+uq for comfort.

It is definitely not the only reason to go with a tent, but combined with the lack of good two-person hammock solution, it is yet another reason to go with a tent.

As for sleeping on uneven ground, I feel like sleeping pads have come really far in the last decade or so, possibly more than any other backpacking gear. Two summers ago I went backpacking with my girlfriend. I was trying out my new Thermarest NeoAir Xlite. She had a Thermarest from about 10 years ago. She referred to my pad as "the pool raft" and referred to her pad as "the yoga mat". One night we had to pitch the tent in the dark. In the morning when we were breaking the tent down, we saw that I had been sleeping on a baseball sized rock the entire night. I had no idea - the new pad was so comfortable that I did not feel a thing.

She immediately bought a Big Agnes Air Core SL she found on sale.

[CarlZ993]

As far as the 'uneven ground' aspect, that can be readily fixed. The thick, inflatable sleeping pads (NeoAir, Exped, etc) are thick enough that you don't feel the 'uneven ground.' Some of the models are unbelievably light. I used the NeoAir Xlite (72") on my thru-hike (wt = 13 oz w/ stuff sack & repair kit). It worked great. They are pricey, though.

[Speakeasy TN]

Another vote against 2 person hammock......... nice for backyard nap with the wife, NO WAY I could sleep that way with squirming and nature calls.

[Derf]

Go for it we are about to pull the trigger on this 2 person hammock. http://www.junglehammock.com/models/vertex/index.php