PDA

View Full Version : Hammocks, Tents, or Tarps?



Figures
02-09-2008, 21:27
What do you use?

Lone Wolf
02-09-2008, 21:28
tent only

Smudge
02-09-2008, 22:16
Tarptent...:D :D

Bulldawg
02-09-2008, 22:17
Hammock

Hotrod
02-09-2008, 22:20
I wouldn't carry anything other than a tarp. However, cowboy camping is the way to go unless it is raining.

Frolicking Dinosaurs
02-09-2008, 22:27
Small bivy tent plus a large tarp - tiny tent is for sleeping only and we have it solely because he-dino won't sleep under a tarp alone. The tarp gives us a lot of dry space for riding out storms & relaxing / doing chores in rain, and provides protection from wind.

I also have a bridge style hammock and like sleeping in it. However, I haven't found a way for he-dino to have the coverage he wants and for me to use the hammock,

Lyle
02-09-2008, 22:41
Recently Hammock, for a couple of years before that a tarp.

warraghiyagey
02-09-2008, 22:42
Tent
. . . .

dixicritter
02-09-2008, 22:44
Hammock

Tin Man
02-09-2008, 22:53
I wouldn't carry anything other than a tarp. However, cowboy camping is the way to go unless it is raining.

Hey cowboy, what do you do when it dews?

Pacific Tortuga
02-09-2008, 22:55
H. Shires Tarp Tent :cool:

shelterbuilder
02-09-2008, 23:06
An oversized tarp of my own design. Originally made back in the early 80's to incorporate certain design elements of some of the best classic designs, plus including a few ideas of my own. The original was destroyed during the construction of the Eagle's Nest shelter in '87-'88, but I recently had another one sewn up by a friend (who didn't know just how BIG a project this was until she was so far into it that she didn't feel right about quitting).

Frolicking Dinosaurs
02-09-2008, 23:09
An oversized tarp of my own design. Originally made back in the early 80's to incorporate certain design elements of some of the best classic designs, plus including a few ideas of my own. The original was destroyed during the construction of the Eagle's Nest shelter in '87-'88, but I recently had another one sewn up by a friend (who didn't know just how BIG a project this was until she was so far into it that she didn't feel right about quitting).Photo(s) please
::: Dino bats eyelashes at shelterbuilder :::

gungho
02-09-2008, 23:28
Tent only for me too:)

russb
02-09-2008, 23:49
hammock with a tarp

Montego
02-09-2008, 23:52
Tent, if I can keep from tripping getting in :D

jesse
02-09-2008, 23:53
ray way tarp & net tent

shelterbuilder
02-09-2008, 23:59
Photo(s) please
::: Dino bats eyelashes at shelterbuilder :::

Funny you should ask - I DON'T HAVE ANY!!! I don't even think that I have any of the original (and I was taking LOTS of pictures back then).

It's about 7x13 (this one's camo, but the original was light brown), with "tabbed" metal o-rings on the corners, and at 1/4-length (and width) intervals. It also has o-rings running down the top of the center seam (which is flat-felled) at 1/4-length intervals, and two on the underside, at the 1/4- and 3/4-length marks. (Once the center-seam is sealed, the needle-holes made by attaching the tabs for the o-rings are sealed, too, and it doesn't leak.) Grommets can be pulled out a lot easier than the stitched-on tabs - that's how the original died - it was shredded in a windstorm!

Anyway, the tarp is normally suspended from the top-side o-rings running down the center seam, and can be used like a "normal" tarp when going to ground. BUT - if I'm hammocking, I can use the 2 underside tabs to suspend my "bug bag" around my hammock (don't laugh, but the hammock is an old mesh hammock from the 80's). I can also pitch the tarp like the old "Whelen lean-to" by skipping the two end-o-rings on the center seam, guying out the extra "flaps" on each end, and raising one side. And if the weather's really nasty, I can go to ground and pitch it so that the opening is on the SIDE instead of the front, which really does give somewhat better weather protection than a "flying wedge" pitch. (This also works well in colder weather.)

Suspending the tarp instead of trying to support it from underneath frees up the entire interior space, while allowing you ample elbow and sitting-up room (because of the size of the tarp). It may be cramped for two people, but it's big enough that one person can pull his pack inside, and still have room to thrash around!

Tinker
02-10-2008, 00:00
Unless I'm hiking with another person I prefer to use a hammock. In full-on winter conditions near treeline I will use a solo 4 season tent if alone. I still have a few old tents which I occasionally share with friends (or loan out).

warraghiyagey
02-10-2008, 00:03
Hey cowboy, what do you do when it dews?
He does the Dew??:p

taildragger
02-10-2008, 00:22
tent 4 season and tarp low bug time 3 season, considering a tarptent for the PCT

T-Dubs
02-10-2008, 00:24
At this point, it looks like the hammock users are quick to vote.

TWS

Tin Man
02-10-2008, 00:24
tent 4 season and tarp low bug time 3 season, considering a tarptent for the PCT

7 seasons? Must be global warming at work. :-?

Tin Man
02-10-2008, 00:26
At this point, it looks like the hammock users are quick to vote.

TWS

Thanks for reminding me. I will go speak up for tents.

Cannibal
02-10-2008, 10:53
Hammock.

I still use a tent when I'm car camping, just not for sleeping. The beer cooler needs shelter too and it keeps falling out of the hammocks. :D

cannonball
02-10-2008, 11:01
6 moons lunar solo tarp tent.

Hammocking= an evil conspiracy to under mind the moral fabric of decent tenters through out the world.:D

saimyoji
02-10-2008, 11:57
hammock in the summer, tent in the cooler months when keeping warm becomes weight and cost prohibitive.

Two Speed
02-10-2008, 11:59
Currently using a tent, prolly gonna transition to a tarp soon but cowboy camp every time I think I can get away with it so that'd be "other," right?

Seeker
02-10-2008, 13:40
hammock w/tarp.

Terry7
02-10-2008, 13:47
always a tent.

CrumbSnatcher
02-10-2008, 13:59
tenting is prefered

taildragger
02-10-2008, 14:20
7 seasons? Must be global warming at work. :-?

I've never met a three season that I like in snow and gusty wind, that and I looked the roominess of the 4 season (hate the weight).

Hey, when that 6th seasons rolls around though, I'll be prepared...

gumball
02-10-2008, 14:34
Tried a hammock for about a year, don't like the thought of critters on me, so I use either a tarp and a nest or a tarptent.

DAKS
02-10-2008, 16:25
tarp currently. may look into a hammock though?

Shadowmoss
02-10-2008, 20:58
Hammock and large tarp.

Programbo
02-10-2008, 21:08
I personally prefer the shelters provided they aren`t overly crowded as to me the shelter system is part of the lore and tradition of the trail life..I just love that wood-smokey smell and logs.....But since the poll seems to be directed to shelter apart from shelters I always prefer a nice roomy freestanding tent.....I tried to get some of the tent companies interested in a hammock idea way back in the mid-80`s but they all shot it down...Back then pretty much nobody used a hammock and I designed a backpackers hammock that was kind of a hanging tent with rain-fly (A lightweight version of the military jungle hammock)...I showed it to Eureka, North face, Sierra Designs, etc and they all said it would never take off

Bearpaw
02-10-2008, 21:16
Hammock in warm weather.

Tarp or occasionally tarptent in cool or cold weather.

Tent when hiking with fiancee.

Used my Gatewood Cape last night. Good rain protection though not that much room. But since it doubles as my poncho, it's a very functional item.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/bearpawat99/Bear%20Wallow%20Gap/P2100033s.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/bearpawat99/Bear%20Wallow%20Gap/P2100032s.jpg

Ramble~On
02-10-2008, 21:32
There are things I really like about using a hammock and there are things I like about using a tent/tarptent.
I don't think that I have any "loyalty" to any of them and they all serve their purpose.
Currently I am able to take out a hammock, a tarptent and a tarp and with the combined weight of all of them I'm still lighter than I would be if I were just using one of my older tents.
Silnylon is great stuff.
I have the option of sleeping in the hammock while all of my gear is dry and happy in the tarptent, using the hammock as a chair/lounger or using the hammock to keep all my stuff in while I sleep in the tarptent...eh, or I can put me and all my junk in it.
I'd use a tent for winter, expected snow and very low temps and that's about the only time I'd use or want a tent.

Hotrod
02-11-2008, 14:14
Hey cowboy, what do you do when it dews?

This is usually not a big problem. If it is really bad, you just pull it back out at lunch time and lay it in the sun.

sheepdog
02-11-2008, 14:52
I like my tent but have been looking at hammocks. They seem awfully complicated...top mount... side mount...quilts...:-?

Hooch
02-11-2008, 15:01
Tent only for me too:)I got Roots to convert to a Caldera Cone, now I've got to get you hammocking. :D


I like my tent but have been looking at hammocks. They seem awfully complicated...top mount... side mount...quilts...:-?It's only as comlicated as you make it out to be. Besides, the comfort factor is definitely worth it. :D

Cannibal
02-11-2008, 15:03
I like my tent but have been looking at hammocks. They seem awfully complicated...top mount... side mount...quilts...:-?

Just a new set of skills and terms like 'freestanding' or 'double walled' are with tents. Gets easy quickly.
HammockForums (http://www.hammockforums.net/?).

Appalachian Tater
02-11-2008, 15:07
Henry Shires Tarptent Rainbow.

Ashman
02-11-2008, 15:20
Been a tenter, bought a Hennesy and will use on my next Backpacking trip. If my backyard test are any indicator, I think I am converting!

hopefulhiker
02-11-2008, 15:40
Henry Shires TarpTent.. I am not sure that counts as either a tent or a tarp, so I put in the other category....

Christopher Robin
02-11-2008, 15:52
If I have the choose I use the sheaters or a trap on a few days. But, I am takeing a 3 season 3lb bivt free stanging tent becuase their will be two of us. If I was by myself a solo free standing tent.

Footslogger
02-11-2008, 15:56
I went from tent (heavier one), to hammock, to tent, to tarp and back to tent (23 ounce single wall).

Pretty sure I'm gonna stick with tent now ...at least for distance hiking. Still have the hammock for one or two night trips in the summer though.

'Slogger

Bootstrap
02-11-2008, 18:38
I'm afraid I've gotten to where I have one of each, and I'm still sorting it out.

But I know I like the tarp, and I still haven't made my new hammock warm enough for the current temperatures.

Jonathan

cuatro
02-11-2008, 18:56
I stay in my tent because it keeps the monsters away!

bigmac_in
02-11-2008, 19:23
Tent - although recently contemplating a hammock? Hmmmmmm.........

PKH
02-12-2008, 15:57
All three. It depends on the terrain and the nature of the hike. No sense in having all this kit if I can't be flexible.

Cheers

Alligator
02-12-2008, 16:05
Hammock, tarp, pyramid tent, winter tent.
Hot..........to..............................cold.

I didn't vote because I couldn't vote on all three.

River Runner
02-14-2008, 02:56
Depends on the trip -- hammock, tent, tarptent, and beginning to play with a tarp only.

Dogwood
02-14-2008, 03:16
All of the above!

No Belay
02-16-2008, 16:41
OR Deluxe Bivy and homemade Sil 6x8 tarp (summer) or Golite cave (winter)

dessertrat
02-16-2008, 17:21
I have always used a tent, but am looking forward to trying out a tarp-tent this year.

Tipi Walter
02-16-2008, 18:00
I use a hammock in a large tent all covered by a massive tarp.

Tipi Walter
02-16-2008, 18:22
Seriously, I started out with a cowboy bedroll set-up, got wet frequently and walked to a laundry often, but the bedroll system works best in cold conditions with the addition of a second bag to keep wind off/or a fancy goretex bivy which I never could afford.

Then I spend several months living in tarps and tipi-style tents(Chouinard pyramid)but like the open bedroll I always woke up with blown snow all over me and my gear. In the Chouinard I spent many nights awake in a windstorm just holding down the sides from blowing away. It was designed by Chouinard to be used in deep snow with the edges acting like snowskirts, not stuck out in the open during a raging windstorm.

I finally got a good North Face A-frame tent in 1978 and it became my shelter from the storm, a nest during hellish blizzards and mean ant attacks, and a warm refuge on cold -10 degree nights. The places I camp are not conductive to tarps and hammocks(too cold and too windy), and I wouldn't want to have my tarp or hammock system fail in a nasty whiteout and have to rely on somebody else's tent. I'm sticking with the tent as my shelter.

Heater
02-16-2008, 19:41
Seriously, I started out with a cowboy bedroll set-up, got wet frequently and walked to a laundry often, but the bedroll system works best in cold conditions with the addition of a second bag to keep wind off/or a fancy goretex bivy which I never could afford.

Then I spend several months living in tarps and tipi-style tents(Chouinard pyramid)but like the open bedroll I always woke up with blown snow all over me and my gear. In the Chouinard I spent many nights awake in a windstorm just holding down the sides from blowing away. It was designed by Chouinard to be used in deep snow with the edges acting like snowskirts, not stuck out in the open during a raging windstorm.

I finally got a good North Face A-frame tent in 1978 and it became my shelter from the storm, a nest during hellish blizzards and mean ant attacks, and a warm refuge on cold -10 degree nights. The places I camp are not conductive to tarps and hammocks(too cold and too windy), and I wouldn't want to have my tarp or hammock system fail in a nasty whiteout and have to rely on somebody else's tent. I'm sticking with the tent as my shelter.

I thought you were using a Hilleberg Staika?

Heater
02-16-2008, 19:46
I thought you were using a Hilleberg Staika?

I am seriously thinking on getting a Soulo which is the Staika's little brother.

http://www.moontrail.com/images/P/hb-soulo-main-300.jpg
Soulo

http://www.moontrail.com/images/P/staika-grn-new-300.jpg

Staika

scavenger
02-16-2008, 19:53
Just a sleeping bag under the stars unless it rains. In rain and snow lately Ive been using my golite poncho tarp and/or equinox ultralight bivy

Tipi Walter
02-16-2008, 21:28
I am seriously thinking on getting a Soulo which is the Staika's little brother.

http://www.moontrail.com/images/P/hb-soulo-main-300.jpg
Soulo

http://www.moontrail.com/images/P/staika-grn-new-300.jpg

Staika



Ah yes, Grandpa and little Grandson. They both look good together, sob. I do like my Staika, it of course replaced the old North Face tent of long ago. Any friend of the Soulo is a friend of mine.

Strategic
02-17-2008, 12:57
Hammock all the way! Seriously, it's the most comfortable sleep I get anywhere, so I'm not likely to leave it behind and I'm very inventive about finding hang spots. I have yet to go to ground since converting (from a Squall II) and don't intend to ever again.

neo
02-17-2008, 13:46
i voted hammock but that includes a tarp:cool:neo

http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=1125&catid=member&imageuser=11

http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=2510&catid=member&imageuser=11

http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=2678&catid=member&imageuser=11

Figures
02-17-2008, 19:57
Thanks for the great response guys.

I've been using hammocks for quite some time and love them. However Im looking into tarps because their lighter. I set up a tarp tube in my yard this afternoon. Right now its pouring rain and I plan on sleeping out there tonight. I reckon its better to test it in my backyard than on some mountain, lol.

I'll post about how it goes

maxNcathy
02-17-2008, 20:30
Had a 2 1/2 pound great tent last spring.

This year trying out a Gossamer Gear Spinshelter at about 10 ozs.

If it sucks I will go back to tent next year.

Cherokee Bill
02-18-2008, 19:28
A tent, certainly:banana

envirodiver
02-18-2008, 19:35
I voted other: because I use all 3 at various times. In the summer I'm more likely to use a tarp, or just a bivy under the stars, maybe a fastpack set-up. I have a new hammock that I'll be trying out this summer.

During the winter I like a tent, it gets too cold and windy in the mountains for the others IMO.

fonsie
02-18-2008, 20:14
Tent all the way....im glad I have'nt gone to tarp yet. I had to pitch the tent in the ice storm last week and it was comfy.

bluesky62/07
02-18-2008, 21:49
tent with fly

tina.anderson
02-21-2008, 16:20
I will only use a tent, but I have used hammocks and tarps regularly in the past.

OTdarters
09-24-2008, 21:25
I've used all three . . . hammocks are definitely best in summer, tarps work great spring and fall, and nothing but tent in the winter.

That said, I have a few questions. Do you tenters out there encounter any problems with non-freestanding tents above the treeline?

And, hammockers, where do you put your pack for the night?

Egads
09-24-2008, 21:36
I am seriously considering the Jannu
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4845&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1222306737 (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4845&d=1222306737)

or Unna
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4846&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1222306737 (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4846&d=1222306737)
Any opinions on either for winter use?

Live the Journey
09-24-2008, 21:53
Bivy and small tarp when it's cold, tarptent when its warm...

I'm very excited to have a friend who is an avid D0-it-yourself-er who is helping me design and make a custom tarptent for my 2009 thruhike. I'm also looking closely at the H.Shires tarptents...

SteveJ
09-24-2008, 22:45
<clip>And, hammockers, where do you put your pack for the night?

If it's raining, I put it in it's rain cover and lay it on the ground under my hammock, on a piece of tyvek, with shoulder straps up. Phoebe is also usually under the hammock, so I really don't worry about mice, etc.

If it's dry, I'll either hang the empty pack off a nearby branch or do the above. I plan to try hanging it off the ridgeline on my next trip (duh - had just never thought of it 'till I read it in a recent thread).

take-a-knee
09-24-2008, 23:23
I've used all three . . . hammocks are definitely best in summer, tarps work great spring and fall, and nothing but tent in the winter.

That said, I have a few questions. Do you tenters out there encounter any problems with non-freestanding tents above the treeline?

And, hammockers, where do you put your pack for the night?

I hang my pack and it's contents (3-4#) from the ridgeline of the hammock near my head.

Quoddy
09-25-2008, 08:36
I am seriously considering the Jannu or Unna.

Any opinions on either for winter use?

They're slightly different in their design purpose. The Unna is a large, lighter, two pole, single and the Jannu is a heavier, three pole, double. The three pole design will make the Jannu somewhat better for very heavy wind/snow conditions, otherwise the Unna should be fine. I looked into the Hilleberg models extensively before I ended up with a Soulo for deep winter use (smaller than the Unna if space is a consideration, though). BTW... did you check out the Allak if you are looking for a double. Slightly different design.

B.Woods
09-25-2008, 08:49
I'm too old to sleep on the ground in a tent or a tarp and I'm too young not to hike. It's a hammock for me.

CBSSTony
09-25-2008, 09:58
Lately I have been using a hammock, if I am kayaking I use a hammock or tarp. If its winter or I could be holed up for awhile I pack the tent. If going with someone who doesn't have a shelter I split the tent with them. Both carrying and sleeping.

Gumbi
09-25-2008, 10:24
Hammock, unless my wife wants to car camp.

SunnyWalker
11-20-2008, 15:36
Warm weather-Hammock. Cool/cold weather-Tent/tarp.