Hanger Hiker Journals??? [Archive]

View Full Version : Hanger Hiker Journals???

CANtucky

07-09-2009, 20:23

peter_pan

07-10-2009, 08:28

Hi! I'm planning for my '10 SOBO and had been considering a hammock, had in fact almost decided on one. But I just read WATERFALL's hiker journal and I realized I wasn't as worried about the cold as maybe I should be. I was wondering if...

1) Anyone here had thru-hiked SOBO with a hammock

and

2) There are any recommended trail journals of thrus with hammocks.

I am a 24 year old girl who is planning on going solo, which is why Waterfall's appealed to me, but anything would be appreciated.

Thanks :sun

CANtucky,

Hammock Engineer thrued as a sobo couple years back with a hammock, mostly..... Many have done the hammock nobo.

Staying warm is easy.....Lots of options.... ckeck out http://www.hammockforums.net
(http://www.hammockforums.net)

Pan

Buzz_Lightfoot

07-10-2009, 08:54

Hi! I'm planning for my '10 SOBO and had been considering a hammock, had in fact almost decided on one. But I just read WATERFALL's hiker journal and I realized I wasn't as worried about the cold as maybe I should be. I was wondering if...

1) Anyone here had thru-hiked SOBO with a hammock

and

2) There are any recommended trail journals of thrus with hammocks.

I am a 24 year old girl who is planning on going solo, which is why Waterfall's appealed to me, but anything would be appreciated.

Thanks :sun

One of the best journals for hammocks was from Certain. Reading her journal was what got me to try hanging. She was quite the "Hammock Evangelist". So much so that when I was talking to a fellow from Henessey Hamocks at traildays and mentioned her his response was "Oh yes, I know Certain". :)

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=4316

Bl

Marta

07-10-2009, 12:18

Ed Speer hiked SOBO with a hammock.

In '06, my fellow SOBOs Nemo, Beater, and Superstar were using hammocks.

CANtucky

07-10-2009, 19:16

Thanks everyone! Def. encouraging to know others have done it. I've browsed around at hammockforums.net and find it VERY helpful. Will go look up Certain's journal now... :)

Old Hiker

07-10-2009, 22:31

Greetings!

This is my first post - be gentle!

I'm 6'2" - 200 pounds. I was worried about not being comfortable in a hammock, but I decided to try one, since all I usually do at night on the ground is turn from hip to back to other hip to back to other hip to back to other........ you get the idea.

I've had a Clark Jungle hammock for several years and will NEVER back to the ground unless I can't find any trees. I got the mid-range type, but added an extra large rain fly. I haven't seen or tried any other hammocks, but the Clark is not able to flip (or at least so far). I use a 6' piece of closed cell type ground pad (Wally World Sporting Goods type) in the bottom of the hammock to help spread it out so I don't feel like I'm in a burrito and to keep the FL mosquitoes from coming up through the material. I have an old sheet that I put over and around the pad to help with moisture wicking.

My hammock is pretty warm (uncomfortably so in 80 nights) in FL, set up like that. I find it very comfortable in colder climates. I've hung in 30 degree weather with just a sleeping bag over me comforter style and have been warm. The zipper on the bag broke and rather than try to keep the sides together, I just laid it over me and tucked in the sides around me. Worked great, but I forgot my hat, so I had to duck and cover!

It's great to be able to look down and see 3 inches of water running under your hammock during a downpour, which has happened!

In the morning, it all gets stuffed into an outside pocket. I'm done while other people are still folding their rain flies. It has 4 large pockets on the outside for gear storage which helps in the middle of the night when I have to travel outside and need my crocs to shuffle to the latrine.

Anyway - hope that helps.

Old Hiker

CANtucky

07-11-2009, 20:13

:welcome

Thanks, Old Hiker! I am also pretty new here, it seems like all I ever post are questions because I don't know enough to chime in with advice! Thanks for the info, it's nice to know that the pad makes that much of a difference... Do you use an underquilt, also, to be comfortable in the 30 degree weather?

I do prefer to sleep in a fairly cool set up so after my initial :eek:, I've calmed down a bit and am still thinking hammock for next year.

Going on my first two-night hike in the Red River Gorge this week (despite the rain, I figure I should get used to it!). Yay!

Wags

07-19-2009, 22:12

go for it! in 5 years everyone will be hanging all the time. you'll be ahead of the curve. i saw a decent number of thrus hanging this year (probably 1/4 of people i saw on the trail)

spencerb

07-22-2009, 21:06

My first night on the AT, I was the only one warm. I was the only hanger and everyone else was in tents or the shelter. I had an underquilt and a 20* bag and temps dropped to low 30s. I was snug/a little bit warm. Everyone else the next morning was complaining. =)

There are lots of hangers out there, and usually much easier to find a spot to hang rather than a flat spot to tent.

Old Grouse

07-22-2009, 21:19

CANtucky, don't worry about only asking questions. Questions engender answers, which is the important thing, no matter who provides them.

volleypc

07-25-2009, 22:29

I started NOBO March 2nd and the temp was about 12 degrees with 4-5 inches of snow. (March 1 is when they had the ice storm in the SE). I sleep in a HH with a simple blue foam pad from walmart and a 20 degree Campmor Sleeping bag. I tested it out a month or so prior in 15-18 degree weather and it kept me toasty. I do sleep in campmor microfleece pants and top but usually just ended up using it for a pillow because I was nice and toasty. I like the pad myself because it is less bulky than the underquilt and I have had great results with it. The one from walmart is open cell so it will retain water. I swapped it out for a closed cell one around Damascus somewhere. My blog is mainly photos, but you are welcomed to follow it. The link is below.

hammock engineer

07-26-2009, 16:08

CANtucky,

Hammock Engineer thrued as a sobo couple years back with a hammock, mostly..... Many have done the hammock nobo.

Staying warm is easy.....Lots of options.... ckeck out http://www.hammockforums.net
(http://www.hammockforums.net)

Pan

Thanks for the shout out. I hammock mainly until the south. The south in December and January got a little more than I wanted to do with the cold and a hammock. Plus the very long nights in the hammock got old.

Go for starting out with one if it works for you. Do a lot of testing first to get the kinks worked out. Don't be afraid to change around later if you want.

For me it was nice to sleep in the shelter to socalize a little and have more room to move around. Not a fan of night hiking and ended up with 12 hours or so in camp each night. Plus it was easier to cook from the sleeping bag and eat in the morning from a bag.

kayak karl

07-26-2009, 16:49

Hi! I'm planning for my '10 SOBO and had been considering a hammock, had in fact almost decided on one. But I just read WATERFALL's hiker journal and I realized I wasn't as worried about the cold as maybe I should be. I was wondering if...

1) Anyone here had thru-hiked SOBO with a hammock

and

2) There are any recommended trail journals of thrus with hammocks.

I am a 24 year old girl who is planning on going solo, which is why Waterfall's appealed to me, but anything would be appreciated.

Thanks :sun
i did NOBO starting 1/1 till 2/28 this year in a hammock. if your prepared for the cold you'll be OK, but everybody is different.

Monkeywrench

07-29-2009, 18:31

Hiking NOBO with a hammock, but plenty of cold weather at the start:

allenf.blogspot.com