View Full Version : Hammock Hanging options
banjo_dog
01-30-2011, 19:44
Hey~ Just wondering from all you previous hikers if you even had trouble finding a place to hang. I'm no stranger to sleeping on the ground and will have a versatile system that I could use for bare flat land shelter. I'm stoked on doing my thru with a hammock and would like to use it as much as possible (for comfort reasons);)
Roughin' It
01-30-2011, 19:53
I thru'd with a hammock and there was never a night where I couldn't find a spot to hang up. (with the exception of places like Max Patch where you already know there will be no trees)
Hammocking is THE way to go.
topshelf
01-30-2011, 19:58
i thru'd with a hammock and there was never a night where i couldn't find a spot to hang up. (with the exception of places like max patch where you already know there will be no trees)
hammocking is the way to go.
+1........
since there is not supposed to be tenting on top of Max Patch, I hammocked below. Nicer spot. Got up the next morning and hiked up Max Patch at sunrise, only to find a bunch of tents up there. I guess I was the only one following the rules, lol
banjo_dog
01-30-2011, 20:14
thanks for the input! i wasn't too worried about it, just trying to see what everyone thought on the matter.
Monkeywrench
01-30-2011, 23:50
I thru'ed with my hammock as well, and never had a problem finding a place to hang.
balloonatic
01-31-2011, 12:04
i am also hammocking the a.t. this year and from what i have heard in the hammockforum.net there will be no problem.
Buffalo Skipper
01-31-2011, 12:07
To refine this question a bit more, where do hammockers hang for the night? I mean do they go to shelters and hang outside of there? Or do they camp near water? or maybe 1/2 way between shelters?
Just wondering where the hammockers choose to go?
JaxHiker
01-31-2011, 12:13
I usually stop at a shelter just because that usually means a privy and water source. I've never stayed in a shelter, though. They're just landmarks. And there's a place for a nice fire. :) I head off 50-100 yards from the shelter.
I don't always use them, though. The nice thing about a hammock is you can stop damn near anywhere. There's no worrying about the ground and having a clear spot. Find two trees and setup. I love the comfort and flexibility.
To refine this question a bit more, where do hammockers hang for the night? I mean do they go to shelters and hang outside of there? Or do they camp near water? or maybe 1/2 way between shelters?
Just wondering where the hammockers choose to go?
yes, yes, and yes.... I mostly stopped at shelters for company, I tried to be near water so I could cook, and sometimes I was just too tired and stopped short of a shelter... Basically, anywhere I found good trees and water was a nice place to stop, having company was a plus
RichardD
01-31-2011, 22:59
Those of you who thrued with a hammock. How did you fare in SMNP, were there enough other hikers at the shelter so that you could hammock by the shelter without breaking the rules.
How about in the Whites? I have not researched that part of my hike yet but don't you have to stay in expensive shelters or did you descend to trees. Did you carry a pad so that you could sleep on a shelter floor.
I use an under quilt and don't know if I need to carry a pad for these occasions.
I guess you mean GSMNP, and I was able to hammock because the shelters were full. Truthfully, Richard, by the time I got to the Whites, I was happy to pay for a bunk in the huts, where I didn't need a pad, except a couple of "work for stays" where I used my underquilt to soften the floor under my bag.
Monkeywrench
02-02-2011, 09:59
Those of you who thrued with a hammock. How did you fare in SMNP, were there enough other hikers at the shelter so that you could hammock by the shelter without breaking the rules.
How about in the Whites? I have not researched that part of my hike yet but don't you have to stay in expensive shelters or did you descend to trees. Did you carry a pad so that you could sleep on a shelter floor.
I use an under quilt and don't know if I need to carry a pad for these occasions.
I had my Thermarest sent to me at Fontana Dam, just before GSMNP, so I had my pad to use sleeping in the shelters going through the park. Since we ended up hiking through a 2-day snow storm with very cold nights, that worked out splendidly for me. I also had my pad sent to me at Glencliff, just before the Whites, and used it for sleeping on the tables in the Huts through the Whites.
gunner76
02-02-2011, 11:46
One of my nephews hiked part of the AT this past summer and said he saw lots of hammock hangers on the trail.
As long as we have a couple of trees to hang from we are happy campers.
I was able to hammock camp next to the Neuse river here in NC this summer in a spot a tent would not have fit due to all the roots.
Land_Shark
02-02-2011, 20:37
Land shark on the move. Give me 18 feet under a deck tieing off to the bottom rafters or in a slot using dead rocks as anchors in cracks just as if you were in the bottom of the Grand Canton. Most hangers will find a way to hang. I like no wind and a lot of privacy and hanging you can have both every night.
I've got a double layer WBBB, Yeti UQ and a Speer winter tarp and you know what my only issue is - the thing that keeps me in a tent?
Being able to roll over in my bag without getting up, cooking and eating breakfast in the vestibule and being able to roll back over and go to sleep for a while.
If I could cook in a hammock I'd convert yesterday.