Hammocks and Ponchos

[AjR]

So after reading for a while, I became interested in hammock camping. The hammocks are a lot lighter than my Eureka tent, which weighs in at 4#. The Hammocks I'm looking at getting only weigh 8oz a piece. I was also thinking of buying two military style ponchos, for a number of reasons. The primary reason is that I'm in the military, and the poncho has served great when we were out rucking, because it fits over your ruck. The next, is it can be configured into many different types of shelters, a lot of which I'm familiar with. Last but not least, they're very light, and compact. (I believe they weigh in at only 4 oz. each) With two ponchos, I can make a shelter big enough for my wife and I, and be able to keep our gear out of the rain. Is the comfort of a tent worth it's weight, or is it just better to cut down to a pound or pound and a half, whilst sacrificing four walls? The hammocks I'm looking at are Eagle Nest Outfitters Single Nest Hammocks. Any opinions?

[Migrating Bird]

Check out the Packa from Cedar Tree. http://www.thepacka.com/ Works for me as it is always were I need it.

[Tinker]

My custom made silnylon poncho weighs 10 oz. (but it's 5 feet by 9-1/2 feet and has 16 tie outs). Check the weight on the mil-spec. ponchos again. They're probably urethane coated and weigh more in the 12 oz. range each, and they're probably smaller than mine.

ENO products are good quality, but you can get by with less expensive hammocks, which, in the case of the ones I own, are lighter as well. Byer makes a nice one as do the Traveler brand.

In terms of raingear, ponchos are fine for cool days without much wind. If it gets warm you will sweat and will probably just prefer to get wet from the rain rather than your own sweat. If it's windy, the rain can blow in from the sides, but that can be minimized by bringing the back corners of your poncho around and tucking them into the front of your pack's hip belt.

Btw: If your wife is not a die hard camper, I think she'd prefer a shelter with a floor and bug netting. There are a lot of great single-walled shelters for two which weigh in the 2 lb. range and use hiking poles to hold them up. If you prefer a more tent-like structure with its own poles, you're going to have to carry a bit more weight.

[Hawkwind61]

Not familiar with Eagle Nest hammocks as I have a Hennessy Expedition A-Sym with the stock Rain-fly that I've been using for years. I also carry a 'back-packer' poncho because it can be configured to be a shelter, addition to shelter, or a gear shelter etc. I mostly use it at the head end of my hammock set up when expecting heavy rain. The two also doubled as a screen on trail when I needed/wanted to clean up good and there were folks wandering around the area.

Your idea to use two poncho's will work. But are you factoring in a stock rain-fly? If the hammocks you each choose have a stock rain-fly then I myself would only bring one poncho per hammock. It all depends on how much privacy you want as a couple I guess.

[Tinker]

Here is a good, inexpensive hammock: http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___40675

[takethisbread]

I carry the Golite poncho tarp use as for my gear while hammocking, or an emergency shelter and it covers the pack while hiking too.