View Full Version : Setting up a hammock in a shelter.
pedestrian2
03-15-2013, 11:54
Looking for different ways people use their hammocks in a shelter. I have used my HH hammock on the ground with ground cloth and treking poles, no trees, but not sure how to use a shelter without having extra hardware. Thanks, Pedestrian2:confused:
MDSection12
03-15-2013, 12:14
Looking for different ways people use their hammocks in a shelter. I have used my HH hammock on the ground with ground cloth and treking poles, no trees, but not sure how to use a shelter without having extra hardware. Thanks, Pedestrian2:confused:
I've been able to loop my tree straps around the rafters in a couple... But it really just depends on the shelter.
Slo-go'en
03-15-2013, 12:21
I'm not sure why you'd want to do that and it would be a real pain to get in and out of if there are a bunch of other people in the shelter. But I suppose you could attach one end of the ridge line to the back wall of the shelter to pull the netting up off your face. I assmue you would be using it like a bivy sack and not actually trying to hang in the shelter, which would be a big no no.
Hanging a hammock in an AT shelter takes up LOTS of space, more than what's warranted for one person, so is not respectful of others(what else is new at AT shelters). I wouldn't do it unless I was DAMN positive no one else would mind or it was winter on the AT when fewer people are out on the trail and even then would still do it in a way that doesn't hog up the whole shelter. Of course some AT shelters are larger and not all are constructed the same so possibly hanging under a front awning/roof overhang might be a more respectful approach. I've brought cams/chocks, the kind used for climbing, that wedge into crevices, and hung my HH that way above treeline on ridges between crags, large boulders, ledges, etc.
Nutbrown
03-15-2013, 12:33
I've heard of hammocks pulling down the walls of shelters. Suck it up and find some trees.
max patch
03-15-2013, 12:43
Tents and hammocks should not be used in shelters.
Bucketfoot
03-15-2013, 12:45
Hammocks do not belong in shelters. Maybe I should set up my tent in there also. Pretty much the same thing.
why would you want to hang a hammock in a shelter when there a trees close by?
MDSection12
03-15-2013, 12:49
why would you want to hang a hammock in a shelter when there a trees close by?
The only times I've done it, I've arrived late at a shelter (like after 10pm) in cold weather, with a large group. We were taking up most of the space in the shelter anyway and I didn't want to bother with my tarp. I wouldn't do it if I were by myself, arrived early, or in fair weather... It was really just a situational thing.
The only times I've done it, I've arrived late at a shelter (like after 10pm) in cold weather, with a large group. We were taking up most of the space in the shelter anyway and I didn't want to bother with my tarp. I wouldn't do it if I were by myself, arrived early, or in fair weather... It was really just a situational thing.
Mice love hammocks. Think swinging bridge, with snacks.
why would you want to hang a hammock in a shelter when there a trees close by?
...because when no one else is around and it is really cold and/or raining it is pleasant to have that much roof... But I agree, if anyone shows up you need to move out. Same should apply for tenters. ...and you need to be careful how you hang to avoid damaging the shelter. I actually love shelters when I don't have to share them!
Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2
Most shelters are not designed for the very intense sideways forces that hammocks exert. As already mentioned, walls can be brought down, or at the least rafters and other support members damaged significantly.
Do not hang in shelters unless or until they are designed for it. Most, if not all, are not. Same goes for picnic pavilions.
...because when no one else is around and it is really cold and/or raining it is pleasant to have that much roof... But I agree, if anyone shows up you need to move out. Same should apply for tenters. ...and you need to be careful how you hang to avoid damaging the shelter. I actually love shelters when I don't have to share them!
Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2
You don't need to move out, you just need to take down the hammock or tent. No one ever needs to move out of a shelter because someone else shows up.
MDSection12
03-15-2013, 13:15
Mice love hammocks. Think swinging bridge, with snacks.
The shelters in MD seem to lack this problem, in my experience. I've only stayed in the newer/nicer ones... But I've never seen them, heard them or even seen evidence of them... Saw a black widow in Ed Garvey once.
Most shelters are not designed for the very intense sideways forces that hammocks exert. As already mentioned, walls can be brought down, or at the least rafters and other support members damaged significantly.
Do not hang in shelters unless or until they are designed for it. Most, if not all, are not. Same goes for picnic pavilions.
The two shelters I've hung in were both larger, two-level structures... Both were plenty solid to support me. I wouldn't risk it in a small, older shelter...
Again, this was a situational thing and certainly not something I do regularly, or expect to be able to do regularly.
+1 to all that said some AT shelters, like some of the older more fragile ones, can be damaged by the wt of a hammock hanger. But I guess that's exceptable to some. The damaged shelter isn't their responsibility. They would probably just hang outside, IF ALL THE SUiTABLE SIZED TREES HAVEN'T ALREADY BEEN CUT DOWN, after the shelter falls down or damaged beyond being able to safely hang inside and start a huge bonfire with the shelter as the fuel source. Sorry for the negativity. It wasn't aimed at the OP but I witness TOO MUCH of this type of disrespectful I'll do as I damn well please thing on the AT.
You don't need to move out, you just need to take down the hammock or tent. No one ever needs to move out of a shelter because someone else shows up.
sorry -- you are certainly right about a tenter -- you can just take down a tent and sleep on the pad you were going to use, anyway. Hammocks are not necessarily so simple. Many "hangers" use underquilts which just don't work unless suspended -- so, for them, the choice is usually -- hang alone or with known hiking companions in a shelter, or "suck it up" and hang outside. Those would be my only choices, anyway.
About the hammocks tearing down shelters thing... I have hung upwards of 30 nights in shelters with not one issue. It does require being smart about how you do it -- but you have to be pretty smart to figure out how to use a hammock, anyway! :)
max patch
03-15-2013, 13:39
hammocks are supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread but this is the 2nd thread in a month asking about hanging in a shelter. Something doesn't add up...
You don't need to move out, you just need to take down the hammock or tent. No one ever needs to move out of a shelter because someone else shows up.
The only time in my hiking life I ever came REAL close to getting into a fist fight while on trail was on the AT at a Mass or Conn shelter when a father and son thought it OK to take up 5 of the usable 6 spaces in a 6 person shelter by setting up their tent inside the shelter when three other hiking parties also wanted to use the shelter.
mrcoffeect
03-15-2013, 14:37
that would urk the sh__ out of me too!
Half Note
03-15-2013, 14:52
I'm amazed at some people's sense of entitlement.
Monkeywrench
03-15-2013, 15:11
Setting up a hammock in a shelter is just like setting up a tent in a shelter; very uncool.
If you use a shelter, use it the way it was intended to be used. Roll out your bag on the floor and go to sleep.
Cookerhiker
03-15-2013, 15:22
hammocks are supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread but this is the 2nd thread in a month asking about hanging in a shelter. Something doesn't add up...
No, no, no, you don't understand. It's all very clear and intuitive. Real hikers don't use shelters because they're dirty and mouse-infested. Real hikers only use hammocks (tents are so 20th Century). But it's OK to hang your hammock in shelters because you're not on the dirty floor and mice are less likely to run over you. And since hammockers take up more space, less hikers use the shelter so you don't have to deal with snorers.
Courtesy? Ethics? Respect? Impact on the shelter structure? HYOH trumps all of that.
No, no, no, you don't understand. It's all very clear and intuitive. Real hikers don't use shelters because they're dirty and mouse-infested. Real hikers only use hammocks (tents are so 20th Century). But it's OK to hang your hammock in shelters because you're not on the dirty floor and mice are less likely to run over you. And since hammockers take up more space, less hikers use the shelter so you don't have to deal with snorers.
Courtesy? Ethics? Respect? Impact on the shelter structure? HYOH trumps all of that.
Tongue in cheek sarcastic little SOB :D. You are absolutely right. Thanks for pointing it out. You did it more diplomatically then I probably would. In some hiker's minds espousing the HYOH mantra they sometimes forget that "Courtesy? Ethics? Respect? Impact on the shelter structure?" etc play into it.
Last year when i was Thru-Hiking, when i was going through the GSMNP i stopped for lunch at the Siler Bald shelter a fellow thru-hiker was their (:-? ) and he had his Hammock Hanging from the two middle support beams which took up alot of room and it made a real big pain for people coming in and out, thats the only time i have seen someone hang inside a shelter.
MDSection12
03-15-2013, 15:46
No, no, no, you don't understand. It's all very clear and intuitive. Real hikers don't use shelters because they're dirty and mouse-infested. Real hikers only use hammocks (tents are so 20th Century). But it's OK to hang your hammock in shelters because you're not on the dirty floor and mice are less likely to run over you. And since hammockers take up more space, less hikers use the shelter so you don't have to deal with snorers.
Courtesy? Ethics? Respect? Impact on the shelter structure? HYOH trumps all of that.
Who are you referring to? This whole forum needs to learn to address the topic at hand, and the person they're speaking to, and leave the hypothetical preaching out of it.
I guess I only have myself to blame, because I keep coming back, but the negativity and holier-than-thou attitudes on here are outrageous. It's funny how when you take the hammocking portion of this forum and move them to a seperate forum suddenly the discourse is much more positive. I suppose sleeping on the ground would make me cranky too. ;)
Cookerhiker
03-15-2013, 17:43
Who are you referring to? This whole forum needs to learn to address the topic at hand, and the person they're speaking to, and leave the hypothetical preaching out of it.
I guess I only have myself to blame, because I keep coming back, but the negativity and holier-than-thou attitudes on here are outrageous. It's funny how when you take the hammocking portion of this forum and move them to a seperate forum suddenly the discourse is much more positive. I suppose sleeping on the ground would make me cranky too. ;)
Well I was just attempting to provide a helpful response to Max Patch - the poor man was confused. :D
One of my favorite expressions - the title line from a folk song - is "Don't Should on me and I Won't Should on you" - kind of related conceptually to HYOH. I don't frequent the hammock forums so I may be wrong here but I don't recall any tenters on WB telling hammockers that they should jettison their hammocks and use tents. But I've seen plenty of the opposite. More than once, someone starts a thread to the effect "what kind of a tent works best for ....?" and someone will answer "you should get a hammock." Sometimes the thread is semi-hijacked into a discussion about hammocks.
And it's the same with shelter usage. Those who use shelters don't hide the fact but they don't make a big deal of proclaiming "I use shelters" as opposed to those who eschew shelters, some of whom imply - if they don't say outright - that shelter usage is for wimps and not real hikers, that they should be burned down. Talk about a "holier than thou" attitude!
I suppose caricatures are unfair sometimes.
SOBO_Pace
03-15-2013, 18:58
I set mine up everyonce in awhile. A lot of times if I knew it was going to be raining or storming. I usually ask before hand and don't set up until bed time so my stuff isn't hanging everywhere
Do not look to the left.
Ah, I see you did.
To everything there is a time and a season.
The shelter was the second one north of Duncannon, Pa.
I was with three other hikers.
One of them set up his one man tent in said shelter.
It was pouring rain after a light snow.
It was March, and there was plenty of room for others.
I was basically hanging over the firewood pile, so wasn't in a space anyone could use without a hammock.
The shelter was plenty sturdy.
When I'm hiking alone, or there is already a group in a shelter, or it is nice weather during the height of the season, in a popular area, etc, etc. I will hang outside (by choice - shelters get too crowded and noisy when there is more than one group of friends).
It's kinda antisocial to go hiking with your friends and then hang outside, but I've done that, too - again, when there is a good chance that there will be more hikers showing up. Edit: Case in point - in 2008 I met Wrongway_08 and Peanut in Hanover, NH, and we stayed at the Velvet Rocks shelter. It was late summer so I hung my hammock outside. We had a very hard rain with thunder and lightning, and next morning I was told that one of the Thrus had stumbled in lat at night, drunk, and proceeded to fall asleep in the mud just under the eaves of the shelter. :rolleyes: :D
On an overnighter (which this was - my avatar pic), I decided (again, once it got late and no one else showed up) not to hang my tarp and hammock outside. I was able to hike out with a dry tarp the next day and didn't have to hang it out somewhere to dry.
So there are reasons and excuses, and, in my case, by my own admission, they sometimes overlap. :o
max patch
03-15-2013, 19:13
Well I was just attempting to provide a helpful response to Max Patch - the poor man was confused. :D
And I appreciated it! Very helpful. :)
Another Kevin
03-15-2013, 20:12
In 1azarus's defense: I saw him hang in a shelter recently. I was the only other hiker there that night. We had to be crazy to be out where we were in February. He's an architect, so I don't think he's going to go pulling down shelters. :) He was hung from timbers that would clearly take the weight. I didn't mind. I used the shelter in more conventional fashion, unrolling a Thermarest on one of the sleeping platforms. Because I'm just a clueless weekender and ground dweller who's never learnt to take to the trees. :)
And, by the way, I had my tent with me, and I was tempted to set it up, because I'm sure it would have been warmer than the shelter. But, as it turns out, I was warm enough.
flemdawg1
03-15-2013, 20:13
Many shelters are able to accommodate hammock hangers without damaging the structure of get in other people's way. Its rarely something to get bent all out of shape about.
gunner76
03-15-2013, 20:14
why would you want to hang a hammock in a shelter when there a trees close by?
Ditto, I would rather hang from the trees than a shelter. I have yet to stay in a shelter even before I went to the dark side and became a hanger.
pedestrian2
03-16-2013, 12:08
Went to work right after starting this thread and was excited to check today for any replies. WOW, was I disappointed. The name calling, insinuations and belittling is incredible for a web site that should be supportive and non-judgmental to people, most of them strangers, who are just looking for help! I have 45+ years of hiking/camping/trail maintance/shelter caretaking experience and don't need a lecture on shelter use nuances, where the proper place to hang a hammock is or what manners I need to practice out there in the woods-------Really? I even got a "no offense to the OP but", and then went right on with an offensive comment. You don't know me or most of the people asking for information. We all need support not belittling, to be encouraged not discouraged! Thank you for all the helpful comments I did get, I do appreciate them. It's a shame that this was my first post to this site and now is possibly my last. Att:Attroll I wonder how many other people are lost this way? Be a good steward and safe hiking!
Another Kevin
03-16-2013, 12:24
Many shelters are able to accommodate hammock hangers without damaging the structure of get in other people's way. Its rarely something to get bent all out of shape about.
I'll agree to get bent out of shape about it only when the shelter is getting bent out of shape. :)
Some one needs to tell the trail clubs that when they build shelters they need to keep the hammockers in mind that way they should reserve a space in side the shelters just for the Hammocks, i don't mind people setting up their hammocks in the shelters, I do have to admit that on my thru-hike last year i did set my tent up in side a couple of times. no body that i have meet seems to mind, The mind set on the AT suppose to be HYOH do you own thing and if you need to set your Hammock, Tent or whatever else in side a shelter in order for you to stay dry, warm, go for it.
Slo-go'en
03-16-2013, 12:37
I have 45+ years of hiking/camping/trail maintance/shelter caretaking experience and don't need a lecture on shelter use nuances, where the proper place to hang a hammock is or what manners I need to practice out there in the woods!
Umm, sorry but if the above statement is true, then why did you ask the question? You should already know the answer. Figuring out how to use a hammock like a bivy sack in a shelter can't be that difficult if that was the intent of your question, which was a little vague in its wording.
Slo-go'en
03-16-2013, 12:40
Some one needs to tell the trail clubs that when they build shelters they need to keep the hammockers in mind that way they should reserve a space in side the shelters just for the Hammocks, i don't mind people setting up their hammocks in the shelters, I do have to admit that on my thru-hike last year i did set my tent up in side a couple of times. no body that i have meet seems to mind, The mind set on the AT suppose to be HYOH do you own thing and if you need to set your Hammock, Tent or whatever else in side a shelter in order for you to stay dry, warm, go for it.
Someone needs to tell people with hammocks and tents to stay out of shelters! So, you didn't notice all the dirty looks and muttering under peoples breath when you set up inside a shelter and took up half the room?
the first time i set up in a shelter they was already two other tents their and the second time i was alone.
Went to work right after starting this thread and was excited to check today for any replies. WOW, was I disappointed. The name calling, insinuations and belittling is incredible for a web site that should be supportive and non-judgmental to people, most of them strangers, who are just looking for help! I have 45+ years of hiking/camping/trail maintance/shelter caretaking experience and don't need a lecture on shelter use nuances, where the proper place to hang a hammock is or what manners I need to practice out there in the woods-------Really? I even got a "no offense to the OP but", and then went right on with an offensive comment. You don't know me or most of the people asking for information. We all need support not belittling, to be encouraged not discouraged! Thank you for all the helpful comments I did get, I do appreciate them. It's a shame that this was my first post to this site and now is possibly my last. Att:Attroll I wonder how many other people are lost this way? Be a good steward and safe hiking!
First, welcome to WB Pedestrian2. Perhaps, I'm wrong about this but I think you wanted your thread to go in a different direction specifically addressing and focusing on different ways of setting up a hammock in a shelter. Your thread didn't entirely go that way as a result you feel disappointed perhaps even offended. Welcome to the internet! LOL! It happens quite regularly on all manner of websites when posting in open forums on the net. How you react to it when it happens is what you have some control of though! While what should and shouldn't be are important what may be more important is to realize when starting a thread in open NON targeted opinionated based forums and websites is that you open yourself up to possible thread drift, exploring additional related topics, including both supportive and non-supportive, judgmental and non-judgmental, agreeing and opposing, etc opinions. The moderators do a decent job on WB though. SO, you shouldn't feel disappointed and offended when that happens. Heck, if I left WB after the first time ANY of those things occurred to me or I got slammed with opposing view points I would have missed out on learning a lot of new worthwhile things and sharing what I have to offer to others. Also, as I've come to learn, when your thread isn't going in the direction you desire you can bring it back on topic with an additional post like what you did here. NOW, if you leave, you might miss out on MORE ON TOPIC replies! You might also accept that since this is an open forum this isn't a personal proposition. This isn't just about you. MANY, besides yourself, may have desired, even needed to hear and say, what has been discussed already.
What if someone asked a question like, "how do you build a campfire ring at an AT shelter?" Some answers might specifically address this but there is also a good possibility that someone might say "don't build camp fire rings inside the shelter"(sounds idiotic right?, you should have seen some of the idiotic things I've witnessed people doing on the AT, I've witnessed this on multiple occasions!) or "don't cut down living trees for fuel" or "don't throw your leftover Spaghetti O's and tin cans of Vienna Sausages in a campfire ring?" or "most AT shelters already have campfire rings" or "make sure your campfire is completely extinguished before leaving it." Those answers weren't specific to the question but probably need to be said and heard, BECAUSE THEY ARE RELATED TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION AND MORE IMPORTANTLY THEY DO ADDRESS SOME OF THE BEHAVIOR OF FOLKS ON THE AT!
BTW, since I was the one who opened up your thread to going in a different direction then perhaps you would have desired with SOME of what I said in my post #3 did you also notice that the first three posts on your thread, including SOME of my own in #3, mentioned some specific ways to hanging a hammock in a shelter. Sorry I couldn't offer more constructive ways to do that. I have only set up a hammock in or under the overhanging roof of an AT shelter 3 maybe 4 times. WHY? Because I've felt to do so would have been impinging on others and by the multitude of other poster's comments on your thread IT SURE SEEMS others can be annoyed about this too, WHEN DONE IN SOME SITUATIONS, which IS SOMETHING RELATED to your original question.
I'm no hammock hanging or hammock inside an AT shelter aficionado but I've always just found some rafters, some outside under the overhang solid shelter support poles, BIG strong hooks(in a few(RARE though) AT shelters), or attaching a cord to a rafter and holding up one end of the hammock making it like an impromptu bivy just like what I do with my regular bivy to just keep the mesh off my face. Right now I just use a Henessey UL A-Sym with side zip and side entry. IF we've gotten beyond understanding, and hopefully applying the idea, that hammocking in a AT shelter is SOMETIMES inappropriate I wish you well here on WB, sharing what you bring to the table, and finding new ways to set up a hammock in a shelter. ;)
I've spent so much time here on WB lately with my LONG posts I'm begginning to think it's my job. Can I please get paid? Ok, maybe fired. :rolleyes:
Cookerhiker
03-16-2013, 19:07
Went to work right after starting this thread and was excited to check today for any replies. WOW, was I disappointed. The name calling, insinuations and belittling is incredible for a web site that should be supportive and non-judgmental to people, most of them strangers, who are just looking for help! I have 45+ years of hiking/camping/trail maintance/shelter caretaking experience and don't need a lecture on shelter use nuances, where the proper place to hang a hammock is or what manners I need to practice out there in the woods-------Really? I even got a "no offense to the OP but", and then went right on with an offensive comment. You don't know me or most of the people asking for information. We all need support not belittling, to be encouraged not discouraged! Thank you for all the helpful comments I did get, I do appreciate them. It's a shame that this was my first post to this site and now is possibly my last. Att:Attroll I wonder how many other people are lost this way? Be a good steward and safe hiking!
Sorry but you seem to have a thin skin. So if anyone in any way expresses an opinion that hammocks do not belong in shelters, that person is offensive, disrespectful, belittling, unsupportive, judgmental? You're saying that we can't challenge your premise that hammocks may be hung in shelters because for you it's not open-and-shut case; it was never open in the first place.
Perhaps if you had incorporated in your OP that you only hang hammocks if there's sufficient room for those who sleep on the floor and only if the shelter structure is sound (here you invoke your experience) and that you only hang in a manner that doesn't disturb other hikers or perhaps only hang in a shelter when it's raining (like a lot of us tenters), the responses would have been mellower. Now maybe you're the most courteous, deferential, respectful hiker out there. But we didn't know that. All we know is that you came across like it's a given, that hanging in shelters is the natural order of things. Well for many of us who read this, it's not and some have told their stories about experiences with - there's that entitlement mentality again - those obnoxious and selfish boors whose hammocks occupied far more than their "fair share" of space.
Scroll down to section 4.2 on this page for some info on hanging in shelters: http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockCampingSuspension.html
bear bag hanger
04-04-2013, 09:34
In answer to the original question, attach the head end of the hammock suspension to the wall to hold the netting off your face. You may want to attach the foot end somehow, but probably should NOT hang from the walls or ceiling. Make sure you are only taking up as much space as you would if you only put down your sleeping bag. I have, in the past, hung my hammock inside shelters, but since I came across a shelter on the Long Trail that had been pulled down by a hammock, I don't do that anymore. The large beams you often see in shelters are often held there by small nails. They may look strong, but often are not.
mrgadget921
04-06-2013, 00:03
hammocks are supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread but this is the 2nd thread in a month asking about hanging in a shelter. Something doesn't add up...
JUST DOES NOT ADD UP! more like trig.... please don`t destroy.... LNT?!!!!
Stir Fry
04-06-2013, 00:21
Max Patch I would not say greatist thing since sliced bread, but I do find then convient and comfortable to sleep in. As for the OP question. To say you can not or should not hang in a shelter is something that you have to answer for your self. The only two time I have hung my hammock in a shelter was heavy rain and I was the only one in the shelter. Both were new and it never occured that I could pull the walls down. Both time i used the corner to to a post