Anyone use hammocks for camping instead of tent/sleeping bag?

MikePerrin said:
We have had many hammocks in the bush in Peru and 99.9% of them I cannot sleep like a banana with my legs and back all curved like that. We actually had a guy that had the above Claytor hammock and I tried to get comfortable in in but same problem. Thaty same hammock was hotter than hell when the tarp is down enough to keep the user dry too. Not enough air can get through there. The hammocks I have tried that I do like weigh too much to pack in and carry . We don't even take sleeping bags so that isn't an issue. All of the hammocks pictured above would cause me grief to sleep in because they don't sleep flat. But I believe it boils down to some folks can and some cannot sleep like that. I cannot. Jeff cannot.

But if you can there is supposed to be a huge psychological advantage to being off the ground. There is a pretty good discussion about this and hammocks in Cresson Kerney's book called "Jungle Snafus and Remedies" if you are interested. ALso a pretty good knot called a Venesuelan hammock knot that is slip proof for trees. Man if you can do it in one of the really light ones it is worth it for having a real portable shelter....if you have trees.:)
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Interesting about the hammock being too hot. I spent alot of summer nights in it, even in pretty heavy rain and I was fine. With the larger fly like I have you don't have to string it too close to the hammock to keep the rain off. Then again we don't have the heat or humidity you have in Peru:)

When I finally get to take your course (and I will take it), I would love to try it out down there!
 
i agree w/ mr coffee when he says he feels like a bear burrito! i have not used one to camp and i'm not sure i could. i just can't get past the thought of feeling like bait hanging btwn 2 trees. i'm also extremely claustrophic so the idea of being in such a small place gives me heart palpitations to think about.
 
Well, you can sleep in a hammock and have the bears use you as a pinyata, or you can sleep on the ground and have them use you as a floor mat. :P
 
Joben said:
Well, you can sleep in a hammock and have the bears use you as a pinyata, or you can sleep on the ground and have them use you as a floor mat. :P
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hahaha


I haven't tried it for camping, though I did stay at a hostel in Brazil once and they had these fantastic long heavy cotton hammocks on the property. I think we sleep in them most of the time we were there.... Granted we were drinking shots of cachaca and passing out after eating huge helpings of feijoada and rice.
 
The last time I was in Puerto Rico I probably slept more in the hammocks than I did in my hotel room. :D There's something soothing to me about the slight swaying motion they get when there is a breeze that puts me right under.


Andy
 
I love my cheap crap 14 dollar parachute hammock, it's paid itself off 5 times over. Jeff I can totally understand your legs falling asleep. In some environments (florida, and other southern swampy areas for example) a hammock is the best and only chance to stay dry at night, and bug-free. I love mine but I think you're paying too much for yours :)
 
go to youtube and search wildernessoutfitters archery dave does some great things with hammocks and i even think he sells everything on his web site. i think he uses the trek lite but not sure give it ago he is very informatve
 
I use an ENO hammock. I find it comfortable. To me, i'd rather be sleeping with a curve in my back than sleeping on the ground. Its better on my back. The main reason I use hammocks is that I can put my entire hammock system in my maxped condor II bag along with my other gear.
 
MikePerrin said:
All of the hammocks pictured above would cause me grief to sleep in because they don't sleep flat
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This is just not true. The Claytor and the Warbonnet Blackbird, both seen in pictures above, can sleep very flat. The trick is to hang them correctly and lay in them correctly.

If you hang the hammock pretty loose, instead of strung up super tight, there will be slack in the fabric. You use that slack to lay on a diagonal to the hammock and can get very flat. If you try to lie in a straight line, parallel to the line between the two trees, you will get that banana back, but if you shift your head to one side and your feet to the other, you'll get a lot flatter.


You can lay very flat in a $15 parachute nylon hammock, as long as it's wide enough.
 
I have a Hennessy and a Warbonnet BB.
I converted to hammocks, for 3 season camping, about 2 years ago.
No more tossing and turning on the ground, except for when its really cold (less than 20 degrees at night), at which time I still use a tent.
I have quilts that keep me warm down to those temps.
Check out hammockforums.net.
 
I like my Hennessey hammock, but as a side note if you are going to use it in cool weather you may also want to consider the bag and sleeing pad combo carefully to use with it. I have a Big Agnes combo where an insulated pad fits into a pocket on the bag. This serves two purposes, to offset the natural weakness of hammocks being cold and as importantly to avoid the absolute @#!&#*$ pita of the pad sliding out all over the place everytime you move or get in and out of the hammock.
 
tonym said:
Man I hate sleeping on the ground. I will never go back to tent camping if alone. With my wife, thats another story.

This is the most comfortab;e nght of sleep I have had outdoors.

ctgathering2058.jpg


Like someone else said, make sure you use a sleeping bag in cooler temps. Also alot of hamocks are single walled nylon, which mosquitos can and do bite through. This one I have is the double walled, which mosquitos can not.
It is the jungle hammock by Tom Claytor

http://www.mosquitohammock.com/junglehammock.html
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This is what I have. It's a most excellent set-up. I have had no desire to even try another hammock. :thumbup:
 
WOW thanks for all the replies everyone. It seems like they are a hit or miss...

I will try to find those cheap 15$ hammocks and give them a try before investing in something better. Worst case scenario if it's no good for me, I'll just hang it in the backyard for when the wife and I are looking to relax in the summer.

I appreciate all the advice, so much good info in this thread... Thanks again!


Edit: Hmmm, after a quick search, the absolute cheapest parachute nylon hammock I can find is 40$. Where are those 15$ ones? :D Can anyone point me in the right direction?
 
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I'm a pretty big fan of my hennessy. Its so light weight when I backpack, and I don't need a pad with it.

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Best thing to do is just get one and try it. No matter what anyone here says some folks sleep fine and some cannot tolerate them for sleeping. You'll have to figure out which you are. Too, most hammocks do not support the body (when it is supposed to be supported and resting) like a flat piece of ground with a small thermorest mattress. Again you can find really nice hammocks like one called the BlueRidge (made by Hennessy?) but they are way too heavy to pack a long ways. Aside from my discomfort sleeping in them (unless it's a heavier , flat sleeping one) I don't like having to fix a separate place to put gear. I can take an ultralight 10 x 12 tarp and put two tents and all gear under one tarp and keep it all dry and get plenty of air flow to stay cool. The tents are basically 75% netting and with not tarp or pouncho right on top of them they stay very cool.
 
The Blue Ridge Hammock is made by Lawson ( http://www.lawsonhammock.com/ ) and you're right, that thing is ridiculous and way too heavy to carry for backpacking...

The Warbonnet Blackbird ( http://warbonnetoutdoors.net/ ) , which is what I use, is AWESOME for backpacking. It's a very reasonable weight, and I do the exact same thing with the blackbird that you do with the two tents - I pitch a tarp high above the hammock when it's warm, to get lots of air flow. It works great :thumbup:
 
Hey Tonym, love those pictures of yours in the snow, I trust you dug that up on the sides and it did not snow that much...get cold?
 
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