Spending the night in a hammock

pict

pict

Joined
Jan 7, 2003
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The hammocks I use here in Brazil are nothing special. They are locally produced from hang glider nylon and cost about $20. We are very fortunate here in Central Brazil not to have to deal with a lot of mosquitoes so I don’t even own mosquito nets! I suffer more from them back in PA than I do here, odd but true.

Part of my reasoning for using locally made hammocks is that I don’t want the guys thinking that they have to have imported gear to be comfortable. There are better hammocks on the market if you want to invest in them. The same goes for tarps, I just use black plastic.

My top tips for spending the night in a hammock?

#1. Use some form of under-blanket if it will be cold at all. Your back will freeze in a hammock and adding insulation inside doesn’t help much due to compression of the loft. In the photo below you can see the under-blanket is a US poncho liner doubled over and tied under the hammock so that it will just make contact with my back once I’m in it. Some people will throw a thermarest inside the hammock but I find it creates condensation.

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#2. Make sure your hammock lines are protected from the rain or water will run down them and soak your back and legs (ask me how I know). You can extend your tarp from tree to tree or you can throw a plastic bag over the lines.

vayy037go1.jpg


#3. Adjust your feet higher slightly if you find yourself sliding down and wake up with your ankles in the lines.

#4. Use a light weight pillow you can shift form side to side easily. I use a Ziggy pillow with an empty, inflated 2 liter Platypus water bag inside the back cover.

#5. Remove everything from your pockets before you get in bed! It is a royal pain to find your SAK and a Bic in your pocket the first time you roll over.

You will develop your own sleeping positions. I can sleep on my back in a hammock but usually start off on one side with my knees drawn up and my feet crossed. On my back I usually put my feet together and spread my knees apart. It isn’t very ladylike but I ain’t no lady. Mac
 
Good tips pict. Am I just being cranky, or does it seem like once you add in all the extra gear needed to make it comfortable (top tarp; bags for covering lines, foam pad for insulation etc) you are getting into the weight realm of a light tent?
 
I think there's several bonuses to a hammock over a tent.
1.) you don't need a ground cloth.
2.) you don't need to carry a sleeping pad.
3.) (For me) they are more comfortable, and since I sleep on my back the curvature helps stretch the muscles as I sleep, and I feel better in the morning.
4.) Keeps me out of the snakes and the bugs (make sure the tree you're in isn't infested by ants!).
5.) A ttarp with rainfly is less claustrophobic than a tent.
 
kgd,

They aren't weightless nor without their disadvantages but I still think they are lighter and more compact than many two man tents.

In my situation they are vey low cost. I pay $20 for the hammock and the tarps and ropes are very cheap.

The shelter area under a hammock set up is very large.

Hammocks get you off the ground which can be a very nasty place in Brazil. They also allow you to camp just about anywhere you have trees. You don't have to have level ground.

They are unbeatable in hot weather that leaves a tent stifling.

When I sleep in a hammock I go to sleep at 9 wake up at 3 take a look around and wake up again at dawn. On the ground I sleep very light, wake up often, body parts go numb etc.

I don't remember the last time I slept in a tent. Normally I'm either in a bivy or a hammock. Mac
 
I spent the night in a hammock was a great time. One thing stunk though I am 6'4" and I would wake up from my knees being bent backwards by the hammock. I was just wondering if there is any tricks to stop this besides laying on my side.
 
I managed to fall out of a hammock the first time I tried sleeping in one. 3 or 4 feet onto a concrete/tile floor, in a hotel in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. (They have anchors embedded into the walls for hanging hammocks in the hotels down there, oddly enough.) I'm told I got back up, climbed back into the hammock, and went back to sleep--none the worse for wear.

I love your blog, by the way. Congrats on doing a good thing.
 
Aquacopter, lie in the hammock at an angle, not with your head and feet in line with the ends. You will find yourself lying almost horizontaly, very comfortable, and with no aches or pains when you wake. It is also easier to enter and exit, try a few times to get the right angle and you will be hooked on them. No pun intended.
 
I slept in a jungle hammock when I went through USAF Jungle Survival in Panama. I don't remember everything I was taught, but we did have two sets of crossed sticks under the hammock attached to the sides to stop it from swaying. Very comfortable!
 
Any specific hammocks that any of you recommend? Not anything really fancy like a hennesy or anything, but just a good, basic hammock?
 
Aquacopter said:
I spent the night in a hammock was a great time. One thing stunk though I am 6'4" and I would wake up from my knees being bent backwards by the hammock. I was just wondering if there is any tricks to stop this besides laying on my side.
Click to expand...

I place my pack (day and a half size) under my knees in my hennesy.
 
I've always wanted to make a hammock myself. Good info - thanks.
Any thoughts to offer on cloth vs rope hammocks ?

As for the guylines funneling rain in, try tying a piece of line in a prussik with a long running end hanging down a few inches. It gives that water a path straight down and the prussik lets you slide it up and down into the best spot - works great on tarps.
 
pict said:
Hammocks get you off the ground which can be a very nasty place in Brazil. They also allow you to camp just about anywhere you have trees. You don't have to have level ground.
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That is the one thing that really impressed me with hammocks. I was overseas way back training, the two locals that went out with us had hammocks. They slept just fine on the side of the mountain. I woke up about 6 feet down from where I started.
 
I've used a Clark Jungle Hammock since Gary Clark started making them. For the money they are THE Cat's Meow IME!! I've had 3 different models and they all sleep like a dream. Gary has a patented design in that his hammock will not 'dump you out' like cheap ones will. I have tossed and turned, sat up in, and even gotten dressed in my Clark Jungle Hammock and it never flipped on me!! Buy quality once, cry once....buy cheap and keep crying...

You can use rubber 'O' rings on the hammock and tarp lines to prevent rain from getting to your hammock. Just get some the diameter of your hang lines and slide it to where you need it. Water drips right off them...guess that's why they're called 'drip rings'! CJH's come with aluminum bushing type ones.

Depending upon where you intend/are using a hammock it may have benefits over a tent, but not above treeline. A hammock may be more compact than a lightweight tent; but their are TarpTents that are less weight that a full blown hammock setup. If you add up the weights of both sets of gear you can be about the same weight and packing size-wise IME. In Winter conditions a hammock setup is just a hassle, a tent is more functional. The reverse is true in Summer IME, the main benefit is the breeze blowing through the hammock 360 around you is much more comfortable than a closed up tent, regardless of it's fabric.
Aquacopter you need a LONGER hammock due to your standing height out of the hammock. Check out www.junglehammock.com; and look at the 'sizing'. Once you've slept in the right size hammock for your height you will never go back to ground.
 
pict said:
#1. Use some form of under-blanket if it will be cold at all. Your back will freeze in a hammock and adding insulation inside doesn’t help much due to compression of the loft.
Click to expand...

I've heard this sort of comment about hammocks before, but I don't see why your weight should compress insulation in a hammock any differently than than it would against the ground?
 
Blue_Sky, your weight does compress the loft in a hammock more or less the same as on the ground. However, on the ground you don't have the wind whipping underneath you. On the ground you need some sort of insulation layer to keep ground from making you cold. A sleeping pad is more than comfort, it is insulation. As Pict said, some people use a thermarest in their hammock. He prefers to wrap insulation around the hammock.
 
http://www.junglehammock.com/


that's alreayd been posted...
but just in case anyone has missed it.
because I hear they are some AWESOME hammocks.
:D
and they're compact too.
and light... and you don't need an extra tarp or anything.
thats a TRUE minimalistic shelter right there.
 
I have a hammock made out of thin nylon string so it looks like a fishnet. Its extremely light and I got for $15. (I dont remember where)
 
hlee said:
Blue_Sky, your weight does compress the loft in a hammock more or less the same as on the ground. However, on the ground you don't have the wind whipping underneath you. On the ground you need some sort of insulation layer to keep ground from making you cold. A sleeping pad is more than comfort, it is insulation. As Pict said, some people use a thermarest in their hammock. He prefers to wrap insulation around the hammock.
Click to expand...

That's understandable, insulation under you to prevent heat loss to either the ground or the air, it was the compression thing that I didn't get.
 
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