Hammock or ground dweller?
- Thread starter mayfly
- Start date
Love both, been using a tent for the last 18 months and this weekend dusted off the hammock and id forgotten how good it was, great nights sleep.
The Hennesey with a larger tarp and swap the cord for climbing tape is a great bit of kit, would recommend to anyone.
The Hennesey with a larger tarp and swap the cord for climbing tape is a great bit of kit, would recommend to anyone.
Only in the jungle, Don't like swinging and like feeling the ground underneath, some say a hammock is comfier but not for me.
+1
Plus as i do a lot of mountain hiking there isn't much to tie a hammock to when you start getting higher up.
Tent everytime. You can share it, cook in it, shelter from the wind, chat with your mate(s), play cards etc. Sold my hammock to a member here years ago.
I have to disagree with Harvestman re suitable locations. Granted a hammock needs trees (no shortage of those to over 4000 feet here) but a tent needs a bit of flat ground. I just did a hike to 4300' and the only flat ground was the trailhead parking lot, and the tent platforms (wooden decks) at 4000' (USD 8 per night, which isn't bad) You could hang a hammock anywhere from the foot very nearly to the summit. Weight? my one man tent weighs 3 1/2 lbs, my hammock is a heavy one at 2 1/5 lbs. If no trees, the hammock and tarp can be "hung" from my trekking poles, giving a full coverage tarp and an enclosed bug net. All in all, I'm not sure why I still have three tents.t
Ah Rick has supplied the answer. One of these days I might get lucky and want (need) to share, but that's my 5 1/2 lb 2 person tent.
Ah Rick has supplied the answer. One of these days I might get lucky and want (need) to share, but that's my 5 1/2 lb 2 person tent.
Last edited:
This business of hammock camping must be a UK thing... if you took this poll in Canada, the tenters would have it 99 to one.
If I'm ever on a solo trip, I'll give the hammock a try just to say i did.
If I'm ever on a solo trip, I'll give the hammock a try just to say i did.
@silent paddler - given that the biggest supplier of camping hammocks is a Canadian company, that would be a bit surprising.
Well we and a lot of our camping friends DO use hammocks for relaxing in at the campsite, etc., but very few people I know spend the night in one.
We spend dozens of days a year canoeing thru Algonquin Park and I can't remember the last time I saw one used instead of a tent.
We have two lightweight hammocks made from parachute material and they pack up into a pocket-sized ball so they come with us on all our
backcountry trips...in just the right wind conditions, they make a tolerable canoe sail too.
Obviously a lot depends on location and personal preference.
Over here there isn't much in the way of vegetation about 900m (3000ft) much higher than that and it becomes extremely barren.
With regards to having flat ground, it really depends on the size of your tent, if your in a bivvy then you really only need a 2m x 1m spot of flatish ground.
With a tent you'll need a larger footprint, but in 30 years of camping around the world i've never not managed to find a flat enough piece of real estate on which to pitch my tent.
If i'm back over in the UK then there are some areas like say Scotland where you could find a couple of trees to hammock to.
Visit somewhere like the peak district or the brecon beacons and there are places where there are no trees as far as the eye can see.
It's the same over here.
In Northern Greece the forests are that deep it's easy to get lost, go hiking around the coastal areas though and you'd struggle to find 2 decent trees to tie to.
Even if you find trees many will be olive trees pruned to be short and stout, the vast majority would simply be to short to hammock off.
Then there is the factor of thunder storms.
In the months thunder storms are likely i consciously camp well away from any trees.
Summer is not really much better as forest fires are sadly a regular occurrence here, in July, August and the beginning of September i wouldn't camp in a forest of you paid me.
Even outside those months a fire is illegal and they are very harsh on anyone that flaunts that law.
If i'm being totally honest i could probably use a hammock say 30% of the time, another 20% may be possible but it'd be risky to find 2 sturdy trees the right height and strength.
The other 50% i honestly believe there would be nowhere to tie it at all.
I'd try a hammock those 30% of the times, but as said i sleep either on my side or on my belly, after trying cheap summer type hammocks i'm unsure how comfortable i'd be sleeping like that in one.
Cheers
Mark
forestwalker
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Here in Sweden hammocks are fairly uncommon, but have a small but probably growing following. I recently got one (Hennessy exped zip), but is still undecided. It is nice not having to bother about flat/dryish ground, the mosquito netting is *quite* nice (I detest tents; I want to see nature, not nylon). But they are -- to me -- not a comfortable as ground sleeping (better than uneven ground, worse than a good spot), and the way you can't have breakfast in "bed" is annoying.
I suspect that for me it will remain a solution for what I call the "bush B&B", when you just need a quick spot to sleep in, and when the ground is very wet (e.g. when snow is melting). But ask me again after summer, I only have 7 night in the HH so far.
I suspect that for me it will remain a solution for what I call the "bush B&B", when you just need a quick spot to sleep in, and when the ground is very wet (e.g. when snow is melting). But ask me again after summer, I only have 7 night in the HH so far.
I'm a grounddweller.
For me nothing beats a lean-to with an open fire in front of it and a pot of coffee brewing on that.
For me nothing beats a lean-to with an open fire in front of it and a pot of coffee brewing on that.
I've given my hammock a fair go I think, and it is really nice for taking the weight off your feet for a bit. For sleeping though I prefer the ground - less weight to carry, comfortable with the right mat, no swinging in the wind, no faffing about getting into your sleeping bag while swinging all over the place, no waking with a cold back as your mat slips to the side, no lugging bulky underquilts and overblankets with you etc etc.
All my personal opinions of course, and as ever, each to his own!
All my personal opinions of course, and as ever, each to his own!
resnikov
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I am totally split down the middle with this one, I love my hammock setup but it is heavy so not practical to carry and then I really like slpeeing on the ground too, boths have their pros and cons but I think liking them both gives me greater flexibility and I can easily tailor my setup to wherever I end up.
I am a total convert. I always pack my hammock with the intention of sleeping in it. I use it to lounge in during the day, use it when I stop on the trail for a break, and cook all my meals from it.
If Im going somewhere where there might be no trees I'll pack a lightweight roll mat. I can always use it in conjunction with my uq, too, or as a ground mat for my stuff.
Ground dwelling without a tent is a real pain with the Mosquitos. Plus there's a psychological comfort being off the ground with all the wild boar around here. Theyre not aggressive (they're scared of sneezes I found out) but they're inquisitive and it's good to get everything off the ground (I hang my rucksack and food bag from my suspension)
Anyway unless you're comparing ul settle there's very little weight penality to hammocking. A tq and uq equal a sleeping bag in weight, and a hammock is comparable to a ground mat. My thermarest was 1kg, similar to a heavy hammock (like a dd), whereas my current one is less than half that weight. 4 season hammock tarps are obviously bigger than what a bivi or ground tarp setup, but in most cases they're overkill and you can use a more minimal setup. My dd tarp never sees the forests these days.
If Im going somewhere where there might be no trees I'll pack a lightweight roll mat. I can always use it in conjunction with my uq, too, or as a ground mat for my stuff.
Ground dwelling without a tent is a real pain with the Mosquitos. Plus there's a psychological comfort being off the ground with all the wild boar around here. Theyre not aggressive (they're scared of sneezes I found out) but they're inquisitive and it's good to get everything off the ground (I hang my rucksack and food bag from my suspension)
Anyway unless you're comparing ul settle there's very little weight penality to hammocking. A tq and uq equal a sleeping bag in weight, and a hammock is comparable to a ground mat. My thermarest was 1kg, similar to a heavy hammock (like a dd), whereas my current one is less than half that weight. 4 season hammock tarps are obviously bigger than what a bivi or ground tarp setup, but in most cases they're overkill and you can use a more minimal setup. My dd tarp never sees the forests these days.
Similar threads
