hammock or tent?

[Cogola]

If you're asking about hammocks then I'm assuming you'll be camping in areas where you can use them. My first hammock was a DD Frontline. A very nice piece of gear and a vast improvement on sleep quality compared to the tents, bivvis and swags I've used before. Seeing as I spend 2-3 months a year sleeping out a good nights sleep is important. I've recently upgraded to a Warbonnet Blackbird. A step up in my opinion but also a step up in price. I don't necessarily think that a hammock is going to be necessarily smaller, lighter or cheaper than the other options. My suggestion would be that if you are unsure about whether a hammock is for you is to make one yourself. Nylon fabric can be picked up cheaply and a simple gathered end hammock is easy to make even for the most amateurish of sewers. There's plenty of how-to guides on the web. I've made a couple for family now and although they don't have the same bells and whistles as a bought one they can still give a good nights sleep. Remember if you end up buying a DD you are probably going to want to change the suspension over to something a bit better (I've got homemade whoopie slings and they work really well). You might also want to consider adding a structural ridge-line. This is another mod I did to my DD and it made getting a good comfortable setup a whole lot easier.

 

[mrcharly]

Weight wise there's probably not much in it if you compare it to a small 1.3-1.5kg tent + self inflating mat ~900g works out at about ~2.2-2.4kg.
A hammock is about 900g + suspension 100g + tarp 600g + 3/4 length 3 season down UQ 500g + 4 pegs 65g + ridge line 100g ~2.25kg

Blimey that's a lot of gear to add.

For spring-summer-Autumn time I've used a home-made hammock - never weighed it, but certainly under 450gm (ie, less than a can of beans), and laminate flooring underlay for insulation. Total less than 500gm, I reckon. The insulation was a bit bulky - about the same as a 3/4 thermarest - but so light it would be difficult to weigh.

Camping up on a hillside in dry forests means less bities, never found I needed an insect net.

 

[trekkingnut]

dd hammocks are a great one to start with, not expensive.

i use an hh and total weight including tarp comes in at just less than 2kg.

i think they are better to use than tents in winter actually and find them a lot lot warmer than sleeping in a tent as well.

however, it all comes down to trees. if there arent any where you are going then its pointless.... thats really what it comes down to, i work in the jungle, so i take a hammock, when i go to snowdonia for a laugh, i take a tent....

not very helpful but just pointing out the limitations...