Anyone using/used hammocks?

Hardstalk

WKR
Joined
Apr 29, 2012
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1,094
I have been doing some research on hammocks for the backcountry. Curious if anyone has used or currently uses one. If so pros/cons? Mainly interested in bivy hammocks.
 

unm1136

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
426
Location
Albuquerque NM
Yep. Love mine. Custom Dangerbird 68, Hammock Gear 3/4 length 20 degree underquilt. Took it to 19 degrees during deer season this year. Snow, rain, wind, GREAT nights of sleep. Current setup is about 54 oz. Without sleeping bag, when I go to a topquilt I will shave 2# from my current 6.5 pound setup, and a tarp will add another pound and a quarter or so. Kifaru Pod holds it well. It is a little heavier than a bivy setup with pad. Also a little more expensive, but the comfort and warmth was well worth it. I slept great, had no problems getting upat 4:30 to go look for animals. For lower temps with the kids I will get a Kifaru tipi with a stove. My synthetic sleeping bag and hammock setup are rated to 20 degrees, and I hit that with thick wool socks, a fleece jacket, stocking cap and long johns. I was comfortable without a tarp. My hunting partner also had a hammock setup and he had a zero degree bag and the same underquilt and woke up sweating. We were able to hang in some pretty out of the way places. Last year I had the same sleeping bag, and froze sleeping in my van car camping. I had to keep starting the van and running it to get warm. I was hunting the same area/unit, same week.

pat
 

Goober

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
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109
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Central Wisconsin
Yep. I use an ENO (Eagles Nest Outfitters) Double Nest. I don't really need the double, but when I bought it, the primary use was for sitting in the evenings with my wife on canoe trips. I'm not exagerating at all when I say I have the best nights sleep EVER. I wake up so refreshed its ridiculous. I have to set an alarm when in my hammock, which I don't even do in my own bed. I wake up at 5 am every morning (thats what happens to a WI farm boy. If you aint up, Dad would throw a boot at you) or at the very first hint of light in the tent. The first few times I was solo with the hammock, I woke up to look at the sun having been in the sky for at least 2 hours! Granted, I have never been comfortable on a rocky sleeping bag (and never owned a good pad), and I have a terrible back as a result of 10 years of riding bulls and broncs. So maybe I over hype the hammock. The one issue I have had, is being tall 6'2", I have found no matter how tight I stretch that thing, I get a little sag by morning. This causes my knees to lock out, and I wake up with pretty sore lower legs. Very simple remedy for this: I roll up a sweatshirt or vest and put the roll under my sleeping bag where my knees would be, and no issues. Being off of the ground keeps me warmer too. When it gets cold, I put my thin Thermarest inflatable under me inside the hammock and that helps a ton. I love not needing a level spot for a tent. Not so great if you want to stay above timberline though! The other issues I had this year in Colorado: Finding a tree that was not dead beetle kill. So much blowdown from the beetle kill, I was pretty nervous about tying onto the dead trees and having them come down on me. That was a real issue in one area.
 

Goober

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
109
Location
Central Wisconsin
I have a sil nylon tarp to string over it if it looks like rain, but I usually leave the tarp and open air it with my gore-tex sleeping bag cover. When it is rainy, it's nice to throw gear right onder the hammock, doubling the value of tarp space! Plus, the hammock makes a great place to sit and relax while eating dinner. Unlike a bivy, I can turn and sit in that thing comfy as a Lazy Boy. It takes all of 120 seconds to unpack and hang the hammock, and add about 5 minutes to string up the tarp/rainfly. I have a skeeter net, but rarely find it neccessary while hunting. If it is cool enough to be in a sleeping bag, by the time you get in your bag and the hammock curls around you, there isn't much left exposed for the bugs. The net does come in handy for June canoe trips though!
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
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Location
O.C NY
You will not have a more comfortable sleep than in a hammock! However incooler weather you need an underquilt.
 

unm1136

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
426
Location
Albuquerque NM
The ENOs and the Hennessy Hammocks are good starter hammocks. The HH is a good all in one to start with. When I went HH I used my REI rebate, and they only had the Exped, which is not the lightweight one, and it says on the package for people 5'11 and under and 200 pounds and under. I figured I am only three inches or so over the 5'11, and I can pretty much sleep anyhwere. The two nights I spend in that hammock were incredibly uncomfortable. When I looked at the HH website for the Big and Tall section, I decided to go with a Danger Bird from Dream Hammock. It is lighter than the large versions of the HH, and only about $40 more for a hammock with a removeable bug net, and an overcover. The HH overcover is $100.

If you already have an inflatable pad, you can use it in your hammock, and not need an underquilt, which was my next big purchase. I prefer the quilt, because it wraps around my shoulders, and a pad tends to not wrap around me as well. letting my shoulders get cold. My dual layer hammock has a pocket for the pad, and it doesn't slide around much.

I like mine so much that I throw it in the trunk of the car, and when I have overtime scheduled too close to my work day I go to the basement and hang the hammock for napping until my OT shift starts.

pat
 
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