I'm a hammocker. I've done (2) week long back country hunting trips and an entire white tail season (every weekend) in my Warbonnet Ridgerunner hammock, plus a bunch of experimental nights at the house.
I've tried a gathered end hammock and couldn't get comfortable. I get some knee hyper extention and calf ridge, which I can fix with a pillow under my knees, but the deal breaker was not being able to sleep comfortably on my side in it. My knees and shoulders end up a bit higher than my hips, which becomes very uncomfortable for my hips. I just don't have a lot of flexibility in my hips. I've experimented with various setups to alleviate it, but was unsuccessful.
I don't have these issues with the Ridgerunner. It provides a very flat, comfortable lay, when I'm on my back. I do have some issues with side sleeping. I end up with too much pressure on my shoulder and the down side arm, even with a thick pillow, which causes my shoulder/arm to go numb after a while. But, it's so comfortable on my back that I can sleep well for the shortened hunting sleep hours I usually get.
I've been experimenting with it recently to try to alleviate my shoulder issues and found that a custom 32" head end spreader bar loosens the fabric at my torso and creates a cradle for my body when I'm on my side and I can lean my back into it and still be on my side completely supported without any shoulder numbness. This creates some mild shoulder squeeze when on my back, but it doesn't cause me any issues.
I purchased a set of Rota Locura Carbon Fiber spreader bars for my hammock and dropped the spreader bar weight from 12 oz down to 5.5 oz. I toyed with the idea of using my hiking poles as spreader bars, but I like having them to use with my tarp in porch mode when the weather is nice or as tarp spreader bars in the side pullouts when I'm hunkered down in nasty weather to provide more room inside my tarp. My poles are also the lightest adjustable poles I've seen on the market at 12 oz for the set, but they are only a 2 piece and can't go short enough for the foot end. So I would have to get new 3-piece adjustable poles in order to have a short enough set for my feet and the lightest I could find is about 17 oz, which is the same weight as my current poles plus CF spreader bars and I loose functionality of porch mode and tarp spreader bars.
I have a double layer 1.1D with bug net, woopies/suspension and CF spreader bars that weighs in at 33 oz.
I also have a single layer 1.9D Multicam no bug net, with woopies/suspension and CF spreader bars that weights in at 24 oz.
I use a 12' cuben fiber tarp with doors from Hammock Gear. This setup has weathered several rain storms, sleet and heavy fog and kept myself and my gear totally dry.
My insulation setup has evolved over the past year. I started with a long/wide NeoAir Extherm and an old 15 degree North Face Blue Kazoo sleeping bag. I've taken that setup down into the teens and been fairly comfortable. I then replaced the Blue Kazoo with a 20 degree EE Revelation top quilt. It was a little harder to stay warm with that combination because it was easy to break the seal between the top quilt and the pad when I shifted. Although, it was simple to fix...I'd wake up with a cold spot and just have to tuck myself in again, it was just mildly annoying. I recommend if you are going to use a pad, then stick with a sleeping bag. Those work a bit better together.
I now have a 0 degree Warbonnet Yeti for an underquilt in lieu of the pad. This is a torso length underquilt made for their gathered end hammocks. It works well for the Ridgerunner if you install it reversed with the head end (with the tag) at your knees. I've had this setup down into the single digits and I've been comfortable (I'm a warm sleeper). I use a cut up Ridgerest sit pad for my feet where the Yeti doesn't provide coverage.
Some of the benefits I've found over the year of hammock camping are the following:
- The ability to stay drier in wet weather
- Little to no condensation on my tarp
- Easy camp selection and setup
- Sleeping comfort
- Sitting comfort (I don't have a lot of flexibility in my hips, so sitting on the ground is not very comfortable for me. Sitting indian style is the worst.)
- Gear and body off of the ground and away from the mice and other little critters
- Packs smaller if you use an underquilt instead of a pad
- No blowing up a pad if you use an underquilt
Some of the negatives I've found over the year of hammock camping are the following:
- Mild weight penalty (probably around a half pound depending on ground setup)
- Condensation on my top quilt from my breath. (This should be a problem with ground sleeping as well, but I've never had the issue, I suspect because I sleep mostly on my side. I think I may have fixed this problem with the custom spreader bar allowing me to sleep on my side more and consequently not having my breath settle back down on my quilt, but it's not cold enough yet to verify.)
- Steeper learning curve in the beginning
- More expensive
- No stove (although I've seen stove setups in a hammock tarp, the weight penalty is massive and would only be feasible for a base camp or car camping)
For me the additional comfort far outweighs the negatives above. I'm very pleased with this setup and don't foresee ever going back to ground, unless I'm forced to camp in a desert or above the tree line.
But, ya gotta hike your own hike. So, I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Robert
