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| Intro to Hammocking |
| Welcome to the Revolution. - The Hammock Revolution. If this is your first glimpse of hammock camping, then you had better take a deep breath and sit yourself down. Welcome to a whole new world of glorious comfort, and lightweight gear. Hammock users have been around a long, long time, but it is only in the last few years that the concept has sparked interest to a wider audience, and spread like wildfire ever since. There is a wealth of information to be had on the subject of hammocks, related gear and accessories, tips and tricks. My goal here is to but touch upon a few of the highlights and point you in the right direction for further enlightenment. What follows is a brief F.A.Q. common to newbies and beginners, that have just caught the spark, and are thinking about ditching their tent, for the hammock life. What Advantages Does A Hammock Have Over My Tent? - The freedom to camp anywhere. No longer shall you hunt for that rare and elusive patch of flat, dry ground. An entire world of possibilities is open to you. All you need are two solid objects.. (trees work good ) within reach of your support lines to hang the hammock. - Rise up from the wet and sodden ground! A hammock gets you above the weather. No longer shall you worry about water run-off, mud, rocks, and other nasty things, thare are no fun pitching a tent on. - A complete shelter, in a much smaller package. No more poles, no more zippers. When its time to go, a hammock shelter stuffs down to a smaller package than most any conventional tent. - Comfort. There is just no use talking about this one. You simply have to try it, to beleive it. A hammock will provide you the best nights sleep, you can get in the wilderness... bar none. No more sore backs, inflatable matresses that always leak, or rogue rocks that you missed under the tent. Just glorious comfort, and a good nights sleep. |
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| photos by - GrizzlyAdams & Speyguy |
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| What Do I Need to Get Started? - A hammock obviously. There are so many kinds, each with its own set of features, and unique comforts. You will have to do some research to find out what appeals best to you, and what features you are most likely to need. One example would be top-entry, or bottom-entry. With or without bug-netting, or perhaps removeable bug netting. The list goes on, and on. - The biggest and most frequent mistake by beginners is failing to understand the hammock basics. Be sure to check out my page - The Hammock Commandments that outlines the essential tips and tricks. Bottom insulation - One essential piece of gear to any hammock user is some type of bottom insulation for the hammock. The bottom of any hammock will become cool, or cold in all but the warmest weather. Many new users have a terrible first experience because they were unprepared. There are several good options that range in price from dirt-cheap, to really expensive. Using Pads - The column of pictures on the left, show the ' pad - system ' of bottom insulation, that most people start out with. Basically, you can use a closed cell foam pad, typical of what you are used to for sleeping on the ground. Thermarests, or other inflatable air pads can work also. *A word of caution about the Thermarest - they are extremely slippery against nylon hammocks, and it can be quite difficult to stay on top of your pad, unless you use some means of keeping it in place. Sliding around on a thermarest is commonly known as pad-surfing. Not a fun experience when its cold. Pads in hammocks, need to be wider than you standard ground pads. This is because of the rounded shape of a hammock, and the fact that more surface area of your body is in contact with the pad in a hammock, than on the ground. Many hammock users have found extra wide pads, or found creative ways to extend the width of regular pads by adding features like 'wings'. The hip and shoulder area are key places to be sure you have enough pad width. |
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| Using Underquilts For many hammock users, the 'packed size' of their hammock and sleep system are of the utmost importance. While pads are very lightweight, they do take up a large volume of space. Pads also have a tendancy to produce some condensation, and can feel clammy when you wake up. This, taken into account with the difficulty of keeping them perfectly in place, many users will opt for the next level in comfort - the Underquilt. An underquilt is like a sleeping bag, but opened up. It goes on the outside of the hammock. The reason for this is that, any insulation you have under your body, will become compressed, and quickly defeat its purpose, producing cold spots under you. An underquilt hangs beneath you like half of a pod, or a seashell, and therefore maintains a full loft, making underquilts extremely efficient. Underquilts can be made or purchased in both down or synthetic versions. They stuff into very tiny bundles, taking up 1/2 or less the space of a conventional pad. They are breathable and therefore do not have the condensation issues associated with pads. Underquilts follow the side contours of the hammock providing greater insulation on the sides than pads. (unless you are using really-wide custom pads). |
| photos by - GrizzlyAdams, Green Therapy, Nogods |
| photos by - Headchange4u & Turk |
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| photos by - Billybob58, Shug, Nigelp, Slowhike, Breeze, GrizzlyAdams |
| Shelter You are going to need to keep yourself, and your stuff dry. This usually means some form of a tarp. There are a huge list of possible options available to you. My aim, is help point out a few features and ideas to help you make the right selection for your first tarp. Tarp selection: - First off it is worth noting, that there are several good tarp options that are specifically made for hammocks. - Speer, OES Maccat, and Jacks R Better, have good websites for hammock tarps. You can of course use any tarp of appropriate dimensions. - Tarps are available in a variety of shapes. Hexagons, diamonds, and rectangles offer a variety of compromises between weight and overall coverage. - Tarps that have catenary cuts, will pitch tighter than standard tarps. This means less loose fabric and less flapping and noise in windy conditions. - Your tarp needs to be long enough to keep both ends safe from driving rain or snow. - A wide tarp, will provide living space under your hammock, shade from the sun, and protection for your gear. - Wide tarps will also allow you to make an A-frame type of shelter and can be pitched low to the ground to provide full storm coverage. Setup and Configuration - It is worth noting, that most users prefer to pack their tarps separate from their hammock so that it can be set up first, and provide protection from rain or snow, while you are setting up your hammock and the rest of your gear. - When setting up a tarp, it is better to tie it off separately to your trees, than to tie off, or clip to your hammock suspension lines. The reason for this is that, your hammock will drop when you get in it, and a tarp that is connected directly to the hammock suspension lines, will become loose every time you put your bodyweight in the hammock. By tying the tarp off separately to your trees, you maintain a nice tight tarp, no matter how much you move around in your hammock. - There are many different knots, rings, buckles, and devices used by hammockers to make set up and adjustment of both your hammock and your tarp fast and efficient. - An important safety note. Use strong lines to suspend your hammock. The forces acting on the lines of your hammock are many times greater than your own body weight. A general rule of thumb used by experienced hammockers is to use a line with a minimum tensile strength of 1000lbs. Some ultralight fanatics will use lines rated to as low as 700lbs. This should be regarded as an absolute minimum. Many beginners will stubbornly attempt to defeat physics on this matter and use a lesser rated suspension line. This often results in comical or painful stories shorty thereafter. - It is possible to hang many hammocks from one tree. There is no need to feel that using a hammock is strictly for lone adventurers. A group of hammockers can share trees and or even one large tarp, by arranging their setup using several trees and a small clearing. - Hammocks can be pitched side-by side for couples, or arranged like the spokes of a wheel using individual or shared tarps to created a common social area. - The possibilities of tarp configurations, and hammock pitch are limited only by your imagination. Innovation and Do-It-Yourself The world of hammock camping is still relatively young and extremely active in experimentation and inventing new types of equipment and accessories to make the hammock experience more enjoyable. Cold weather hammocking has proven one of the most challenging elements of the hammock revolution. A handfull of experienced hammock users have put their formidable knowledge, and design skills to work in creating all sorts of unique shelters to address the issues surrounding cold weather hammocking. Hammock tents and fully enclosed shelters made specifically for the hammock user are at the forefront of some of these design innovations. Hammock designs that allow a person to lie completely flat are another major, and recent addition to the hammock community. The beauty of joining the hammocking world, is that it is in a constant state of evolution. Ideas and concepts are branching out from all over the world. The very best advice I can give you from here on, is to head over to www.hammockforums.net and register on the forum. Its free to join, and contains the very best and brightest minds and achievements in hammock equipment, skills, design and techniques |