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| relaxing in Nanny and Papa's back-yard |
The hammock shown above was a Kickstarter find. I am very addicted to Kickstarter. This is one of my better finds.
I have the Kammok straps, because who wants to mess with tying knots?! Mostly- I didn't know how else to support my wonderful new hammock. The Kammok straps really do make set-up quite easy.
I was napping for the afternoon there, not exactly camping. That picture was taken before I knew I was going to take my hammock for a week long adventure. But, I knew I wanted to. Hammock camping has been a fascination of mine; it's recently grown in popularity for backpacking.
In preparation- I have slept in my little hammock on an overnight trip to a cabin in Montana, it was quite peaceful. I set-up between the posts of the cabin's back porch.
Hammock camping is limited by the availability of supports, but tent camping can be limited by the terrain. Gone are the days of wiggling around to try to avoid a rock between the shoulders. No more smoothing out bumpy soil to put down a dirty tent footprint. I do not, in the least, miss attempting to get every bit of sand/dust/grass/bugs out of the bottom of a tent. I don't miss being crouched over to get in and having to set the thing up while trapped inside.
It isn't always easy to stay warm in a hammock; the cold air traveling below the hammock can get quite chilly. The insulation from a sleeping bag will get squished under the tushy and not work as an insulator, to combat this problem - an underquilt is used. The underquilt is an outdoor blanket that is placed on the outside of the hammock. I've opted to go with the Ember 2 under quilt and my ole-faithful sleeping bag.
Sleep at an angle! For everyone who has thought sleeping in a hammock is like being squished up like a banana, sleep at an angle. Sleeping with your head and feet offset from the line between the trees allows you to lay flat in the hammock, cradled and snug.
A rain fly is something I also hope to not have to use, but also don't want to be caught without. After this one arrived in the mail, I realized it wouldn't have been much different than a regular tarp. You live, you learn. You still throw the overpriced trap in your bag and hope to be able to stare at the stars instead of have to set the thing up.
One of the coolest things about hammock set-ups is their modularity: no rain- no rain fly, warm weather - no under quilt, lots of bugs- get a bug net...all while laying under the stars. Upgrades can happen slowly, instead of all at once.
The Ultimate Hang, and the book - are the best resources I've found on hammock camping. Derek gives amazing illustrations and explanations.
In preparation- I have slept in my little hammock on an overnight trip to a cabin in Montana, it was quite peaceful. I set-up between the posts of the cabin's back porch.
Hammock camping is limited by the availability of supports, but tent camping can be limited by the terrain. Gone are the days of wiggling around to try to avoid a rock between the shoulders. No more smoothing out bumpy soil to put down a dirty tent footprint. I do not, in the least, miss attempting to get every bit of sand/dust/grass/bugs out of the bottom of a tent. I don't miss being crouched over to get in and having to set the thing up while trapped inside.
It isn't always easy to stay warm in a hammock; the cold air traveling below the hammock can get quite chilly. The insulation from a sleeping bag will get squished under the tushy and not work as an insulator, to combat this problem - an underquilt is used. The underquilt is an outdoor blanket that is placed on the outside of the hammock. I've opted to go with the Ember 2 under quilt and my ole-faithful sleeping bag.
Sleep at an angle! For everyone who has thought sleeping in a hammock is like being squished up like a banana, sleep at an angle. Sleeping with your head and feet offset from the line between the trees allows you to lay flat in the hammock, cradled and snug.
A rain fly is something I also hope to not have to use, but also don't want to be caught without. After this one arrived in the mail, I realized it wouldn't have been much different than a regular tarp. You live, you learn. You still throw the overpriced trap in your bag and hope to be able to stare at the stars instead of have to set the thing up.
One of the coolest things about hammock set-ups is their modularity: no rain- no rain fly, warm weather - no under quilt, lots of bugs- get a bug net...all while laying under the stars. Upgrades can happen slowly, instead of all at once.
The Ultimate Hang, and the book - are the best resources I've found on hammock camping. Derek gives amazing illustrations and explanations.
This post has helped me for an article which I am writing. Thank you for giving me another point of view on this topic. Now I can easily complete my article.
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