Hammock Camping

I am planning to take some trips on my "new" XJ this summer, and want to camp along the way. Last summer, I started to explore hammock camping on my other trips after learning a lot about the topic on this site:

www.hammockforums.net

I read so many reports about people waking up without a sore back that I just had to give it a try:



Most of my hammock experiences to date are in the backcountry and as I am planning my trips for this summer I'm wondering about the viability of hammock camping. I'm not sure that the places I stop will have suitable trees, and I have also been in some private campgrounds that do not allow anything to be attached to trees.

So, those of you that camp while on your bike trips, what shelter do you use? Tent, bivy, 2" x 3" card shelter? Do you think a hammock would work?

 

I love my hammock tent.
I usually only use it when hiking, when the forcast is for good weather.
In the rain it gets real small, real quick.
No gear room, smoking is a bitch, ashtrtay on belly, but if all you do is sleep in it, they are great.
As for taking it on a trip you don't have to stay in campgrounds.
Plenty of trees in the woods, bikes disappear easily off a dirt rode.
I pull my hammock as tight as I can, the pictured hammack would not let me sleep comfortably and if you sleep on your stomach forget about it.
If weather is an issue I use a tiny $18 Wal Mart tent with an inflatable pool matress.
The matress bends, it won't fit corner to corner, the tents so small.

 

The netting looks like it would keep man eating mosquitoes and black flies at bay.

 

Last weekend I went on my first motorcycle camping trip and I took my hammock as my shelter. What a great way to get a good nights sleep.

 

Lol, sounds real cool

 

I leave for camping in two weeks.
the hammock tent is already on the list.

 

It depends on where you travel. As you have addressed, some places, like out here on the plains, its hard to find trees the right size and the right distance apart. I have traveled like this when trekking but I have an engine on my bike that is more than capable of toting my lard butt, gear and a small bivie tent. As was stated by hound, its hard to do anything in a hammock especially if someone joins you ;O) When its pouring down rain its nice to have a dry place to change cloths or whatever. I have traveled many, many miles and wouldn't leave home without a small tent.
The Buff

 

Given the option, I will never sleep on the ground again. I will say that it gets a little cold in cooler weather, mainly because you compress the sleeping bag, etc.

 

Cool. I've never heard of a hammock tent. They look really uncomfortable being kinda curled up in, but apparently they're not?! Maybe i'll have to look into it. They certainly can't be as bad as rocks and roots...

 

I have a down filled inflatable sleepng mat. It packs down to 5X8 and weighs about 1 1/2 lbs. Very warm and very comfy. Remember that the air around you in a hammock is usually colder than the ground and the sleepng bag compresses just as much in a sling. Its all a matter of weight. Its a common warning against using air mattresses, you can get hypothermia much easier on an air mattress, (just air) than being on the ground. Same holds true hanging in a sling. Air, especially damp air pulls warmth out of your body quickly, much more quickly that than the mas of the ground.

 

The points about needing to be in an area with trees, the fact that changing clothes is a pain while hammock camping and the need to be aware of the heat loss in a hammock are all very valid. There are many strategies for keeping warm in a hammock, and if you use some of the higher tech ones like underquilts you are getting into a greater cost and the space savings gets reduced. Having said all that, I still like my hammock because I sleep so much better in it that I do on the ground with a thermarest. Then again, I haven't tried one of the Exped 9 downmats. They're supposted to be awefully comfortable...is that what you use, Buff?