What do you use in treeless sites?

[rais'n hammock]

If there are good rocks where you hike I'd look to inexpensive climbing gear first as an alternate way to hang. Climbing nuts are nice and light weight. Extra rope or webbing to secure an attachment point off of a nearby boulder is cheap, light, and doesn't take up a lot of room in the pack.


If you wind up trying this out please let us know how it goes. Especially if I led you down any wrong turns or if anything was particularly helpful. Your feedback will further help future visitors looking to solve the "not enough trees where I hike" problem. It's something I struggled mightily with until I picked up a HH, and even the HH hasn't proved ideal under many scenarios.

TL;DR: Pour yourself a beer. You earned it. Getting DIY lightweight struts working with your hammock in a backpacking scenario was much harder than you imagined.

Thank you for your thoughts! They were very well thought out and helpful. I had considered many of these same things which is one of the reasons I wanted to see if anyone else had gone down this road. It sounds like your experience with the HH has not been without challenge and it was engineered.
I will try a "single strut DIY version" first with a solid "pole" and then expand my efforts from there. It sounds like much of the challenge will be the stakes, lines, and angles of both.
I will definitely update with anything I try. It may be a bit though. I like the challenge but have to balance my time.

One longer strap is a good option for the boulder situation.

[ShooTa]

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...e-to-hang-from

[cataraftgirl]

I am in the same quandary as you. I live in Utah and kayak at places like Lake Powell or on rivers in desert canyons. Places where trees are few and far between. Along many of Utah's rivers the "trees" are really tamarisk and Russian olive which are thin & prickly. Not suited to hammock hanging. I owned a HH stand for awhile. I had issues with getting the stakes to hold well in loose sandy soil. Many sites in Utah are also on rock ledges. I sold the HH stand. My solution to the dilemma is to carry a tent if I'm reasonably sure that trees do not exist (Lake Powell), carry the full hammock set-up with UQ if I know that there are trees, and carry the tent,pad, hammock & tarp on trips where it's a toss-up. I'm in a kayak, not hiking, so option #3 is possible. Good luck with your DIY project and definitely keep us updated. If you find a solution it could help a lot of us.

[FJRpilot]

If I have to camp in a location without trees.... I use a tarp tent with a ground pad.... Your options are limited... You can check out

http://www.questoutfitters.com/patte...cart.htm#BILGY TARP TENT

[Beckyinma]

I have seen a youtube video of a guy using a hardwood dowel as a single strut when he was camping in a field. The other end attached to his car. Search for monopod on this thread and there are some fairly lightweight options but nothing compares to the three lb handy hammock.


If it were me, oh wait, it is me, I am squirreling away a few dollars every pay period specifically for the handy hammock because I do a lot of Scout Camporee hanging and many are in fields AND I hate packing more than I can carry from my car in one trip. A turtle dog stand is a two-trip-to-the-car stand.

Eta: until the time you've squirreled and ordered the hh, avoid the places you can't hang, go to ground or try new locations...

[DanglingModifier]

I am in the same quandary as you. I live in Utah and kayak at places like Lake Powell or on rivers in desert canyons. Places where trees are few and far between. Along many of Utah's rivers the "trees" are really tamarisk and Russian olive which are thin & prickly. Not suited to hammock hanging. I owned a HH stand for awhile. I had issues with getting the stakes to hold well in loose sandy soil. Many sites in Utah are also on rock ledges. I sold the HH stand.

Your HH stand has found a good home, I promise. Someone was admiring it in my neighborhood park a couple weeks ago. It was a windy day and they thought I was building the world's biggest kite.

[Floridahanger]

If your resourceful and have a large enough campsite to find your items, check out mbiraman's One-Tree-Hang thread. This may help you on your way.

If your wanting to carry items, go to youtube and look for monopod or bipod stands for other items. These may be a little heavy, but, portable to some. Experiment and find what works for you.

Bipod stand
Another bipod stand
Monopod stand

Good luck on your quest.

[Sailor]

Well, don't boo, but I was a scout, and this a perfect setup... If no trees, you need a pair of sky hooks. Just make sure when you get them, that you get a headend skyhook and a footend skyhook... That felt 50 years ago good...

[cataraftgirl]

Your HH stand has found a good home, I promise. Someone was admiring it in my neighborhood park a couple weeks ago. It was a windy day and they thought I was building the world's biggest kite.

Cool. Always happy when my "re-homed" gear is getting used!

[hutzelbein]

I owned a HH stand for awhile. I had issues with getting the stakes to hold well in loose sandy soil.

I'm curious - did you get/use the beach / soft soil pegs that HH sells for beach hanging? I have those, and they have held up great for me (I'm about 133lbs and used the stand with my 10' WBBB).