Porch mode in winter

[Zilla]

On many winter nights I don't use a tarp at all even to block wind. I prefer a covered hammock and UQP. Tarps in the wind make a lot of noise and they are always pushing up against you.



When I do use a tarp it is always in some kind of porch mode. Doesn't make for the best pictures but functional.



hth

Yeah, it's nice to wake up and enjoy the view while still laying in your hammock.

[brianb]

Yep, either tarpless or porch mode fan here as well. However, I just got my first tarp with doors. Spent my last trip with the closed door setup just to try it out. Guy I was camping with felt like it added a lot of warmth to his setup, so I was curious.

I immediately missed the openness that you have in porch mode. Couldn't see the stars, the moon, the sunrise the next morning. Kind of made me sad. It was like someone dropped a piece of litter in the ground and a single tear rolled down my face.

So unless the weather forces me to batten down the hatches, I'll trade whatever warmth a closed tarp is supposed to provide for the view from my hammock.

[sidvicious]

ditto on porch like the other guys.

view side is always porch, and unless the wind is deserving i leave it that way.

[Sunndog]

I'll trade whatever warmth a closed tarp is supposed to provide for the view from my hammock.

Yep, much like shug and his breakfast, the view when i wake up is the major reason for me to hammock camp

[LuvmyBonnet]

I roll in porch mode if the winds are low. You should be fine. Besides I'm thinking it doesn't get very cold in GA or NC even in the dead of winter.

[Solohammock]

If you do need to button it down a bit you can just leave one corner up too... Allows you to get some of the moisture out but still get alot of wind protection... Still prefer no tarp though, especially when using a stand and you've just got the wide open sky above you... Not a fan of no tarp once the birds start coming out though! One more reason winter camping is so wonderful!

[Mountnman]

I love going with porch mode when I can. Best view was when I woke up and 4 deer were about 10 yrds looking at me I'm guessing trying to figure out what I was and what the noise that sounded like a bear was coming from LOL they stood there for a good 2 to 3 min then I moved and that's all it took. Beautiful site, and I forgot to mention the 3 inches of snow that had fallen and was still coming down. A Kodak moment for sure.

[Mountnman]

Another reason we don't tent camp anymore

[Solohammock]

Ya, I was hammocking up at Duffy Lake in eight lakes basin, here in Oregon, last summer and I woke up with a doe sniffing me through my hammock mosquito netting (i wasn't using a tarp)... Its an area that was burned around 12 or 13 years ago so in the last few years alot of animals have been coming back. Some nights it's hard to fall asleep with all the deer moving around! So I woke up to this sniffing and immediately starting seeing those "bear burrito" cartoon pics I had seen on the net before I bought a hammock... Very happy to see those big ole deer ears over me! I decided it was time to get up and water a tree, figuring that would chase her off.... Nope! That pee was like having a drug test with the person watching you... Weird! So I set back in my hammock and arranged my things and she just hung out looking at this fat guy hanging in her woods.... It took a few of her buddies walking through camp about 10 minutes later to get her back into the bush... What a great night!

[justicehaze]

The other night I was on below freezing temps at 100% humidity with porchmode set to deal better with condensation but i had no wind so it didn't make much of a difference to me. I was using 20 degree quilts and it was still very warm for me.