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  1. #91
    Senior Member JmBoh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sidvicious View Post
    this is the thing about a comfort comparison. to equate the ground with hanging, the mattress has to be superb and/or supreme. so, yeah........we can fashion a really light ground kit. its just a wild-eyed guess, but my thinking is it'd take a 2+ inch tricked out mattress at least to get the ground in the ballpark.

    i should qualify by adding that i'm in the 50+ age crowd.

    sv-
    i agree on the principle of your statement and i can assure you it would take more than a teched out 2" mattress. I have an exped synmat 7 and 9 from my ground dwelling days. the 7 is a little over two inches and the 9 a little over three inches and neither make the ground more comfortable than a hammock. lol Exped does make a huge version now that's basically a twin sized mattress. that might do it, but you'd need a sherpa to haul it around.
    “I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news”
    ― John Muir

  2. #92
    New Member Valveless's Avatar
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    Jun 2011
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    Mesa, AZ
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    I sleep on the ground only when I have to -- i.e. winter desert trips in here in the SW or tent camping with the family. That said:

    * Down 3 season top quilts weigh 1.5 pounds-ish (give or take an ounce or two) and go whether you're on the ground or in a hammock. No weight savings.
    * 3 season down UQs weigh about a pound give or take an ounce, inflatable pads about the same. No weight savings there (unless you opt for a lighter foam pad or an inflatable with less R value).
    * Depending on where you're going, the hammock tarp will be bigger (and thus heavier) than your ground tarp (assuming bivy use).
    * Most lightweight bivys are lighter than a hammock with straps, etc.

    If anything, taking a hammock will weight marginally (but not significantly*) MORE than being on the ground. But who cares? It's so comfortable.

    *significance is entirely subjective. Our colleagues and friends on BPL will contort themselves into a frothing ravenous frenzy over a few grams

  3. #93
    Senior Member Doctari's Avatar
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    Because my tarp is so big,,, OK, Huge, my hammock gear weighs a bit more than my tent gear. by about 1.25 Lbs. If I switch to a smaller tarp, I may break even. Like almost everyone else, I do it for the comfort: Haven't woke up to a rock or stick in my back in 12 years. I don't wake up against the inside of my tent because I slept on a hill & slid down, in fact I often hang on very steep hills "Just because I can!".
    And: one time a few years ago, I was working at the Charlotte Renaissance Fest, slept on the ground, in a t**t I "froze" the lowest temp was 48 that night, I had the exact same sleeping insulation as in my hammock, I had a Propane tent heater & 3 other bodies to warm the tent. The insulation I was using EASILY gets me down to 30 in my hammock. I will NEVER sleep in a t**t again.
    As to set up time, & granted, I set my hammock & tarp up around 200 times a year, so I am very good at It, but I can set up in about 3 minutes, less if pressed to. Take down is nearly as quick, however I really need to get the Packing my backpack done quicker, often takes 45 minutes or more & I don't know why. Anyway, I couldn't do any better than that with my best t**t.
    When you have a backpack on, no matter where you are, you’re home.
    PAIN is INEVITABLE. MISERY is OPTIONAL.

  4. #94
    Senior Member kunzman's Avatar
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    Nov 2013
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    Tent vs Hammock Camping

    I've done the math several times. With the right gear I get a three season hammock setup to be about a wash compared to a tent. Winter then maybe adds a few more ounces as the under quilt gets a bit heavier. But no matter what, I cannot reach the same comfort level as a hammock no matter what kind of pad I try in combo with the tent.

    Todd

  5. #95
    Senior Member kunzman's Avatar
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    Look at it this way: just compare weight of hammock plus suspension plus UQ to whatever pad you would need to be comfortable on the ground.
    Lowest weight tent with bug net is very comparable in weight to lowest weight tarp and a bug net.
    TQ would be same either way.


    Todd

  6. #96
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    As others have said, for me it's the comfort. Last fall I went camping with my brother-in-law and loaned him a hammock setup. He was still asleep when I was making breakfast. When he did wake up he commented that he had never slept in that late while camping. I can get by with less weight sleeping under a tarp with minimal gear, but my body doesn't thank me the next morning.

  7. #97
    Senior Member Grumpy Squatch's Avatar
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    North Grafton, MA
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    Agree with the comfort and better sleep. Especially as a side-sleeper. Plus my hammock has better temperature versatility. I hate hot weather and usually have trouble sleeping in anything above 65°F (yes my A/C bill is high in summer). In a hammock I can hang in the breeze, lose the bugnet (with the right insect repellent), and actually feel the cool air beneath me. In winter, My 0° down UQ (which can be augmented with my 20° or 40° UQ) is warmer than my thickest pad.

    My first night in a hammock was misery - UQ gaps, colder weather than planned, and non-stop wind made it almost unbearable. My second night (the next night) I found a better spot and the weather improved and I slept 9 solid hours for the first time in the woods in 25+ years. I never went back to the ground. Last trip I had trouble falling asleep - then I turned on my side which I could never do in decades of ground sleeping, and promptly drifted off for 5 hours until the daylight woke me.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoe makers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but up in the Mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men.
    - Daniel Webster

  8. #98
    Comfort is king but not just when sleeping. It also is when it's raining. Setup... Tarp first then it's nice an dry. Heck now that you're out of the rain make a cup of joe and watch the ground dwellers try to keep their gear dry. Or once you are all snug in the rack and the gullywasher hits, you won't notice that the ground dwellers floated away on their neoair rafts till some time the next morning. And you never have to blow up an underquilt! Or once camp is set and the rain hits you have your tarp for all to come and hang out under. No tiny one man coffin tent where ya sit all lonely.

    The real question to ask is why sleep on the ground (BSA Camporees in a field excluded until you build a stand.)

  9. #99
    Senior Member
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    I can set up a tent quicker and I could probably find a lighter tent setup, but my body aches at the thought of returning to sleeping in a tent - so that is a no-go!
    Name any argument for a tent and my reply will be the same - but a hammock is more comfortable!

  10. #100
    New Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by TerminalMonky View Post
    This is something I have not mastered yet. Though I really want to. I have tried to research everywhere, but not found a sufficient answer. I know it's a noob question but no matter how much I fiddle with ridgeline, sit height, hangle, etc...., I get a very stiff edge to the hammock while trying to get in and out and being able to just sit up and kick my legs over and tie my laces is too difficult. (Holy run on sentence Batman!) I know it's probably a noob mistake of some kind or another.
    My tail just sits too low and my knees are near my chest. And forget gracefully entering and exiting the hammock. Is there any sagely advice anyone can share.

    I can spin a new topic off if it is worth it. I don't want to hijack here.

    Speaking of which. I still enjoy both tent and hammocks. I am the cub master for my son's cub pack so we do not do much in the way of backpacking yet, but we are discovering the enjoyment of hanging and usually end up pitching both tent and hammock when the chance arises.

    The quick ease and comfort of a hammock are great but the privacy and quasi storage of a tent are still a requirement for the groups I usually camp with. I should also say that I rarely sleep on the ground while tent camping. If you are loading a tent into the car you can just as easily load a cot too.
    I'm guessing your hammock sheet is a near perfect rectangle and has a tight sleeve sewn in each end, through which the support rope passes in a loop, causing the sleeve to gather tightly around the rope, causing the sleeve to be spread around the rope loop, causing the hammock to be more taut at the edges taut than the middle, causing the stiff edge you mentioned. Am I right?

    If so, the solution is to stop using the rope loop itself as the hanging mechanism. Instead, remove the support rope, pass a different much shorter rope (just a few inches long) through the sleeve and tie it off in a tight loop, so that the sleeve (with short rope inside and tied off) makes a knob. Then tie your support loop AROUND the hammock near the end but just below the knob, tight enough that the knob cannot pass through and escape. All this will allow the hammock sheet to to hang evenly taut across its width, so the edges will not be any tighter than the middle. This may solve your problem.

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