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  1. #1
    New Member
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    hanging without a tarp

    forgive me if this is a ridiculous question, but i'm new to hammocking and need some clarity. i'd like to hang without my tarp on nights that i know it won't rain, and i know many of you do this. do i need to worry about dew or condensation collecting on my hammock? i'm not a meteorologist or anything, so i'm not sure under which conditions this becomes possible, but i know i've seen moisture on my fly when sleeping in a tent. i'm assuming it has something to do with the temps at night and the dew point (whatever that is). is there some rule of thumb i can go by?
    -tagg

  2. #2
    Senior Member NFA's Avatar
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    I love hanging my hammock without the tarp when I'm reasonably sure that it won't rain or snow.

    If the air is humid enough to shed dew when the temperature drops, then you would likely have dew on your hammock in the morning anyway, although without a tarp you might have a bit more.

    Enjoy the stars and sleeping under the sky!

    Jamie - nfa

  3. #3
    Senior Member SGT Rock's Avatar
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    I do it whenever I trust the weather not to rain. If you are a normal hiker with a tent and you do this it is called Cowboy camping - sleeping under the stars.

    When I do it with a hammock I call it Caballero camping.
    NO SNIVELING!
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  4. #4
    Senior Member
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    You get dew when the night time temp drops below the dew point. As long as the night time low is forecast a few degrees above the dewpoint you should
    not have much trouble with dew. Though pockets of cooler air will cause dew in some places. The bigger the spread between the two the more insurance you have.

    Jbo

  5. #5
    Senior Member Just Jeff's Avatar
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    Yes, especially in humid South Carolina. One time in Charleston I set up my hammock, went inside for an hour or so, and when I came back out my hammock was covered in beads of water just like it had rained. It didn't have time to soak into the insulation so I shook it off as best I could and slept in it anyway.

    That doesn't happen a whole lot, at least not to the point where it soaks everything, so I usually just take my chances and don't hang the tarp if I'm pretty confident of the weather. I love sleeping that way, especially w/o bug nets. If you're really concerned, I guess you could hang the tarp, wait fot he dewpoint, then either flop it over, take it down or skin it. Like I said, I usually just take my chances.

    Monterey, CA, was really bad about the fog...but even a tarp wasn't much protection against that sometimes. When it's 100% humidity out and not raining, you're just gonna get wet.
    “Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” ~Judge Joseph Story

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  6. #6
    Senior Member drewboy's Avatar
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    In the absence of rain, you might Still need a tarp to block the wind in colder conditions to prevent it from robbing you of warmth. Particularly on the bottom side. I've spent nights where every time the wind gusted it got underneath the underquilt and took away all my warmth.

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