Jungle Hammocking

[iljjlm]

Hi all. New here and new to using a hammock. I will be going to Tarapoto, Peru later this year. I picked up a HH Deep Jungle. I have only set it up and down a few times, but have not had the time to use it yet.
Does anybody know of any trip reports, web sites, articles about jungle camping? Particularly with a hammock, but doesn't have to be. I am assuming that the same concepts will apply there as it would here. One question I do have is a sleep system. It will be warm and humid at this location, what would you guys recommend to use? Modified silk bag liner or a sleeping bag/quilt or...? Anybody who has experience hammocking in the hot humid south, please let me hear some ideas from you.
Thanks.
Dave

[Oxblood]

he Hennessy site has a link to a guy that did the Amazon wiht the Expedition Hammock.

[Cocksy_86]

I live in the subtropics and I suggest you get a 3/4 summer underquilt. It will help with the chill caused by the wind that can still really bight in hot humid conditions. Then get the lightest synthetic sleeping bag you can find and you should be right to go.

[TinaLouise]

It will be warm and humid at this location, what would you guys recommend to use? Modified silk bag liner or a sleeping bag/quilt or...? Anybody who has experience hammocking in the hot humid south, please let me hear some ideas from you.
Thanks.
Dave

I just spent a week at Boy Scout Summer Camp. Temps were 100-107 every day, dipping down to 79-84 at night. Very humid. This has been the hottest I've ever camped in. I normally use a light wieght climashield under quilt but it was flat out to hot and I removed it. For a top cover, I have a thin piece of silk material (approx 2 yards of material) that I use. It was also to hot. I mostly used it as a balled up pillow and only covered myself with it in the early morning hours when the temps would finally reach their lowest point of the day. I'm useing a Tropical Clark and it's opened up as much as possible but still keeping the bug netting closed due to yellow flys. Had to keep the tarp over me due to rain and heavy dew in the mornings. Even so, my hammock still got soaked during one horrible thunderstorm. Didn't much matter because I still slept in it just fine. With so much humidity, it's hard to tell if you're wet from rain or just because. The hammock and my silk sheet both dried out very quickly. I did use a fan inside my hammock and that helped a lot to keep me cooled down.

Good luck with your trip. If you're expecting temps as hot as what I was just in, you're not gonna need much in the way of insulation. Mainly you'll be more concerned with keeping your gear dry or being able to dry it during the day.

TinaLouise

[iljjlm]

he Hennessy site has a link to a guy that did the Amazon wiht the Expedition Hammock.

Thanks. I looked at those before I bought the hammock.

I live in the subtropics and I suggest you get a 3/4 summer underquilt. It will help with the chill caused by the wind that can still really bight in hot humid conditions. Then get the lightest synthetic sleeping bag you can find and you should be right to go.

I will be using a 3/4 Zrest pad in between the 2 bottom layers of the hammock. I use this as suspension for the backpack so it will be a multi use item. This will also help as mosquito protection.

I live in zone 8, and will try some stuff out here first. My highest temperature rating bag is a 15* synthetic. This, and my 0, were all I needed when I lived in CO and IL. I don't camp here in FL, we go to TN, NC, AL and those bags work great there also. I have never a 40* or a 25* and don't know if those would be too warm. I don't want to buy anything that I am not going to use, which is why I am looking for your ideas first. Please keep them coming

Dave

[iljjlm]

I just spent a week at Boy Scout Summer Camp. Temps were 100-107 every day, dipping down to 79-84 at night. Very humid. This has been the hottest I've ever camped in. I normally use a light wieght climashield under quilt but it was flat out to hot and I removed it. For a top cover, I have a thin piece of silk material (approx 2 yards of material) that I use. It was also to hot. I mostly used it as a balled up pillow and only covered myself with it in the early morning hours when the temps would finally reach their lowest point of the day. I'm useing a Tropical Clark and it's opened up as much as possible but still keeping the bug netting closed due to yellow flys. Had to keep the tarp over me due to rain and heavy dew in the mornings. Even so, my hammock still got soaked during one horrible thunderstorm. Didn't much matter because I still slept in it just fine. With so much humidity, it's hard to tell if you're wet from rain or just because. The hammock and my silk sheet both dried out very quickly. I did use a fan inside my hammock and that helped a lot to keep me cooled down.

Good luck with your trip. If you're expecting temps as hot as what I was just in, you're not gonna need much in the way of insulation. Mainly you'll be more concerned with keeping your gear dry or being able to dry it during the day.

TinaLouise

Thank you TinaLouise. This is what I figured. When we go down to Costa Rica or Panama I just use a sheet (unless we are up in altitude). This is in a hotel, in a bed, with a fan. I just wasn't sure if sleeping in a hammock would be different(temperature wise).

So anybody have any recomendations for a light weight portable fan?

Dave

[TinaLouise]

I use this little fan. It's got foam blades so if they touch your netting it doesn't tear it. Plus the carabiner at the end allows it to hang very easily inside my hammock

http://www.coolfansonline.com/servlet/Detail?no=11

[Cannibal]

I usually just took a bedsheet with me in Florida. The Florida Trail is misery during the summer, but that's when I sectioned about 60% of it. Best thing I found, by far, was to hang near a body of water. Moving water is best and hanging over moving water is joyous. I never once had need for an underquilt between May and September. A little rubbing alcohol on the skin works wonders for cooling you off enough where you stop sweating long enough to fall asleep. And yeah, a small fan hanging from the ridgeline is just plain fantastic!

Honestly, hiking in Florida during the summer is what made me want something other than the HH I had at the beginning. I could never get any great ventilation going inside the hammock, in large part because of the way the stock HH fly attaches so close to the hammock. No way to go without a net because the bugs will have drained all of your blood by morning. The Warbonnet ElDorado was better, but fact is, hiking in Florida during the summer takes a special breed of hiker and I am not one of them.

[Miguel]

Thanks. I looked at those before I bought the hammock.




I will be using a 3/4 Zrest pad in between the 2 bottom layers of the hammock. I use this as suspension for the backpack so it will be a multi use item. This will also help as mosquito protection.

I live in zone 8, and will try some stuff out here first. My highest temperature rating bag is a 15* synthetic. This, and my 0, were all I needed when I lived in CO and IL. I don't camp here in FL, we go to TN, NC, AL and those bags work great there also. I have never a 40* or a 25* and don't know if those would be too warm. I don't want to buy anything that I am not going to use, which is why I am looking for your ideas first. Please keep them coming

Dave

Curious minds want to know....is Zone 8 anywhere near Sector 7?

Miguel

[G.L.P.]

that fan looks sweet...but no green ones

guess i'll have to look back in a few days...thanks for the link