All good points, except the last IMO. If you will take my word for it, here is your confirmation.Originally Posted by Catavarie
While I can't speak for the White Mountains in particular I can lend some answers to the general questions.
Yes Hammocks are more comfortable than sleeping on the ground in a tent, any day. YMMV
If you want to use the CCF pad, you'd probably find it better to go with a double layer hammock so that pad can sit between the layers and you're not sliding around on it throughout the night. (A problem for some with pads in hammocks.) This is why under quits (UQ) are prefered by most hammockers.
As for location. Any 2 trees 10 - 15 feet apart is ideal to camp in a hammock. No need to find a "flat, level" spot. You don't have to clear the sight of debris. Time saved finding and preping a campsite means more time spent on the trail.Above treeline you can use your hammock as a bivy, but after sleeping suspended above the ground I'm sure you'd make the effort to get down to treeline in time to make camp.
Your pack can go on the ground under your tarp. Even in the rain the ground under the tarp dries out surprisingly quickly. Or you can use a biner to clip your pack to the hammock suspension under the tarp.
In a bottom entry hammock you can hang your shoes out of the entry/exit hole by tying the laces to the hammock's ridgeline. Keeps them off the ground so they can air/dry out and they are convenient for when you're exiting the hammock.
As for mosquitos, there have been no confirmed incidents, that I'm aware of, of people being bitten through any hammock material. Although some people claim to have been bitten at night through the netting if their arm or leg is resting directly against it, but the same could happen in a tent.
My friend who got me into hammocks- but who never comes to this site for some reason- got his a*s chewed up on rainy night in SC. I think he was in a single layer HH Expedition, but it could have been another one of his "parachute" hammocks as he calls them. But, all single layer. Also, I don't know what else he was wearing for clothing, but it was a hot summer SC night, and he was inside the netting, so probably not much. Maybe just a pair of shorts, or maybe even just his underwear, don't know. But the next morning he discovered his behind was a pincushion.
I figure bites are rare, because most people, most of the time, either have a pad, or a HHSS at least the UC part, or at least some minimal summer UQ, and if none of that most of the rest have a dbl layer hammock. Any of that naturally makes bites through the hammock virtually impossible. I suspect so would sleeping in the right clothing.
But a hot night, with minimal clothing and a single layer hammock, it might be a good idea to treat the hammock exterior with Permethrin. Although, some hammock materials resist mossies more than others, even with single layers. I have heard that rumored about the HH ULBP and Explorer UL, for example. I'd have to hear more confirmation of the rumor though, before I would risk it. I don't need no West Nile Fever!
Here is one weight/volume/expense advantage to the hammock that I find people often forget: no need for cushioning with the hammock. Now I realize that there are some hard guys and gals out there who can sleep on hard rocky ground with just a thin CCF pad and be happy. But a LOT of us are like me: every year that goes by, I need a thicker, inflatable super cushy pad to make life on the trail tolerable. And the worse the rocks and roots, the more I need. These pads are never light. If they are light, then they are not cushy enough for my candy a*s self. At age 18 I could take anything. At 35 I was able to get through 30 days on a NOLS trip with just a thick CCF pad. But, I was longing for my inflatable Thermarest the entire time. Now at 62, just forget all of that. I'd probably have to stay home.
But in a hammock, all you need out of a pad is insulation. You do not need cushioning. And a much thinner, lighter and cheaper CCF pad will insulate as well as a thicker, heavier inflatable. And what if it is really warm(lows guaranteed above 70-75), how much pad do you need? NADA! So under the right circumstances, we who need thick inflatable pads on the ground can now go to zero pad weight. Assuming you are willing to go without a pad for emergency ground use or a sit by the fire pad. Under all circumstances, I can get by with a much lighter pad. Or, maybe no pad other than sit pad and just 6-8 oz worth of IX UQ!
So what does that outlook do to weight and volume and maybe even cost comparisons?
But anyway Luisdent, basically if you can use it on the ground you can use it in a hammock, with a bit of learning curve. If you are a tarp/bivy type of guy, Just think in terms of the tarp, pad and top quilt are the same( unless you are using a full bag, in which case going to just a TQ will again save you some weight. TQs cover you better in hammocks than on the ground). You will just use all of those in your hammock. Think of the hammock as replacing the bivy. Think of it as a bivy that is hung from the trees off of the ground. And if you are forced to ground, you will just use that bivy(hammock) on the ground, still under the tarp and still on the pad.
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