Going to the ground

[djminnesota]

Just wondering who has had expirience/ tips about having to go to the ground while hammocking...
"be prepared" as they say

[jd1987]

I use a frameless backpack and use part of a zlite (closed cell foam) pad as the frame and support for the pack. I also use it to sit on around camp if necessary and can use it as a floor mat getting in and out of the ole hammock. My dog actually sleeps on it when he's with me. It has a lot of uses, but if I have to go to ground I have that.

So tarp pitched with sticks or brush, closed cell foam for torso, use backpack to insulate under feet and legs and throw the quilt on top. Shoes or jacket (depending on how cold it gets) as a pillow. It basically becomes an ultra light set up.

[USMCStang]

Knock on wood, I haven't HAD to go to the ground yet, but I am prepared if the need arises. When I was a kid, we used to camp in the woods with just a sleeping bag, and had fun constructing various shelters, windbreaks, and "beds". I also had cold weather survival training in the Marine Corps, and we constructed and bivouacked in snow caves, quinzees, etc.

I am still using a sleeping bag as my top quilt, and have moved to an underquilt now on my BB. However, I used a Big Agnes Air Core when I was still in a tent, and I still take out with me on every trip as a sit pad for around the campfire (I only partially inflate it, and fold it so it has a "chair back" when I lean it against a tree. No holes yet, but even if it were to happen, I have a repair kit with me.

In an emergency scenario, I can lower my tarp closer to the ground, use my hiking poles as "tent poles" for the hammock body to prop up the bug net, and the air core as a mat. Basically, you just turn your setup into a tarp tent. Without a pad, you can still improvise one with pine boughs or dry leaves. Birch bark layered on top, if available, can help keep your bag/ quilt a little cleaner and make it slightly more comfortable.

If it was a dire situation, say 33 degrees and raining, you could always use your tarp as a bivy by wrapping it around your body. Even though it's thin material, it still would add some insulative value. I would take a ruined tarp over hypothermia any day.

"Be prepared" is defintely the way to go, but also remember "Improvise, adapt, and overcome". Man slept outside for millenia before Silnylon, Cuben, Air Matresses and the like were invented.

[SilvrSurfr]

Instructions for going to ground:

1. Lay on ground.
2. Suffer.
3. Repeat as necessary.

I find it difficult to envision a scenario that would send me to ground again. What conditions would make you go to ground, out of curiosity?

[1bigpaddle]

I've spent many years sleeping on the ground.. Since I've discovered "sleeping on air" I would do my best to avoid the ground.. worse came to be I guess I do keep an extra tarp with incase I need it for the ground, or a "tent".

[The Wolf in a Hammock]

How about being in a field?Or a big unanticipated sign that says
WARNING:
NO TYING TO TREES
FINE $150

[deadeye]

I still use a pad in my hammock, so I'm ready for ground anytime. When I can afford an underquilt, I'll still carry my torso-length z-rest, and will still be ready for the ground, but I'll sure try harder to find a place to hang... sleeping on a z-rest is doable on soft ground, but not very comfortle on a shelter floor or rocky mountain top.

[sargevining]

I prepare for an emergency situation where I may be forced to go to ground while day hiking from a base camp, which covers me for situations where I might not be able to set up my primary shelter, be it a tent or a hammock. I use an REI minimalist bivy sack and an Exped Bivy Poncho. They are light weight and not very bulky and fit in the messenger style sling pack I use for a day pack that also contains my First Aid Kit, water, and other Emergency items.

[BillyBob58]

How about being in a field?Or a big unanticipated sign that says
WARNING:
NO TYING TO TREES
FINE $150

I still use a pad in my hammock, so I'm ready for ground anytime. When I can afford an underquilt, I'll still carry my torso-length z-rest, and will still be ready for the ground, but I'll sure try harder to find a place to hang... sleeping on a z-rest is doable on soft ground, but not very comfortle on a shelter floor or rocky mountain top.

If I could have climbed another 800 ft, crossed the pass and then dropped ~ another 1400 ft, I could have got to trees. But I was sick, it was approaching dark, and I just couldn't do it. So, pitch the tarp and lay on the ground. Two hangers slept under this tarp. Can you imagine the misery if I had not brought my pad? (this would have been my 3rd ever night in a hammock if there had been any trees)

[Paprika bohlmann]

this was one reason of the reasons why I use a bridge hammock and a pad. A bridge hammock is a pads best friend and if I have to go down it is an automatic 1 person tent!