Cold has been the only factor that wakes me. In the previous life as a ground dweller I would always wake up relatively early in the AM. Never took naps. On couple occasions I've overslept in the hammock. Tired, comfortable, dark colored tarp & tree shade resulted in missing sunrise by a few hours. I string up the hammock occasionally for a late afternoon nap. Nice hanging among the trees on a warm summer afternoon to totally waste away a moment or two.
I really feel this way. A hammock is not as comfortable as my sleep number bed at home with my wife by my side. Never will be.Originally Posted by Roadtorque
On umpteen Boy Scout trips in a tent on the ground, the only time I was able to fall asleep was after about 3 plus days of no sleep.
I was able to fall asleep my first night on the AT with a hammock. I made 2, one week trips on the AT in a tent on the ground, or worse, on 2x4s in a shelter, before hammocks, and can't say that I ever "fell asleep". Since hammocking, every night is a sleepy night.
This is one of the things I'm looking forward to the most. I'm pretty much up with the sun when tent camping and it usually annoys the people I'm with cuz they want to sleep and I'm up making noise. I just cant sleep with much light and then it seems like every crow in the county has to fly over my tent and squawk at each otherI guess I could just a darker tent but then I would not get to sleep in my hammock!
Boy I've had a few of those! On one campout we set the tent up after dark so we couldnt really see what was under us. Well my tent buddy went to bed before me and when I went to my bag i could feel a rock right in my rib cage. I couldnt scoot around the rock and I felt bad waking up the other guy to move, so I made the best I could (didnt have a pad either). When I woke up in the morning... If you want to call it that... and we took down the tent there was a volley ball size rock sticking out. It bruised my ribs pretty bad! I tell you I laid there all night and couldn't wait for morning just so I could get up. After that campout I went and got the nicest thickest pad that I thought I could lug around on a backpack (5lbs) and a few weeks after that I got this wonderful idea. Hmmm I wonder about hammocks
I could not sleep in the tent, no matter what I did. On my side, my back, on two pads...
I have to sleep on my side, with something under my head. I toss and turn. Saturday night I slept in my hammock on a pad covered by a Neat Sheet with a fleece shirt balled up under my head, covered in a down quilt. Had the bears not been uprooting stumps and the raccoons not been fighting just up the hill, I would have slept soundly all night. As it was, I had visions of my bear can bouncing down the 5000 feet into the canyon - happily it was right where I left it in the morning.
Similar story. When in college, my buddy and I are hiking in the Boundary Waters. Using canoe maps (oh the folly of youth...) trying to find a spot where there is water, before dark. We failed, in so far as the best we could do by dark was a pretty stagnant pool. Tried to pitch the tent, almost on the trail, could not find the bag of tent stakes. Muttering (ok, honestly, cursing) tried to stake the tent out with sticks. Rocks on the floor of the tent, an especially big one just under me. Really rotten night.
In the morning I discovered that my rock was in fact the bag of tent stakes.
Thirty years later my buddy never fails to bring up the story to rib me a little when we are together.
Grizz
Honestly, I sleep in my hammock when I stay at my parents and find it pretty comfortable. I toss n turn quite a bit so I fully admit to getting better sleep in my very comfortable bed. But, that being said my hammock is picked over their futon, any day.
I usually sleep "less poorly" in my hammock than anywhere else. I think my DIY bridge may be the best when it is finished. The delight of being physically tired on the trail makes it much better than the mental stress of work. Case in point...I'm writing this a 2:45 AM after having had crazy dreams of work.
Gentle raindrops and mighty oceans...neither can exist without the other.
Time heals all wounds...but it usually leaves a pretty big scar.
I may have had my best sleep yet in my hammock on my recent trip, after one of my worst sleeps in my hammock on the same trip. I sleep much better in my hammock than in my bed - I don't toss and turn, and if my feet aren't turning into blocks of ice, I sleep through the entire night. If you are prepared for the weather, and your bed (nee, hammock) is properly set up, it can be a truly relaxing and unmatched experience. I, too, however miss having my wife next to me, but I do sleep better in the hammock.
I was wondering about it myself a while back after saying a few times that I sleep better in my hammock. So I paid more attention in comparing and I really do believe I slepp better in my hammock. I do sleep comfortably in my bed at home, but I DO NOT wake as rested after sleeping in my bed. It's a struggle to get up every morning. I try to sleep in my hammock in the backyard at least once a week if I'm not going backpacking. I wake early and rested most times.
I even slept in a tent again last month to see if it was as bad as I remember... Big mistake. It was. I'm sure I could sleep fine in a tent if I took a thick enough pad, but that makes no sense to me. I like the versatility of the hammock and tarp.
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