Are there better hammocks for camping?

[MarkusB]

Are there better or more traditional hammocks for camping as opposed to napping in one's back yard?

In looking at a Ticket to the Moon or Grand Trunk hammock - it appears that the War Bonnet or a Clark hammock appear to be more adequate for camping. All season use.

After reading some of the posts on the fourm, some of you have two,four or even more hammocks. If a guy could only afford one hammock more inclined to camping (not neccesarily back-packing - weight not being an issue) which kind of hammock should I look to?

[spaceweaseal]

I have many hammocks and when weight and bulk is not a issue I grab my bridge.

[Full_timer]

Based on your criteria I would still pick a WBBB dl. For its flexibility and simplicity. I have moved up to under quilts and don't intend on going back. But for someone picking a first serious camping hammock a double layer blackbird is hard to beat. Other people posted some interesting ideas in this thread with no ground rules. It has caused me to expand my horizons and hammock harem.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=55659

Andy

[Bubba]

I use my Warbonnet Blackbird all year long for both car camping and back country trips. If you are mostly a summer camper, a hammock with an integrated bugnet maybe more useful. Lots of choices available but the Warbonnet is one of the most popular ones.

[kayak karl]

depends on season. winter any hammock is fine with me, but bug season i must have a bugnet.

[Crocodile Sanders]

Here in the south, my first hammock is a Claytor jungle hammock that has a bug net that zips closed. My second hammock is a Claytor NoNet for those times when bugs are not an issue. There are many good choices. It is really nice to have a hammock without a net, but again, the bugs in my region placed it second in line after the jungle hammock. Actually, it was more like fourth in line, because I learned that cooler weather requires insulation. For me that meant an underquilt and a top quilt, in that order.

I don't quite know how to describe to you how well I slept the first cold, rainy night that I camped under my tarp in my jungle hammock with both underquilt and top quilt. This was seriously the most comfortable nights sleep that I had ever had up to that point of my life. And I hadn't really mastered the art of hanging my hammock with comfort in mind!

As far as brands, lot's of choices and a range of price points. Trust your instincts on that. I am happy with mine in terms of bang for the buck and comfort. I'm about 6' 1" tall and currently 270# (need to lose weight). Two of my sons love their Hennessy hammocks. One of my sons has it going on with his ENO DN. They are big fellows, all at 6' 3" but they weigh a lot less than pop.

[sargevining]

Almost any Hennesey would work. I like my Deep Jungle XL for the size, comfort, and multi-season use The double bottom keeps skeeters from biting through the hammock.

You can usually find a good Hennesey in the For Sale section It doesn't mean that they are bad hammocks, just that so many people use them as a 'starter" hammok until they get "the bug" and start looking getting other hammocks, mostl from ottage vendors

[dejoha]

Once again you've opened the proverbial pot. In a nutshell, HYOH. Give me any hammock over the ground and I'm happy. I've squeezed into small hammocks and slept fetal and been better off than the ground. But that's just me.

I have a lot of hammocks so I guess I can be picky when I go out on trips. If I'm going ultralight I'll take a simple gathered-end hammock like the BIAS and my HUG bug net (if there are bugs) and be really light. Without bugs and going UL I have my pick of any gathered end hammock and I'm still really light. The Grand Trunk is a great hammock and I've pressed my Ultralight hammock into years of faithful service. I really like my Ticket to the Moon yellow single. It is so comfy. It's on loan now so I can't enjoy it but it will see more camping indentured servitude in the near future.

When I don't care about weight as much I may grab a hammock with a sewn in bug net like the Hammock Bliss no-see-um no more hammock or the Woodsman X from UK Hammock.

Personally, I like the versatility of a simple gathered end hammock because I can mix and match components as necessary without much of a penalty, but there is something to be said for all-in-one hammocks.

In short, find a hammock that makes your tonsils sing with joy and your liver squeak with anticipation, for that is the hammock you want to bring and swing while you're camping.

[Mustardman]

If you ask an extremely generic question like "which hammock is good for camping", you are going to get answers that mostly boil down to "my favorite hammock is X"

If you can provide more details about your typical camping conditions, it might help narrow it down. "All season" in Alabama is a bit different from "all season" in Wyoming, for example. Differences in terms of bug netting configuration, insulation choices, complete out of the box system vs. putting together something a bit more custom, your available price range, etc, will all make a difference.

[jbrianb]

If I were to have one hammock and I were on a budget and I know how much I despise packing extra weight, I'd go with a Grand Trunk Skeeter Beater Ultralight. I live in West Tennessee, not Colorado. I hate mosquitos and other biting nasties. I am also 5'9 and the shortened length of the GT SBU makes it less comfortable than most of my other hammocks, but comfortable enough that I can tolerate it. But there are other good options out there. This one is cheap, reasonably light and it works acceptably well FOR ME.

This discussion shows why there are so many choices out there. Even though the above system is fine, even it's not perfect. I like light. I like a modular system that can be added on to as needed for each occasion -- net/no net, taking whoopies or not taking them, or just hauling the hammock by itself for a nap on a day hike or a short paddle trip from a base camp.

Then there's insulation -- a double or a single layer? Underquilt or not?

Mustardman is right. We all pile on and tell you what "we" like which may have nothing to do with your needs or camping style.

Each "perk" you choose comes with a tradeoff. Common tradeoffs are 1) weight 2) comfort 3) cost and 4) durability. If these were not the tradeoffs, we'd all carry a 4 lb. hammock made with an integrated bug net that was bombproof and 11 feet long and we'd add a $200 underquilt.