Hammock in the treeless outback - lessons learned.

**mclmm** · 11-29-2008, 02:46

Hi guys,

I recently came back from a two week trip to Cape York (the pointy bit on the map of Australia). The terrain there is mostly african-style savannah land punctuated with massive termite mounds and short, stumpy scrub. The specific place we went to is Australia's largest area of lowland rainforest, but we still had to get there.

As expected, I was quite comfortable in the HH during our ten days in the jungle with just a poncho liner as bedding, but the savannah country provided quite a challenge. Three of the days we were travelling to the rainforest we had no place where we could set up a hammock.

Even the savannah country had lots of bugs - mosquitoes, flies, even sandflies in one area. There was no way I was going to sleep under the stars in that environment.

Here's what I came up with:

Set up the HH ULBA as a bivvy on the ground. The hammock and tarp was basically strung between the bullbar of the vehicle and the frame of my ALICE pack (itself pegged and tied off in an upright position). I had a thermarest in the vehicle so it was quite comfortable. The bug netting kept out the nasties and I had a far better night's sleep than my compadres who slept in big, heavy, hot canvas swags. Those things are an abomanation

, used by every green city dweller who wants to play Crocodile Dundee. Locals out there only use them because they don't know any better. Try rolling one of these up and putting it in a 1 qt canteen cover clipped to the side of your pack:

Problems I encountered with the HH ULBA as a "ground hammock' were -

Bottom entry. Yes, that feature which is so effective in the trees is a pain in the arse when you've got to get into and out of the "ground hammock".

Moving around/sliding off the thermarest. The last thing I wanted was to put a hole in the bottom of the hammock - it is load-bearing after all.

Solutions

Add a zip to the bug net. I don't like side entry hammocks usually, but this would be a very good thing for those times when you need to use the HH in "ground hammock" mode.

Add some nylon webbing loops to the bottom of the hammock so the floor can be pegged out with the thermarest in position.

Anyone else have any tips/tricks/mods for ground use of a hammock?

**Just Jeff** · 11-29-2008, 06:29

Not a mod to the HH, but I found the Crazy Creek hammock to be very easy to use on the ground. If it had a flatter lay, it would have been an awesome hammock...I just couldn't get comfortable in it w/o a 3" thick inflatable pad. But if I were car-camping and knew I was going to ground a lot, I'd reconsider it.

Can you do the zipper mod yourself? If not, you can get it done by our members here for a reasonable price.

You can carry a ground cloth for underneath the hammock and pad to protect them from the ground.

Thanks for posting your trip report! And welcome to HF.

**Smee** · 11-29-2008, 10:00

Try this one for ease of use and comfort.

Regards,

**BillyBob58** · 11-29-2008, 10:07

If you were going to coolish country and were already using the HH Super Shelter, you could just use your space blanket as a ground cloth. Of course, if you are not using the SS it doesn't add much weight or money to carry a space blanket or heat sheet any way. I have gone on week long tarp trips ( ground dwelling only) where the WM 2 oz space blanket served well as ground cloth.

**Roadtorque** · 11-29-2008, 16:31

Going to the ground is one of the reasons I am looking so heavily into a clark NX200. Seems to me like the best set up for the ground as far as hammocks go

**BillyBob58** · 11-29-2008, 18:21

This is something we don't discuss very much. I would think most any hammock would be fine for going to ground. Though a netted one might be preferred in bug season I suppose. It seems to me the tarp is the main thing anyway. Then I would want a ground cloth with or without the hammock, so as not to poke holes in the hammock or sleeping bag, and to help keep your bag/clothes dry in case you slipped off of the pad. And hopefully, you have a pad if you are forced to ground. Then the hammock could serve duty as more or less a bivy, with or without a net. But the tarp seems to be the main thing, other than dealing with bugs.

Is there really that much dif between hammocks and ground capabilities?

**gunn parker** · 11-29-2008, 20:05

Hi There
Did you not try to tie off one end to the bull bar or to a roof rack (if you had one) and the other end to a termites nest?
Just a thought and welcome to the forum

**Ramblinrev** · 11-29-2008, 20:08

Originally Posted by gunn parker

Hi There
Did you not try to tie off one end to the bull bar or to a roof rack (if you had one) and the other end to a termites nest?
Just a thought and welcome to the forum

The thought of tying off to a termites nest reminds me of the children's song that goes..."The ants go marching two by two hurrah... hurrah..."

Not sure I would want to risk that, but then I don't live in an area where termites build nests like that.

**gunn parker** · 11-29-2008, 20:34

Hi Rev
Nah the termites will not leave the nest, they hate sunlight and will die if out side too long.
The nests are like concrete too. here is a good photo of a big one, but they are not all as big. and no thats not me