Hammocking in a storm

[SilvrSurfr]

I vote for stupid, 'cause my family tells me I'm stupid for hanging in storms. They seriously don't understand winter camping at all.

[HangingOut]

One of my trips next summer will be to go back up to retrieve my titanium needle stakes that I lost in a snow storm and gale force winds this October. I was using my summer cuben rain fly open on both ends when a horizontal snow storm came in and overwhelmed the light gear. My rain fly and stakes took flight and left me in the dark with no weather protection in the driving snow. Did I mention gear was blowing out of my open hammock? I managed to get my pants and boots on and retrieve most of my gear before doing a bivy under my friend's hammock and rain fly. When it got light we made coffee and pulled out before the trail was completely gone. Valuable experience that!

[Doctari]

Stupid no, weird probably.

The best sleeping weather EVER is during a substantial T-STORM in a hammock in a sheltered site (preferably with no widow makers nearby)!

From a card carrying weird guy!

[Lupus]

Any of you been hanging from a tree that was struck by lightning?

Weathering a storm in a hammock, that would be my only concern.

[OneThing]

Any of you been hanging from a tree that was struck by lightning?

Weathering a storm in a hammock, that would be my only concern.

I've spent many a night in T-Storms with danger close lighting strikes. I've never heard of anyone having the tree they're hanging from get hit. I don't want to be the 1st to report, (Or even worst, someone report why I can't report) the results.

There has been an ongoing debate on which is safer in a T-storm. The tent or the hammock. So far, I've read of people being killed in tents, tarps, 3 sided shelters, homes, and vehicles. So far, no hammock that I know of.

[TheIslander]

Hmmm. Seems worth the research on how electricity might travel down a hammock's suspension from the tree during a strike. Perhaps if it was soaked with water all the way through you'd get enough conductivity??
Laying directly on the ground with just a sleeping mat between you and the ground has to be much more dangerous.. being that lightning can travel through the roots of trees.

[HURTHEART]

We hang on the coast at every opportunity. It took a long time for me to learn now to keep dry. I think I have the hang of it now. I just absolutely adore hanging in a storm. I do worry a little about T.Storms. Ever since we lost our roof off our house when we lived in Joplin. Storm came out of nowhere in the middle of the night, turned the inside of the house a errie greenish colour, big freight train noise, then rip, roof just picked up and moved about two inches. In the moring a crew came out jacked up the roof and nailed it back down again. That made a real impression on me. I have always had strong winds around me, I grew up along the Columbia River Gorge. The storms in Joplin made me more respectful of their power.

We love hanging in storms, we are very careful of the sites we choose. I have worried a little about a direct hit. I think sleeping on the ground you are more likely to have that happen. I don't know, do you alfix a lightening rod to your hammock???

[Wolf]

New to the hammock camping world, and this is my first post here. Your post is awesome, I LOVE storms and can't wait to get out in one......as i write this, my imagination is just running away!!!

Welcome to the forum. Yay! I have seniority now. 😄
Enjoy your hammocking. I just received an order from Dutch so I gotta set up yon hammocke again to play.

[Wolf]

One of my trips next summer will be to go back up to retrieve my titanium needle stakes that I lost in a snow storm and gale force winds this October. I was using my summer cuben rain fly open on both ends when a horizontal snow storm came in and overwhelmed the light gear. My rain fly and stakes took flight and left me in the dark with no weather protection in the driving snow. Did I mention gear was blowing out of my open hammock? I managed to get my pants and boots on and retrieve most of my gear before doing a bivy under my friend's hammock and rain fly. When it got light we made coffee and pulled out before the trail was completely gone. Valuable experience that!

We must be first cousins. Nature is grandest when at its worst. That's me story and I'm stickin' with it.

[bear bag hanger]

People have been killed by lightning while hanging in their hammocks. I remember a couple people (I think a father and daughter) who were killed by lightning a couple years ago while hanging in their hammocks. It was widely publicized here and on WhiteBlaze, but am unable to find the thread yet. As best they could figure, the lightning originated (in case you didn't already know, lightning goes up from the ground, not down from the sky) from just below the hammocks and jumped into the tree about ten feet up. The hammocks didn't really attract the lightning, they were just in the way.

The lesson learned was never to hang from the highest tree or trees in the area. Make sure you are hanging from trees in which the tops are average for the area or lower than in the area. Also, the more trees in the area and the closer they are, the better.