Smokies Guidelines on Using a Hammock

[Ewker]

you should never hang a hammock in a shelter, that is as bad as folks who put up tents. If you want to stay in the shelter sleep on the floor

[kwchannell89]

you should never hang a hammock in a shelter, that is as bad as folks who put up tents. If you want to stay in the shelter sleep on the floor

Why? Not the tent part but the hammock part.

[Cannibal]

Why? Not the tent part but the hammock part.

Because it is annoying to others when/if the shelter fills.
It is also colder. Some of the coldest nights I experienced were while hanging in a shelter. I only did it a handful of times because I was more comfortable when I could pick my site and setup my tarp.

[kwchannell89]

Okay, I talked to the lady at the Backcountry Office and she said it was fine if it wasn't a crowded shelter, which is usually case. They made it an unwritten rule (not her exact word it just how it sound since it not written on the sign or in the regulation) just so hammock users didn't take up space as mentioned by someone else in earlier post on this thread. (Sorry, forgot your user name!) Also there were concern about fire pit having flame come out and torching the nylon or someone cooking it just creates a lot of chaos. If I was alone, which would be rare anyway, I would be okay with hanging from inside the shelter.

[kwchannell89]

Because it is annoying to others when/if the shelter fills.
It is also colder. Some of the coldest nights I experienced were while hanging in a shelter. I only did it a handful of times because I was more comfortable when I could pick my site and setup my tarp.

I was in middle of posting my post when you posted. Thanks for the respond, now that I understand I can respect the rules and others.

[neo]

I just avoid the park as much as possible, if I wanted rules and restrictions to follow and/or worry about I'd go to the mall.

i prefer hiking outside of the smokies myself lolneo

[Acer]

I am surprised that nobody read this link that was provided by the first 2 posters of this thread..the lnt post.

http://lnt.org/blog/hammock-camping

And nobody picked up their recommendations of using 2-4" wide straps for tree straps. I personally think 4" tree straps are way overkill when it comes to harming the bark on trees.

[SGT Rock]

2"-4" I've never heard of straps above 2", and 2" is way overkill.

[Acer]

2"-4" I've never heard of straps above 2", and 2" is way overkill.

I know,,this is way way overkill in their thinking.

Now that the weather is getting a little warmer, Leave No Trace has received several inquiries about using hammocks while camping. People have asked us if hammocks are a better choice than tents and what impact hammocks might have on the environment. Our Education Director, Ben, had some informative responses to these questions that I wanted to share with our blogging community:


1) The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics does not have a recommendation either for or against tents and/or hammocks. We advocate for enjoying the outdoors responsibly.


2) Hammocks can eliminate much of the impact generally associated with tent camping. When tent camping, you are impacting a larger area just by the sheer nature of a tent’s size and the additional impact of sleeping pads, sleeping bags and the campers inside.


3) As long as ‘tree saver' straps (2-4” wide straps that go around the tree to minimize any girdling effects) are used, there is very little impact associated with hammock camping. Besides getting in and out of the hammock, the ground beneath is almost untouched.

[SGT Rock]

Perhaps their recommendations for straps should be 1"-2".