Go to Ground Back Ups for Backpacking?

[Floridahanger]

Yep, set up tarp first. Then hammock if needed. Many a night under just a tarp with no problems for many. The hammock(with bugnet) will help in keeping the creepy crawlies and mossies at bay. Just make sure you have footprint to protect your hammock. You don't want holes or rips on the hammock body when hanging.

[JumpinJackJim]

Alright. I think you guys have me motivated to work on pitching my SF w/doors on ground with my trekking poles. If I can work that out, then I think that's 95%. Between UQ, UQP, TQ, pack pad, and misc. items I will no doubt have enough insulation. I think that I got off track trying to prop the head end of hammock up with poles yo keep net off,when I should likely focus on getting a tight pitch on tarp. Once that's done, keeping the net off my face will likely not be that tough. Thanks ...

[PDA]

Hennessy show some good ideas here
http://hennessyhammock.com/articles/hh_as_a_tent/
For a ground cloth, use secondary glazing film (on sale for$6 at Walmart at the moment)

I use a CCF pad rather than a UQ, and that is perfect for the ground.

[Tuck]

I know that multiple people have explained this already, but for the visual/audio learners:

http://youtu.be/YdTdnbs4HzE

[IRONFISH45]

There are a bazillion "What if I have to go to ground?" threads on this forum, to which a common reply is, "We pack to our fears." So if it's something you worry about, then check out those threads and you'll find others who worry about the same thing and the myriad reasons they worry about it.

In the Northeast, I don't have the slightest worry about having to go to ground. Then again, I don't often hike with ground dwellers, and if they wanted to camp in a pasture, I'd say "I'm gonna go find some trees."

This is a test of your CREATIVITY. When I first started Hanging around, I had to have the tree's just the right distance, all kinds of things had to be perfect. Then reality stepped in and I became creative. I have found all kinds of ways to manage. I do take a pad to sleep on if I have to go to ground, but so far in the past 4 years that has not happened. I have wedged the end of my hammock to rocks and some other unorthodox places, so far I have not ended up on the ground.

I often Hang in a very wet area, if I do go to ground I make sure I am higher than the surrounding area, and I look for signs of where the water drains from and to.

It is funny because my daughter, her boyfriend, family and friends all think I am crazy for Hanging around, funny thing is they are all becoming Hangers, slow but sure, they shyly ask to try, then they want to know where to buy their hammock. I have always just done whatever pleases me, my friends sort of join me after watching for a while. Maybe I am just surrounded by a bunch of very nice sheep! LOL

Maybe you just need to educate the people you Hang with, by example.

[JumpinJackJim]

Great posts. Thanks. Not sure how I missed those videos, when googling. These get right to the point, and are very helpful. Looks like at most, after some tarp practice, I might pack my NeoAir for comfort, if Im going into new/uncertain territory.

Thanks again.

[MDSH]

Thought this through and through, but 'being prepared for ground' just means using a pad and carrying some extra gear. I see no way around it. OTOH, for me camping means setting up wherever I like AND being able to change plans whenever I want and just go someplace else where the weather is nice(r).

It seems to me that the only difference is a pad for going to ground, provided your ground cloth is large enough.

Like your definition of camping -- setting up wherever and being able to change plans. Imagine --everything one needs in a pack on your back.

[QiWiz]

I have a tarp (Zpacks with doors) that I use for hammock hanging and have also used to shelter me or me and company for ground-dwelling, using a neoair for a pad when ground dwelling. My quilts also go "both ways".

[Lepmeister]

Superfly as ground set up.

[E.A.Y.]

When I practiced pitching my warbonnet blackbird as a bug bivy, I first pitched a tarp, then attached the hammock suspension to the top of the poles (hiking sticks), then took a knot in the ridgeline of the wbbb, shortening it, so the bug net would stay up off my face.