Rain Question

[biggiefrye45]

So I spent the night in my hammock last night and it's the first time I've encountered more than a light rain. And it rained HARD. I had my bag and shoes and a couple other things under my hammock on a piece of tyvek but when the rain would run off the tarp it would splash mud all over my bag and tyvek I had laying down. Any ways to combat this when it's raining that hard. On my way home now with a dirty backpack.

[ADVStrom14]

A gear sling under or beside your hammock could help by getting it off the ground and it would be protected in the same you are by the tarp. I have also seen people just fold their tyvek or ripstop mat around their pack and stuff with the "bottom" of the fold facing in against the direction of the water flow causing the water to just run around the mound of gear.

[sidvicious]

a few options.

1. learn to love it.
2. hang the bag off the suspension where it meets the hammock. hang other stuff likewise.
3. bigger tarp for rainy season.
4. learn to love it.

sv-

EDIT: i do a lot of rainy hanging in the winter. there's no perfect solution and each rain or storm has it's own character. a broader tarp is a good idea and solves many issues. finding the right pitch angle to calm the drip is an ad hoc art exercise.

the way i look at is bags are gonna get wet and dirty. i'm not going to spend a lot of time trying to prevent it. i do, however, make sure that what is inside is protected and in the dry.

[Quishy]

I carry a trash bag with me and put my pack and shoes in there on the tyvek. The tyvek and trash bag get muddy so I turn the trash bag inside out and put the tyvek in there to protect my other stuff when packed up. When I get home I just toss the trash bag and throw the tyvek in the washer if it's bad enough otherwise I just hose it off.


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[monkeynono]

If it's a passing heavy rain I just pull my pack into the hammock with me. Longer storms I'll either hang it from the hammock or wrap it in the ground sheet.

[kitsapcowboy]

Gear hammock FTW! :thumbup: (A 42-gallon contractor trash bag is always an inexpensive field-expedient option...)

[BeechGirl]

I carry a trash bag with me and put my pack and shoes in there on the tyvek. The tyvek and trash bag get muddy so I turn the trash bag inside out and put the tyvek in there to protect my other stuff when packed up. When I get home I just toss the trash bag and throw the tyvek in the washer if it's bad enough otherwise I just hose it off.


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I do the same. Never have to worry then.

[Secondmouse]

my pack is empty except for ditty bag and spare clothes when I sleep, so it goes into the trash compactor bag that I put my quilts and clothes into. food, stove and cosmetics go into bear bag.

I've also just covered with my poncho. that works until you need to use it...

[AdventureMyk]

Little Joey camp chair tucked up next to my hammock under the tarp. Clean and keeps the drink tube hand so I can just unzip the bug net and grab a drink. If it's definitely going to rain I slip the slightly oversized rain cover over the hang and it carries over to the back of the chair and bottom of the bag keeping both clean and dry.

[SkraM]

Ditto. An extra trash bag does to trick.

[SilvrSurfr]

I just clip my pack onto my hammock ridgeline with a carabiner. I'm a head-right, feet left sleeper, so when I sleep on the diagonal I clip the pack on the right side where my feet aren't. I don't even know the pack is there.

[OCDave]

...under my hammock on a piece of tyvek ....

This is my modus operandi as well but, my piece of tyvek is large enough to wrap over my pack and shoes and tuck back under. The Tyvek I carry is 5'x7'. It is easily one of my most used pieces of gear. I keep duplicates in each of my vehicles with the spare tire or jack.

[gfstanley]

I put my pack in my gear hammock hanging beside my hammock and cover with my pack cover if rain is possible. Shoes and other items hanging on ridgeline or suspension under tarp.

[bobbycobbler]

Take the loop at the top of my pack, stick it through the continuous loop at one end of the hammock, then put a stick through the pack loop as a toggle. I'll usually put my rain jacket on the pack with the hood over the top if I think it's gonna rain hard while I'm sleeping.

[Lane47]

This is my modus operandi as well but, my piece of tyvek is large enough to wrap over my pack and shoes and tuck back under. The Tyvek I carry is 5'x7'. It is easily one of my most used pieces of gear. I keep duplicates in each of my vehicles with the spare tire or jack.


I may consider this change to Tyvek, currently, I keep 2 or 3 45 gallon trash bags in my pack, my day pack, vehicle, on the boat, I can easily split out one seam and bottom, then I have a large sheet of plastic, or I can use as a bag.
The possibility of adding or changing to Tyvek is for its toughness, the garbage bag is no where as tough as the Tyvek

[biggiefrye45]

Thanks everyone I like the idea of carrying an extra trash bag and putting my shoes and bag in it during the night. I think i will do this in the future as it virtually adds no extra weight to my setup. Happy Hammocking!

[dakotaross]

Rain rolling off the tarp and onto forest duff doesn't splash. Just sayin'. Most folks new to picking hammock sites, like me at one time, would look for well used tent sites and such where it "looked" like a great site to camp, but not so much in a torrential rain. Most any other non-campsite site in the woods would be of the no-splash variety.

[AdventureMyk]

Thanks everyone I like the idea of carrying an extra trash bag and putting my shoes and bag in it during the night. I think i will do this in the future as it virtually adds no extra weight to my setup. Happy Hammocking!

Depending on where you camp it would also keep things with more legs than we have out of them. ;)

[Rolloff]

Rain rolling off the tarp and onto forest duff doesn't splash. Just sayin'. Most folks new to picking hammock sites, like me at one time, would look for well used tent sites and such where it "looked" like a great site to camp, but not so much in a torrential rain. Most any other non-campsite site in the woods would be of the no-splash variety.

I'm with all that. To date, I've never pitched my kit over bare ground. It could happen I suppose, but I'd rather just not.

I already use an internal dry bag, then toss the pack and everything in a plastic sack and hang it from the head end of the hammock. In bad weather I will also treat the foot end of the hammock with a bit more tarp overhang, because the pack helps close the other end up some.

Proper coverage helps a bunch too. I can bring my Toxaway down to a stake loop from the ground, and still hang high enough underneath it, I've not had to deal with further splash protection on my UQ. If I have to drop the tarp right down on to the hammock SRL, I use a pair of Tato's Adjustable Tarp Pull-outs, to open up the inside and I have plenty of room.

I think they help to keep the tarp from pulling stakes in strong winds, and eliminate need to get up and adjust tarp tension, because of the shockcord Tato uses. They are also extra long. I never need stakes for them. You can always find a root or another tree to tie them off on, something a bit more stationary, that won't pull and sling shot through the side of the tarp.

All just ideas and suggestions. Like everything else, the more weather you hang in, the better you'll get at it. Try a group hang near you, when the weather becomes a test. That's when the some of the more resourceful individuals tend to show up. I'll bet they can keep you dry, or at least show you how to enjoy getting wet :thumbup1:

[fallkniven]

If you get out enough, your going to run into these situations eventually, no matter how seasoned you are. The easiest way is to shove everything in your pack, put your rain cover on the bag. and lay it on your tyvek or clip it to your hammock.
Keeping a spare contractor bag or your pack liner will work as well.
What I find easiest, is Molly Mac's Gear Box. It's a mini hammock, with a rain flap, just for your gear. It's the first thing I set up at camp, I dump all my stuff into it, the set up camp from there. When I'm done, close the flap, and all my stuff is off the ground and dry. Been using it a few years now and love it.

https://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/1/6/8/1/1/nj_winter_hang_2013_2_968983.jpg
https://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/1/6/8/1/1/img_5438.jpg

[skyjacker]

I don't use a poncho (they don't breathe), pack cover (eventually wets out and just weighs more), or umbrella (need two hands for my trekking poles). So if it's raining, my pack is usually soaked when I hit camp anyway. I just hang my shoes and the pack with my rain jacket over it on the suspension. Nothing wet is hanging above me or going in my hammock. I use a small polycro sheet under the hammock to prevent mud from splashing the UQ. Anything I don't want to get wet or dirty I keep on the inside of the trash compactor bag in the pack and that keeps it dry.

[cienfuegos]

I hang it from the hammock at one end, and close the tarp door. My pack is empty and doesn't take a lot of room

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[Bike-N-Hike]

I use a trash bag.

[Pvt.Donut]

I hang my pack off the head end of my hammock so it's mostly under my tarp (SuperFly). In hard rain when I need the Doors closed I'll wrap my rain jacket around my pack to keep it dry. Shoes can get tied together and tossed over my ridgeline or if I brought my chair I stick my chair under my hammock with shoes resting on the seat.

[jrmyh]

Definitely need a bigger tarp, then just hang your goods off the suspension below it.

[bobbycobbler]

I think one of the additional reasons for hanging my pack on the end of my hammock is rats/mice. Last trip my buddy left his pack under his hammock. When I woke up in the middle of the night to let him know it was raining and to tuck his stuff better under his tarp, his shoulder straps were chewed to bits. Been faithfully hanging the pack since then.