thru hiking with a hammock?

[SheltoweeTraceHomeless]

How would you siguest constructing a cover for a hammock?
I tend to sleep at a angle because i find it more comfortiable could this complicate things?
It would cut space and weight, but not having a tent during the kentucky fall could cause unessiary suffering.
Need to do this on the cheap b/c i done spent all my money.

[headchange4u]

Welcome SheltoweeTraceHomeless,

Another Kentucky hanger! Yay.

When you say cover to you mean like a tarp? You will certainly need some sort of "roof" over your head with a hammock. There are a lot of options out there in a variety of price ranges.

Sleeping diagonally in a hammock is the best way because it allows you to lay flat instead of a "U" shape. You are right on there.

[Just Jeff]

Maybe you meant to say, "sleeping in a tent can cause unnecessary suffering." It's not tough to be just as protected, warm, and comfier in a hammock than in a tent. No suffering involved, once you learn how to do it.

Covers can be tarps (http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockCampingDry.html), bivies (http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeGearTravelPod.html), top covers for a Hennessy (search this website), etc.

[Hooch]

Welcome aboard STH, nice to see another Kentucky hanger in our midst. Glad to have you with us. There are a few of us from KY here, myself and Headchange4U and others. There absolutely is a learning curve to hammocking, but it's a lot easier than you think, especially with good advice from the people here at HF. They all made my learning curve a LOT smoother. There is lots of good advice to get here and plenty of people to answer questions and offer opinions. Hope we can see you at a hangout some time. We're still trying to plan a group trip to RRG sometime if we can all get our schedules in sync. Anyway, we're happy to have you here.

[Cannibal]

That's a really long username, but welcome. As a recent convert, I can tell you that your days of "suffering" will be be history as soon as you make the decision to hang.

Cold can be dealt with as easily as it can with a tent. Cheap, well maybe. If you are good with a sewing machine I think you can do it without a lot of expense. It's only going to be cheap if your time is free. Still, the most expensive part is going to be your underquilt and they are still less expensive to purchase than some of the high end sleeping bags. If you really want to cut the costs, you can try going with the sleeping pad approach that many folks use. I personally don't find it comfortable, but I am a little off center.

You're going to love hangin! It just takes a little time for your body to adjust to not hurting in the morning!:)

[rigidpsycho]

welcome to the forum. I myself am pretty new to this, but like Hooch said there is alot of valuable info on this site. you can find so many different DIY projects as well as any questons you have there is always someone wiling to give advice.

[wilsonbmw]

Is that one of them 12 oz shelter mice you expect to see on your thru.

[Coffee]

Thru hiking with a hammock is great. Nothing better after a hard day. At least that is what the 1st 150 miles are telling me.

[SheltoweeTraceHomeless]

the hammock was the best for kicking back and i was glad i brought it but i need to install an under quilt. fall is but days away.

[tight-wad]

Done spent all your $? Underquilts are not cheap, even DIY. I created a double layer hammock with a (on sale) $10 Travelers hammock. Rip off all the heavy hanging apparatus, install shock cords, put the Traveler under your main hammock, stuff the gap with an old sleeping bag, multiple pads, leaves, garbage bags of air, whatever. When you grow up, and have $ to burn, splurge on an underquilt. http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Your original question was about tarps. For backpacking you need a 1.2 oz sylnylon rectangle of a size that you like. Some like 'em big, some like 'em small. I'm of the bigger is better camp. Some like diagonals, some like squares. I prefer the square, but I'm still experimenting (cat cut is a square variation in my book). Some like bright colors, some like stealth. DIY, you can make whatever YOU like! Ed Speer's book is a geat starting point, blackbishop has posted wonderful step-by-step directions, its up to you, but, YES, you do need something.

And, ANYTHING you do n a hammock is better than on the ground in a tent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SheltoweeTraceHomeless]

great idea.:D i even have one of those with the spreader bars. and i bought a down bag at goodwill with a broken zipper that i was going to sew onto my rig. but my skills with sewing are some what novice. This also addresses the problem of the pad slowly migrateing in my sleep. much thanks tight wad.