View Full Version : hammock camping - newbie needs help!
Hello all :)
Ive been looking into hammocks for my camping adventures and have been doing exuastive research on the subject trying to get the best product for me. Ive been doing a lot of reading online, and although ive never camped with a hammock, i have not read a single comment from anyone indicating that they would prefer ground dwelling after trying a hammock! Long story short, it sounds awesome and it also seems to me the Clark North American has what im looking for (versatility, relatively insulated from elements). but i have a few concerns and questions and i hope people here who have experience with this product and hammock camping in general could help me out :D
basically im looking for a light, compact shelter that can comfortably handle most conditions. i do most of my camping in central/west Texas, and in New Mexico, covering pretty much every climate and environment imaginable minus swampland/jungle. Desert, scrubland, forest, hill country, and alpine regions in night time temperature ranges from below freezing up into the 80s F. also, i am in the military and will be changing station soon and i could end up anywhere in the world, so hopefully i can take my next new shelter with me no matter where i end up. what im saying is versatility is key for me.
from what ive read, im not too worried about getting cold in the North American (which is a plus!) in the aforementioned temperature range with the equipment i already have, however i am worried about getting hot! especially in the more humid areas, where overnight temps can stay in the 80s in the springtime. and in the summertime forget it, ill stick with the mountains for camping! is getting hot or sweating a lot in the Clark NA an issue for anyone who has one? that can ruin a nights sleep for me almost as easily as the chills.
also, I very much enjoy desert hiking and often make the trip out to the Big Bend National Park area to get my fix, although up to now i have limited myself to car camping and day hiking. ive been wanting to branch out to primitive camping in the desert (which would give me access to areas of the park i havent been able to experience on day hikes), but if i were to spend $$$ hundreds of bucks on a hammock, i would want it to be my exclusive shelter. i wouldnt want to have to buy that, and then a costly backpacking tent in addition. this is a possible issue, as you all well know trees are very rare in the desert! ive seen pictures and read blurbs about people using sticks and/or treking poles to rig their hammock into a sort of bivy shelter. is this posible or even worthwhile with the NA, or should i not even consider bringing a hammock of any kind with me to the desert or in any other instance where 'going to ground' is likely?
i see the NX-200 version is a slightly bigger, slightly heavier, and more expensive version and i have read some criticism that the NA is a little narrow for many. i am about 6'1" with a slenderish 170 lbs frame, would i be comfortable on the standard NA or should i splurge for the extra head/shoulder room of the NX-200? i like to pack light, but im not an ultralighter and with something as important as a shelter i certainly dont mind packing a few extras ounces for a solid night of rest. at the same time id like to avoid uneccessarily spending more money than i have to.
also, the only knot i know how to tie is that little bunny ears one i use with my sneakers, which actually has a lot of other practical applications... is it difficult to learn how to suspend the hammock?
and along those lines, are the tree straps important or necessary? or is that an extra 6$ i can put towards gas money?
and is the standard rain fly sufficient? again i wouldnt mind springing for the XL if it provides significantly better protection from the elements. few things suck worse than a wet down sleeping bag!
and on that subject, do the drip rings work as advertised and keep water from running down the ropes into my shelter? ive also heard mixed messages on whether the drip rings come standard or not; ive heard you may have to request them upon ordering (which i guess would require purchasing over the phone?). which is the case?
alright. sorry for the ridiculously long post. i just want to be as informed as possible before taking the plunge and joining you tree swingers! :cool:
thanks in advance for any helpful info/tips!
MacEntyre
03-15-2009, 06:04
...i am worried about getting hot!
A hammock is better than being on the ground if it's hot. Can't say if the Clark is hotter than any other hammock.
...or should i not even consider bringing a hammock of any kind with me to the desert or in any other instance where 'going to ground' is likely?
You can figure out how to skin that cat! I'm working on a method using a travois, which can be converted to hammock support poles.
...the only knot i know how to tie is that little bunny ears one i use with my sneakers
Are you in the air force? :lol:
...is it difficult to learn how to suspend the hammock?
No.
and along those lines, are the tree straps important or necessary?
Yes! Don't put anything but straps on a tree, or you will damage the bark.
...do the drip rings work as advertised and keep water from running down the ropes into my shelter?
Yes.
You should attend one of the group hangs, so you can inspect and try different hammocks.
no matter what hammock you decide on your still going to need some type of insulation beneath you. Be it pads or an underquilt.
Being a newborn hammocker myself, I've made my first one and slept in the cellar with the temperature at about 60 degrees. My back was rediculously cold all night. I purchased a wally world blue pad and bang that helped at least at that temp.
I've purchased the blackbird hammock buy warbonnet guy, (his name is brandon), as did a lot of other members here did. Brandon installs extra material to the area of the feet and calls it the footbox. This feature is to allow you you lay flatter than most hammocks.
Depending on how you sleep he can install the footbox on either side of the hammock. if you were to purchase the blackbird and were not totally satisfied I can assure it would sell on this forum faster than it takes you to write the post it's for sale. anyway check it out.
Thanks for serving this country in the compacity of which you do. Never being in the military myself due to I don't take orders very well and would just end up in the brigg. But I'm in a big military family and they've all served in the marines. Have an uncle now who's 56 and volunteered to go to Iraq and train people to be cops. So he retired as a cop here and went there. From what I understand he spends most of his time with military though. We all know he's in his element, it's what he likes to do.. So with that said I'll just get off the soapbox and say Thank you.
TY
,The Clark NA will keep you warm, and if you're in hot weather you can turn yourself around and lay down so your legs are over the pockets thus helping you regulate your temperature.
I believe you can set up the Clark on the ground (atop a tarp) with a couple of supports for the fly to keep out the crawlys. If that's not a concern I may just use the tarp. I've also seen pics of any hammock hung between boulders.
The NA is sized for people up to 6'5" and 250lbs, I believe. I'm right at the line and I'm comfortable in the NA, I did however opt for the larger (xl) fly, however I haven't been out in the rain with mine yet.
Tree straps are earth friendly, if you can sew, you can grab tow webbing or even hit a junkyard and pirate some old seatbelt webbing and make them yourself. All The Clarks have instructions on tying the boline, and the square not is a mild variation on your 'tennis shoe knot.' Both of those are worth knowing for everyday use.
Lastly, the driprings were sent with my hammock.
Good luck.
Roadtorque
03-15-2009, 11:51
Keep your eye out and you can find quit a few places in the dessert to hang from. Just be creative. Fence post, large boulders, rock faces are a few examples. Even with a creative mind you will have to go to the ground at some point. Although I have not done this myself I think a little prior planning would make it no more inconvenient than setting up a tent. The part you need to think about is this. Tents come with poles to keep it up. You will need to create something to keep the hammock top from laying directly over you. Basically any number of things will do. Hiking poles at each end of your hammock to tying rope from the top of your hammock to nearby shrubs. Anyway it will work and be no less comfortable than a backpackers tent.
oh wow, thanks for all the rapid replys!
mac -
Are you in the air force?
LOL :lol: yeah... and they unfortunately dont teach us antiquated, yet useful skills like tying knots.
and solely because of your enthusiasm about straps, i will plan on getting some.
golfer -
i have read about the foam pads being huge as far as insulation. ive got one of those walley world mats and just planned on using that, its good to hear it does the trick, at least in your experience :)
and ive heard of the BB hammock, but im pretty sold on the NA due to the features it has.
and thank you for your support :) although i have not yet deployed, our boys and girls overseas certainly appreciate the affirmation of our countrymen (largely regardless of political views unlike in previous conflicts, which is awesome) to help them thru the tribulations they face.
gilla -
if your right on the line at 6'5", 250lbs, and have no problems with the NA then i certainly wont have problems with it haha
roadtorque -
i have seen pics of hammocks set up on the ground, so i know it can be done, i was just more curious about how difficult it would be especially for a newb like myself. but when i was a kid i built some pretty killer forts out of no more than a sheet, surrounding furniture, and some couch cushions, so im sure if push came to shove i could figure it out especially if i came prepared with some collapsible poles and stakes or something.
and if i reeeeeally had to, desert weather is usually quite dry (sorry for stating the obvious) and i could probably get away with just sleeping on a tarp or even the rain fly, under the stars. id have to be weary of the critters tho...
well im pretty much sold at this point unless anyone can give me a really good reason to get a backpacking tent intstead
cavediver2
03-15-2009, 15:53
Tarsier
Welcome to the forum all of your questions seemed well thought out and were very good questions. I think as far as the size and weight issue you should be fine with the NA.
As for Putting it on the ground yes you can and like you said there are picture's out there of this it is not recommended to do all the time but as long as you use some kind of footprint to lay it on It will do fine.
As others have said you can be real creative when it comes to finding places to hang a hammock from. Fence post work fine as long as you can find something that can be tied between two of them with enough space in between.
I have hung mine from rock faces with cam's that are used for rock climbing and they work wonderfully for that purpose.
As far as getting hot I am a very hot sleeper and my first night out was tough because of being so hot. I learned that there are way's to combat this. I live in a place where the humidity does not fall below 50% at any time. Most of the time it's around 70-100 % so I have to think of where I am going to hang early on in the hike. Things like just at the outer edge of tree line in the mountains outer edge of woods were you can get more are flow. On the edge or close to the edge of cliff's to capture more air when hanging on rock faces the rocks tend to hold the day sun temps on them almost all night so I have to pick my spot carefully. Often hanging around running water or streams can keep you cooler at night but then you have the bug issue to deal with which with the NA it's not hard to do. These are just some of the things you have to think about as you hike where could or can you find these places so you can stay cooler in the summer months or when temp and humidity get out of range.
most here will say pad suck but then again everyone has an opinion and they are good about giving them. Pad's do move around and do take some getting use to but I have found with my own experience's with the pad and the NA that they work pretty good my NX-200 is a different story it is so big and long that the pad has allot of places it can go while sleeping I move around allot and sleep on my side allot and find that the pad does sneak up behind me in the 200 but I manage. in the summer time I use a light fleece blanket to sleep with which most of the time i have kicked off of me at some point only to wake up chilled and have to pull it back on me.
Someone had mentioned that turning around work and that is so very true you see you find stuff out all the time trying this or that. I would test allot of stuff in back yard first or you local park so that if something didn't work you could jump in vehicle and go home and study it again.
As for rain fly's or tarps everyone has there favorite I have both the XL and the none XL and they both work fine there again you just have to think of how your going to pitch it for the night. But on windy nights I pitch mine so that it captures all the air it can or sometimes set up the hammock so that the air funnels down the hammock so that you get more convection which in turn will keep you cooler on those nights that it's oh my god hot out.
But unless you get one of these super tarps that are sold here you will not find a better tarp to give you and the hammock the coverage you need in blowing snow or driving rains.
Again those where great question and I hope that I have answered some of those for you.
Remember I said everyone had opinions well I just gave you mine
but do you homework and test test test before you go out and expect this or that to work because as my signature say it always happens just after you needed them.
good luck and you cant go wrong with what you looking at you will be happy with and if not return it before 30 day's are up. and Spencer is real easy to work with.
OH darnit I forgot straps as some have mentioned yes by all means get straps or take it a couple step further and look into a ring/and buckle some thing like that there are ton's of stuff on that subject alone and I sure am happy i converted every hammock I own to it and did away with the rope and knot thing makes setting up hammock a breeze and can be done with one hand don't ask how I know but it can be done easily.
again welcome to the Forum and enjoy
enough said
cavediver2
03-15-2009, 15:54
backpacking tent intstead
TENT WHAT IS THAT:scared:
You will hear no good reasons to purchase a *shudder* tent from us. *Goes off to the shower.*
Thanks for the welcome all the great info cavediver, ill keep those tips in mind when i most certainly end up in a warm humid environment.
hah, hopefully soon ill never have to look back on.... tents... again. i went ahead and dropped the bomb on the NA with an XL rain fly. ill be super busy for the forseeable future, but hopefully itll come in the mail soon and ill be able to take it to some nearby shade trees one of these weekends and just try it out. im sure ill have tons of questions in the near future, so i know where to come for friendly advice :)
thanks again to everyone :)
Peter_pan
03-16-2009, 19:07
Tarsier,
Welcome to the hanging gang.
FWIW, JRB is now shipping many of its under quilts and top quilts in olive drab.
Thanks for serving...HOOHAH.
Pan
US Army (Ret)
Rushthezeppelin
03-18-2009, 13:47
On the subject of deserts alot aren't as barren of trees as you would think. In the mountainous parts of the sonaroan there are always springs and creeks and where there is a semi-annual source of water there is always trees. As road torque said it's just a matter of planning it out. You usually want to camp near water anyway in the desert so you have an easy to get to source for purifying after you've set up camp. Also I love the white noise of a creek anywho : )
hello again :)
just a brief update. i havent had time to go camping since getting my NA (and probably wont until may :( ), but i have played around with it a little bit. i have yet to spend the night in it, but just laying in it i must say it definately kicks the arse out of sleeping on the ground! and it wasnt too tough to learn the knot tying at all, even for a knuckle dragger like me.
the first time i tried to set it up, it was a rather windy day (20 knot winds gusting 25 or so) and it was almost impossible! maybe if i had more experience i could have had an easier time, but it took me forever! on a later day the winds were much more calm, and i found the setup much easier (thank god). i also found with some creative use of a couple carabiners, the tree straps, and trees located at a convenient distance, it took me maybe 2 minutes to set it up rain fly and all. i did initially find laying inside almost uncomfortably warm at the about 80 deg temp i set it up at, but raising the rain fly to let more of the light breeze through to the mosquito netting helped and i was quite comfortable. the sidewalls of the hammock actually blocked most of the breeze but the moving air passing over me through the netting was sufficient. im thinking 85 degrees would be the uppermost limit, but thats about what it would be if i was sleeping on the ground under the stars so thats definately not a drawback. and with how the hammock sides, rain fly, and zip-up weather shield all block the wind, i can imagine with some insulation in the pockets and good insulating pad and sleeping bag would be able to keep me warm down to some pretty low temps.
im also very happy about the relatively low weight and compact size the whole thing can be crammed down to. i was skeptical of the dual use pocket/internal stuff sack thingy, but it really is quite useful/effective, and it allowed me to take the hammock down from the trees and stuff it away without ever letting it touch the ground.
anyway, my initial impressions are very favorable. im confident the hammock can fill the roll of the versatile, 4 season, all weather shelter i was looking for (assuming the proper gear is present). thanks again for the help and advice, and ill try to report back up again sometime if i ever get out anytime soon for an outdoors trip
take it easy
Good to hear that you like your Clark. I just got one recently and have probably used it about as much as you have. I too had trouble the first time I set mine up in the wind. Guess you just have to be a little rough with the ropes when setting up in the wind.
Happy Hanging.
ms
TinaLouise
04-19-2009, 20:04
so far I haven't had to set up in bad winds while actually camping. But I have tried it several times in the back yard when the winds were kicking up. The first time, I gave up before getting the hammock completely up. Then there was the time I got the hammock and the tarp tied up to the trees and the tarp staked out. Next I saw was a stake to go flying and the tarp started flapping like mad. I got it back down real quick. Question: when the winds are that bad, is there a special way your supposed to hang/stake out the tarp??? Special stakes or something???
What kind of stakes are you using and what kind of soil are you using them in? Do you have tarp tensioners?
With my winter tarp I close down the end pointing it into the wind. I had MSR groundhogs and needed to really pound them into the ground to keep the corners nailed down. That created a windless zone under the tarp for me to cook and though the sides of the tarp made a little noise it wasn't nearly what my hiking buddy with her REI dome tent went through.
TinaLouise
04-20-2009, 08:30
I'm in the process of getting shockcord to make the tensioners. Gonna teach a class to my scouts so they too can make them.
My stakes are tenny tiny looks like clotheshanger wire w/hook at top that I used with my tarp tent (very very light weight) plus a couple of y light weight stakes and some MSR ones. None of these can hold very well in the soil that's at my house (basicly beach sand with some grass trying to grow on it) Took me forever to find my stake after it went flying. I ended up having to do what I call a "sweep", walking in a criss cross pattern until I found it. So basicly point / hang tarp with hammock end into the wind. I can do that as long as the trees cooperate and grow in the spots I need them to!!! I'll try some of my larger heavy duty stakes at home too.
i finally went camping last weekend and got to try my hammock out in the field! i was in the central texas hill country area for a night, and i must say it was one of the more comfortable nights ive ever spent outdoors, even in the less than perfect conditions i was in :)
first, i arrived late and so had to set up in the dark, which is never cool. but other than just taking a little longer, it really wasnt anymore difficult setting up by flashlight. the over night temps were in the 60-70F range and there was light drizzle off and on during the night with a brief downpour sometime in the early morning. i only know about it because the sound of the rain hitting the rain fly was rather loud and woke me up, as it did my companions' in their tents, so its not anything i can mark down the hammock for.
winds were light early on but became moderate, probably around 10 knots, with occasional gusts averaging around 15. unfortunately, properly spaced trees by our campsite were not conveniently aligned in the wind, so i had the broad side of the tarp flapping in the wind all night which also caused me to wake up a few times, but again, this was the case with my tentborne friends and would have been the case for them no matter what. as my frist hammock camping experience, i definately see now the importance of aligning the hammock with the wind whenever possible, and it would be an added benefit over tents if it indeed quieted the night down a bit. my stakes did hold firm, but my little slippy knots they show you how to tie in the instruction manual kept sliding and the once taught rain fly would sag down as it caught the full force of the wind blowing into it. it wasnt that big of a deal, as i stayed dry, but kind of annoying. when i rose from bed that morning, i was completely dry, as was everything else under the tarp (backpack, shoes, etc) and my back wasnt achey at all from laying on rocks all night, which was awesome.
i let my friends try laying in my hammock and i definately felt like the coolest kid in school. like me, they all thought it was cool how it was a self contained shelter that all hangs from the trees. they were kind of amazed at how much i shelled out to buy it tho. but so far i must say i am satisfied, and hope to to become even more so as i become more experienced with my hammock. i hope to have my next outing over labor day weekend, maybe even a light backpacking adventure. lets hope!
thanks again to everyone here for their guidance on camping with hammocks. :)
until next time
east_stingray
05-02-2009, 12:39
I'm not sure what the instructions told you to tie, but you should be using a taut-line hitch or something like it for a sliding knot. If you air force guys can't figure it out, go find a 12 year old boy scout to show you :D
Glad you had a good first hang.
Ramblinrev
05-02-2009, 12:44
they were kind of amazed at how much i shelled out to buy it tho.
Am I to assume they bought their tents at Wal Mart? Or do they find $200 - 300 for a good tent to be acceptable? But the same amount for a top of the line hammock is appalling. Not being critical... just curious... hehehe