Where to Keep Pack/Gear, Keep Dry?

I'm just curious as to what everyone does for keeping their pack and gear dry when hanging in the rain. Do you use a pack cover and load everything in there? Have you had any trouble with water pooling on the bottom of the cover (open on the back side)? Do you lay your pack against a tree? Lay it back-side to the ground? Hang it all under your hammock? Hang the pack with the gear from a tree?

I've left my pack out in the rain before and had water pooled on the bottom of my cover, thats why I ask. I leaned it up against a tree with the pack cover on but that didn't keep all the water out. I've thought about the hanging method but I would have to have some other kind of cover that would enclose the back panel/straps/suspension to keep all the water out.

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Originally Posted by KC8QVO

Do you use a pack cover and load everything in there?

Hang it all under your hammock?

Hang the pack with the gear from a tree?

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Some or all of the above.

There have been times I've used the pack cover and hung it on the hammock suspension line or on the tree. If using a trash bag for a cover, I completely close the bag. If using my gear hammock/pack cover, I cinch the cover down in such a way that it completely enclosed the pack with the strap side of the pack facing in to the hammock and the covered side out towards the open but still just under the tarp.

More often than not, my pack is empty when it's time for bed, (kitchen and food hung, clothing bag for a pillow, other spare parts clipped to my ridge line), and I put it in the hammock under my feet.

Sometimes I leave it out on the ground under my hammock on a piece of Tyvek I use as a "door mat".

Stuff on the ground underneath the hammock stays pretty dry - remember there's going to be a tarp over it extending a number of feet in any direction.

Pack cover and hanging from the foot end of the hammock has also worked for me. The tarp should be keeping the end of the hammock dry, so the top of the pack should be dry too. I've put stuff like water filter and cookware in the pack, but clothes go in the shelf (Blackbird!) or on me.

In areas with pack-snatching bears, the pack goes under my feet inside the hammock.

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Originally Posted by lori

In areas with pack-snatching bears, the pack goes under my feet inside the hammock.

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:confused:
Do you want the bear INSIDE the hammock. :eek::scared:

Wouldn't it be better to bear bag your pack, rather than possibly having food smells from your pack inviting Yogi in? :confused:

I'm waiting on my Dutch bridgeskin..then my pack is my hammock.:lol:;)

Just be sure that if you are putting your stuff on the ground that when it rains that area doesn't turn into a lake or river. Happened to me once, & it wasn't a lake as much as a really deep swampy area. Answering the call I stepped into about 8" of very very cold water, :scared: (The Army Core of Engineers lake I was camped near had ice on it) Thankfully, everything (even my boots) was hanging from the ridgeline of my hammock, so everything except my feet & lower legs stayed dry.
As an afterthought, IF I had been tenting, I would have thought this site the perfect place to go to ground. That seriously would not have been good I'm thinking. :D As it was, I took care of business, wiped off my wet feet & went back to bed. The rain stopped by the time I got up next morning & about 2 hrs later I was hanging over "dry" ground.

My gear hangs from my ridgeline every time now. AND, I'm a bit better at site selection now.

Whoa gargoyle, what's a brigfe skin??

I just do one of all of those. Usually throw it under the hammock or hang it from the hammock suspension. If not to heavy and raining I think the tarp ridge line would be good too if under the tarp line is your thing. If its dry out I set it by a tree or somewhere and wrap it in a trash bag in case of sprinkles.

I'm weird about organization at camp. I don't like things to be in the pack so I plan on making some storages shelf that can be hung at the end of my suspension. Pretty much like the 2qzq organizer but I'd prefer to have one hanging from a single point vertically so if it rains I don't have a big thing hanging from my ridge line. I actually get a certain level of anxiety and have a hard time relaxing at camp if my stuff isn't organized,haha. I may be the first. Bringing less stuff helps though.

If I have food in mine, I zip tie a big black trash bag over it and hang it high. No chance of rain/ no food, under the tarp with me. Rain/ no food, in the black bag, under the tarp. It's a large ALICE pack. No way that's going in the hammock with me. LOL

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Originally Posted by gargoyle

:confused:
Do you want the bear INSIDE the hammock. :eek::scared:

Wouldn't it be better to bear bag your pack, rather than possibly having food smells from your pack inviting Yogi in? :confused:

I'm waiting on my Dutch bridgeskin..then my pack is my hammock.:lol:;)

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Nope. It's not about the food smell. All my food is in the bear canister, where it stays for the duration of the trip.

Bears in Yosemite know what a pack looks like. Also what an ice chest looks like. If you leave an empty, clean pack somewhere, they will grab it - if you leave an empty clean ice chest in the back of the car, they'll break into the car.

Bears in Yosemite figured out how to defeat even properly hung bear bags, so that just does not work. They do not bother people's shelters, however, unless you have actual food inside with you.

I'm experimenting with a separate gear hammock that I also use as a camp seat. My thread on it is http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=30132

SN

under hammock in a trash compactor bag... simple, easy

I put my pack cover on the pack and lay it pack cover side down under my hammock. That way any water running under the hammock hits the pack cover and not my pack. Seems to work well for me.

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Originally Posted by packeagle

I put my pack cover on the pack and lay it pack cover side down under my hammock. That way any water running under the hammock hits the pack cover and not my pack. Seems to work well for me.

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When I start doing overnights while backpacking, I plan on doing that with the addition of a piece of Tyvek under the pack.

My ULA pack has a centered top lash strap. This goes over the head end hammock rope. Food is hung PCT style nearby. My cook kit is stored in a roll top drybag, also hung from the hammock line. My boots hang from a line dangled through the Hennessy slit. All is dry, nothing blows away.

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Originally Posted by lori

Nope. It's not about the food smell. All my food is in the bear canister, where it stays for the duration of the trip.

Bears in Yosemite know what a pack looks like. Also what an ice chest looks like. If you leave an empty, clean pack somewhere, they will grab it - if you leave an empty clean ice chest in the back of the car, they'll break into the car.

Bears in Yosemite figured out how to defeat even properly hung bear bags, so that just does not work. They do not bother people's shelters, however, unless you have actual food inside with you.

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Three summers ago camping in the Yosemite backcountry my buddy and I were harrassed by a big tagged male all night long. Our food was in a canister jammed in some rocks over 100yrds away and we left our packs open and exposed (as was recommended by a park ranger) another 75 yards away from our camp. Neither was ever disturbed, but that bugger circled our camp all nght long and woke us up several times sniffing our tents. Thrown rocks were hardly a deterrent. We were incredibly careful about food and any kind of smells in our tents, to no avail. Worst night of sleep of my life, and it had nothing to do with being on the ground!

He was obviously a problem bear, well conditioned to being around bear-friendly tourists and their yummy, smelly handouts and trash (he played soccer with another group's canister earlier that day and paid no mind to their shouts), and I hate to say that I hope he has been removed.

I'll be sure not to hang or store my pack or anything that might even have a hint of a scent anywhere near me next time I'm around those conditioned Yosemite bears. I'll have no fears doing so back here in the East.

And now back on topic with a noob question....does hanging anything of significant weight from your suspension or, say, your ridgeline, have any ill effects on your hang? Or is it all good? I just put stuff on the ground under the tarp to give my dog something to snuggle.

I use this, in gear hammock mode, slung underneath my hammock with dynaglide.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...er+jerry+chair

In regards to this general thread, what is the "allowable" weight you can hang from the support lines?

My pack minus my hammock (HH Ex Deluxe) food and cloths (in dry sack=pillow/behind knee rest) weighs about 10 pounds, now before anyone freaks out that includes a usually full 100oz camelback.

Would that be too much to hang from the foot end of a HH? I was thinking you could d-ring the pack to the support line or ridgeline and hang it just outside the entrance. With a silnylon pack cover and the over hang from the tarp I figured it would stay pretty dry.

I started off hanging my pack off the head end of my hammock. Not much weight - definately under 10 lbs - but definately changed the feel of my hammock. That's why I've decided to go with the gear hammock. Haven't been out with it yet, though.

SN