Originally Posted by fullcount
Your welcome, it looks interesting but i just pray for trees, never want to sleep on the ground again if i can help it.
Went and got myself a Tato gear hammock stand and if i know there will be a shortage of trees i will just use it.
Good luck and let us know how that Mark2 works out for you.
1. Check out Lawson hammocks- they have a bridge hammock that doubles as somewhat of a bivy bag. I have not personally checked out the quality of it, but from the price and reviews is seems to be solid.
2. Make your own hybrid. When we were camping we met a guy who had built his own "hanging tent". He made it from some waterproof material that I can't recall the name of. It was a bridge hammock when hung up and a normal tent on the ground. Sorry I cant add much more info to this description, it was a few years back. But if you try out a few different things I'm sure you could come up with a cool design.
I have a Clark mark 2 for my go to hammock. It's a great hammock for being on the move, but it's not ultra light and its not fun if your hanging around camp and it rains (although a separate tarp and line can fix that.) I haven't rode out a heavy rain in it yet, but I like knowing I have a near rain proof shelter that I can set up almost anywhere. Just don't expect a lot of bells and whistles. It's also almost 4 pounds with the storm shield (extra rain fly for the rain fly).
Nomad,
Have you weighed just the storm fly? I have watched YouTube videos on both the Clark and the Lawson and I am not convinced the weather covers are going to keep a driving rain out. If I go with one of these options, I will probably stay with my tarp and eliminate the storm fly. I do not think I will save a whole lot of weight, but may end up with better rain protection with my Equinox Fly (11 x 12). The storm fly may come in handy on cold camping nights as it might help hold in some heat. From a weight standpoint, it looks like the Clark is better than the Lawson.
Speaking of cold weather camping, in my BMBH, I leave my Neoair Thermarest permanently packed in the bottom sleeve. When I set up, I just blow up the neo while it is still in the sleeve and I get an almost perfect roadbed flat lay (I have the 25" wide mattress version). I do not use an under quilt, but the Neo keeps the heat from escaping my body. And because of the rigid way the Neo blows up with horizontal baffles, when I sleep, it is completely flat. When I watch some videos of others getting into the Clark or the Lawson, I see some banana shape developing. I wonder if the Neo laying inside the Clark or the Lawson might help it with rigidity and improve the flatness of the lay?
Look at the hammocktent. http://www.hammocktent.com/en
Specially for going ground if needed, with a perfect tent cover. I use it myself for exact these type of conditions. And super lightweight.
I have my hammock in front of me, but no scale to weight it. All I know it's that it's probably lighter than most tarps (feels feather light to me), and it cost me an extra $40. If you already have tarps, I'd say skip the storm shield. However, the storm shield is designed to be used in bivy mode, so there's that. I don't have any tarps anyway, so it was a purchase for me. If I had a nice tarp already and knew I could effectively use it when the mark 2 is riding out a storm on the ground, I would have skipped the storm shield. Having these storm shield and say a super fly tarp would make you pretty darn weatherproof even in a crazy storm.
If you're flush with money, get it as it's small and light and can be left behind easy enough. If you want to save $40, then use what you already have.
Oh yeah forgot to add: the pad. I am in the process of purchasing a big Agnes sleep system so I can attach a nice insulated air mattress to my sleeping bag, otherwise it will slide all over the place. The flatness of the lay will depend highly on the pad used. A regular foam pad doesn't begin to cut it for me, but I think this BA inflatable pad with the baffles will do the trick.
I just noticed your post. That thing looks pretty sweet! I bet it's more comfortable than the Mark 2, though I'm not sure about the ground part. Looks like you still need to use hiking poles or something like that.
I have a BA insulated core pad. The pad baffles run long way. This lends itself for the pad to roll up when inside the hammock. When I first bought my BMBH and had this BA pad, I experienced so much shoulder squeeze, i almost returned the hammock. But after some research, I found the Thermarest NeoAir. The baffles run across the pad and provide some additional rigid support that holds the hammock open. Kind of like have some horizontal slats running across you box spring under your in home set up.
Check to see if the NeoAir will fit inside you BA bag. The Neo is also lighter than the BA pad with a non slip coating to help with slippage. The Neo comes in two different sizes, so pay attention which one you might need.
Did you order a mark 2? That pad should do pretty well for it. I don't know if your keeping a blog or something for your trip, but I'd be curious to know how the mark 2 (or any hammock really) treats you on this trip, especially when you go to ground with it.
I bought a BA bag and pad just today from someone on this forum. Looking forward to trying it out in my Clark in a couple of months when I return home.
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