Is a small hammock undersling worth it?
Curious if folks have experience and opinions (OK, its a softball on folks having opinions I'm guessing) on under hammock storage? It would be nice to keep gear and shoes off the ground away from mice and slugs. I'm not sure if folks have found you need to hang too high, or if you'd crowd/compress your underquilt insulation, or other such things that I could imagine?
Sure. Folks do it all the time. I've got this video with other storage options as well.
See the gear hammock at 11:18 into the video.
Shug
Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven
Great info! Appreciate that, Shug!
Not quite the same but similar to your question, I favor a small gear hammock attached to the hammock ridgeline. It's off the ground and under the tarp when it rains, and it doesn't interfere with my feet when I'm lying in the hammock. Nor does it compress any quilts. I'll put in a link to a photo or two below:Originally Posted by BoundaryBound
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYwYyNul3OL/
"...the height of hammock snobbery!"
I've got one of the ENO gear slings, I've used it once or twice but anymore I just set my gear on my camp chair under my tarp when I pack up for the night. I don't usually have my hammock set real high, so it would tend to drag on the ground.
@BoundaryBound,
Morning,
For those items you mentioned, I just use the sacks/bags, that my quilts, tarp or hammock come in. Hang it off your ridgeline(s) or hammock suspension. Dual purpose works for me.
Have fun.
Bob
I hang "need it now" gear, like rain gear, in a dry bag under the tarp, carabinered to the end of the hammock. Depending upon conditions and length of stay, I'll either hang the pack under the tarp on the hammock suspension, or I'll put it in a separate gear hammock (separate from my hammock/tarp) like the one Molly Mac sells - it has a waterproof cover.
If necessary shoes can be hung or put in any kind of water/critter proof bag - small trash bag, etc.
I usually have to get up at night to check the tree hydration so I'll have flipflops to slip on or camp shoes designed with a heel that can be optionally flipped down making the shoes "slip-ons".
I might have a gear bag attached to a ridgeline I put on the RidgeRunner - external to the bug net - for usual clothing changes.
The main idea is, if I have to take something out of a dry bag or pack, I'll probably need it more than once. So until it goes back in the pack (return voyage) I like to keep it where I can reach it standing up.
Last edited by cougarmeat; 04-23-2023 at 20:38.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
Good to get all the experience!
I've used mesh pockets in my hammock, and have used a small 2’ x 1.5’ square hanging from its corners under by UQ cover for shoes before, but I'm going without UQ cover and don't care to stitch into the UQ itself, hence the question of the undersling.
I use a ground cloth, but in the rain that gets wrapped around my two packs (one for gear, the other full of camera and lenses). Perhaps a better option is to stick with that for the packs and do a small silnylon shoe hammock inside my bug screen on my ridgeline (shoes/boots may be wet and smelly)?
The issue I have with the gear hammock slung under the sleeping hammock is sometimes the ground clearance, where you have to camp, is less than ideal. So maybe the gear hammock is better above? Choices kinda depend on how much weight will go into it. For example, if the line will hold, you could run your tarp ridgeline under the tarp and suspend your gear hammock from that.
The reason most people don't run that line under is 1) concern about abrasion on the tarp's ridgeline seam and 2) creating a freeway for water to run down under the tarp. If you hang something like a gear hammock on the tarp ridgeline (under the tarp), it will pull the ridgeline down so there will be minimal tarp contact (and the setup isn't forever). If you have bulletproof water breaks on that line (the old shoestring routine, etc.), that eliminates the water hazard. And you get to reach for your gear standing up instead of getting down on your hands and knees like a, .. a, .. ground dweller.
Note: Boots/socks smelly; maybe. But only if you're not tired enough. And you can always put them at the FOOT end of the hammock. If you can smell them from 8 feet away, that might be another issue.
The shoe thing is tricky. You may want them where you can slip into them quickly as you get out of the hammock. That won't be the case if they are in a bag at the end of your hammock.
But this is all the fun of it, figuring out what works for you. Every time I go out I make mistakes. Just one learning experience after the next.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
For gear storage I use the pack and attach it to the the head end hammock CL.
For shoes, what I have used for a long time is a simple plastic grocery bag, placed right on the ground where I swing my feet out when I get out of the hammock. Keeps out rain and slugs — I once put on a shoe that had a slug in it... yukky experience — but the grocery bag is tied loosely for easy access during the night. If rain is likely, I'll cover the pack with my poncho.
hanging_pack_from_hammock.jpg
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