Weight Comparison

[Z-Man]

I converted to hanging a short time ago. Not much experience yet, but.... I just had a chance to add up the weight of the hammock gear and compare it to the tent gear I was carrying. I thought you all might be interested in some concrete data. Here's how it came out:

Tent (MSR Hubba-Hubba) 68.8 oz (at 6'6" I needed a 2-man tent)
Bag (MH Switch Tall) 56.0 oz
Pad (Thermarest) 15.0 oz
Total: 139.8 oz or 8.73 pounds

Hammock (WB BB Double 1.7) - 40 oz
Tarp (Mamajamba Silnylon) - 15.25 oz
Under Quilt (Hammock Gear 3/4) - 15.7
Quilt (Tech Blanket) - 19.02
Total: 89.97 oz - 5.62 lbs

Difference: 3.11 lbs

When it's cold enough to take the bag instead of the tech blanket, the gap narrows - adding back the difference of 36.08 oz or 2.25 lbs to make 7.87 lbs.

[desmobob]

I converted to hanging a short time ago. Not much experience yet, but.... I just had a chance to add up the weight of the hammock gear and compare it to the tent gear I was carrying. I thought you all might be interested in some concrete data. Here's how it came out:

Tent (MSR Hubba-Hubba) 68.8 oz (at 6'6" I needed a 2-man tent)
Bag (MH Switch Tall) 56.0 oz
Pad (Thermarest) 15.0 oz
Total: 139.8 oz or 8.73 pounds

Hammock (WB BB Double 1.7) - 40 oz
Tarp (Mamajamba Silnylon) - 15.25 oz
Under Quilt (Hammock Gear 3/4) - 15.7
Quilt (Tech Blanket) - 19.02
Total: 89.97 oz - 5.62 lbs

Difference: 3.11 lbs

When it's cold enough to take the bag instead of the tech blanket, the gap narrows - adding back the difference of 36.08 oz or 2.25 lbs to make 7.87 lbs.

Cool! It's interesting so see a direct comparison of someone's gear weights, tenting vs. hammocking. When I get a chance, I'm going to do the same thing.


Happy napping,
desmobob

[tjm]

I had a similar weight reduction.

But my list is apples to oranges because the the BA bag only worked to ~ 30*F for me & I expect the TQ/UQ combo to go much, much lower.

MH Lightwedge-2 w/ footprint
BA, Encampment model
BA insulated air core pad
~12. lbs

Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock
8 Ti Stakes
JRB 11' x 10' Cat Tarp
Tarp Line & STL Set
JRB Suspension System
Hudson River TQ & Old Rag Mt.UQ
BA insulated air core pad
~7.5 lbs

I don't consider the weight reduction to be the primary advantage of hammock.

I do most of my hiking in the White Mountain National Forest and the ability to camp in dense forest is the primary advantage followed closely by the comfort.

[koaloha05]

....When it's cold enough to take the bag instead of the tech blanket, the gap narrows - adding back the difference of 36.08 oz or 2.25 lbs to make 7.87 lbs.

If you are willing to spend some more $$s add a down tq and you will be close to maintaining your weight differential. Plus less pack volume. More food space!

Approximate weights for my bug free cooler weather kit:
OES SpinnDeLux Tarp, WB Traveler with Dynaglide WS, WB 3S Yeti, HG Summer Burrow ~50oz in stuff sacks. Warm, comfortable sleeping down to upper 30's, lower 40's in base layer & hat for this cold sleeper. Add the MB Thermawrap parka adds at least 10*F of more warmth. Cool days, cool nights I need an insulating layer for non-sleep time so I don't consider the MB as "additional" weight.

My old ground dwelling nights tent alone added up to almost the same mass. Even when going "light" with my ancient gear the bivy sack, pad, bag & tarp I was a heavier load.

[TinaLouise]

Tent (MSR Hubba-Hubba) 68.8 oz (at 6'6" I needed a 2-man tent)
Bag (MH Switch Tall) 56.0 oz
Pad (Thermarest) 15.0 oz
Total: 139.8 oz or 8.73 pounds

Hammock (WB BB Double 1.7) - 40 oz
Tarp (Mamajamba Silnylon) - 15.25 oz
Under Quilt (Hammock Gear 3/4) - 15.7
Quilt (Tech Blanket) - 19.02
Total: 89.97 oz - 5.62 lbs

Difference: 3.11 lbs

When it's cold enough to take the bag instead of the tech blanket, the gap narrows - adding back the difference of 36.08 oz or 2.25 lbs to make 7.87 lbs.

I"ve found that my winter quilts keep me way warmer than my coldest rated sleeping bag ever did. I had to carry a lot more thermal clothes to just stay alive (I was not by any streatch of the imagination, warm!!)
On your "tent" weights, do you use a ground cover under your tent?? If so, then you'll need to add that. Also, for me, I found that I carried more tent stakes for my tent than what I carry for my tarp. (sort of depends on which tent and which tarp).

My weights are about the same when I compair my "tarp-tent" to my hammock. Weights are way more when I compair to my "reg" type tent. My hammock setup then is lighter.

It's nice to put the weights down on paper and say, hey I've just dropped 2 pounds by moving into a hammock. But in reality (this would me my reality ) ... after I found that my back didn't hurt in the morning, and I didn't have to crawl around on my knees or try to get myself up off the ground (at 3am to pee)... after I found hammocks, well I just didn't care what the weight differences are. Some may and it's nice to see that others have found hammocks to be lighter than their current tent set-up.

TinaLouise

[Z-Man]

Weight wasn't a consideration when deciding to switch from tent to hammock. I did it for the sleep comfort. But, I am section hiking the AT and planning a thru in a couple, so weight does play a role. I just thought it would be neat to see what the differences were, and when I figured it out I thought I would share the information here.

The ground cloth came with the tent - I made an assumption the tent specs included everything that came with it - bag, ground cloth, stakes. Maybe I should recalculate. But, nah - I am not that hung up on weight. I have my comparison and it was interesting. Done. Next?

Taking a week's vaction end of Oct. I am taking my Blackbird fishing with me. I wonder if the warden would let me hang over the Wilson and keep fishing>????

[MAD777]

I made the same comparison when I switched to hammocks and found that both my tent setup and hammock setup were about the same weight although the hammock did create a little more bulk.

My tent was a lightweight tarptent but through the years I had added an insulated, inflatable sleeping mattress for my aching back. I wish that I have simply moved to a hammock to cure that problem. Of course there are differences in hammocks, too. I have a Blackbird but I tried to offset some weight by using a Spinn tarp.

All in all, my experience has been pretty much a break even on weight but a tremendous gain in comfort and (important here in the east) the ability to camp anywhere. There are many places in the Appalachians were there isn't room for a tent between the trees.

[Raul Perez]

comming from a REI T2 Quarterdome tent my current hammock set up beats it hands down in all categories - weight, packability, and comfort.

[dbriggs9]

I haven't yet bought my hammock setup, but I've been dreaming about it for months while hangin' out on this site.

Current setup:
Tarptent Contrail- 25oz
Thermarest 3/4 pad- 16oz
Pillow- 3oz
Total- 44oz


Future Setup
Warbonnet Blackbird 1.0 double- 29oz
Te-Wa underquilt- 13oz
Warbonnet Edge tarp- 12 oz
Total- 54oz



...a little over half a pound, for a world of comfort.
only thing that sucks is that I still have to sleep on the ground when I go out west to do the PCT and/or JMT. Hate being a side sleeper.