Is a hammock less gear?

[TheHangingTechy]

Unlike my northern brothers I'm usually fighting the heat rather than the cold. I would be miserable stuffed inside my tent in the stagnant heat of FL. In the hammock it's much more bearable.

My rough calculations show I saved about a pound from the tent to hammock setups. The bulk went up a bit though so I had to go with a slightly bigger pack. As it turned out though the bigger pack was also lighter (Osprey Exos vs Atmos).

I had a couple of near converts the last trip. They were quite envious watching me sit comfortably and cook under my tarp in the middle of a downpour.

I also roll out of the hammock in the morning with few or none of the aches/pains I suffer crawling out of the tent. I've got about the most cushy pad I can fine (BA IAC) and I still get sore hips/back on the ground.

True that Florida heat...another rockledge here. It is miserable up till January. Florida in and of it self made me a convert. The weight savings in the south is immense with the lack UQs and thin TQ's if needed in summer. Permethrin...a must.

[mikeyboy]

I think it really depends. In the summer I would lean more towards a hammock setup. Your average tent is going to weigh more and take up more space. Granted you can get something like a Big Agnes seedhouse which is an expensive, lightweight, compact tent that will match the size and weight of a Hammock setup, but in the end your average backpacking tent will weigh 4lb or more and be such a size that it will need to be strapped (at least the poles) outside your backpack if your going on a multiday hiking trip.

My hammock system is smaller than my 30 degree compressed sleeping bag, and, I have the larger ENO stuff and I'm a noob to hammock camping. I seen some summer hammock setup by experts here that are under 1lb and can fit in a shoebox.

Winter Hammock camping becomes more bulky, but figure you really are pushing it with a lightweight 3 season tent. Most 4 season tents that can handle snow and winter winds are pushing 6lb or more and are at least 24" long when packed.

[SunshineHiker]

For me, a hammock adds about .5lb to my setup, but that only brings me up to a 1.5lb setup with the hammock which is still well under the 2lb guideline used by most UL'ers like myself. I have a bit of a cheat in my height but I had that with tarps and bivi setups too. At 63 inches tall I can get by with a much smaller UQ and TQ as well as a foot or two off the hammock body and tarp.

11-12oz for a 3/4 UQ, 14-15 for a TQ which is what I'm guesstimating for the setup I'm working towards, is actually less weight than the TQ with a Neo Air 3/4 length and a whole lot more comfy. Where I add in the extra weight is I do need a bigger tarp over a hammock than I did for tarp camping and the suspension is added extra where as before I did double duty with my trekking poles.

But other than the weight, the bonuses you get really outweigh a ground setup. To get anywhere near the same comfort level on the ground that I get in a hammock, I'd have to add several pounds. I know for me adding an extra few ounces and a piece of gear or two is well worth it.