goin back to ground, help

[ankh]

Well I have some concerns, due to inexperience probably, planning my hike and I have some concerns with a few hammock things.
1. Setting up in weather
2. Staying out in weather, bad weather would be easier to put up with in a tent
3. Securing gear in weather
4. Warmth, planning on the nest and sniveler

weather=bad in this instance

I have a HH and have had good results in summer weather, slept in rain with no problems, use a ccf pad with good results, its just the whole AT thing and the possibility/likelihood of weather. Plan B is to tent until the weather breaks then hammock. I know, I know, its me.

How bout some advice, I love my HH, but I got issues. ankh

[headchange4u]

Practice, practice, practice.....

[BillyBob58]

If you know your hammock keeps you dry, and you use a CCF pad which is impervious to water any way, then isn't it just a matter of having a ccf pad that is plenty thick enough for the expected temps?

A Super Shelter ( or a JRB Weather shield) added to your CCF pad would give you extra protection from wind blown rain or snow, even when using the stock tarp, as well as some extra warmth and wind protection. But a thick CCF pad( wind and waterproof), especially in a Speer SPE with pads in the wings, and a windproof shell on your bag or quilt, will give you a whole lot of wind protection anyway, as well as a lot of cold protection.

Instead of going back to tent/ground due to lack of confidence, couldn't you just go with the hammock and plan on going to ground if you found the weather was too much for you? If you go to ground under your hammock tarp, most of these hammocks can add a bivy like amount of extra protection on the ground. If you are using a pad for hammock warmth, you are already set to go to ground if need be. I have had to do this due to no trees. I was fine and warm, but on the uncomfortable ground. But at least I wasn't on the ground every night!

If you have to, you can just add a bigger tarp, like a JRB 10x11 or a Speer Winter Tarp. This will give you more confidence in the hammock as well as on the ground.

Like HC4U said, PRACTICE! You live in NJ. Do you have a back yard with trees? Wait until a good winter storm in a month with similar lows ( or a bit colder) than you are expecting on the trail. Give it a go. If it doesn't work, head for the house and figure out what went wrong and how to solve it. Then try again. It will be fun and safe. Then after you have mastered that, pick a really cold, mean storm and go to ground, in your back yard, with your tarp, hammock ( and SS or Weather Shield if you have something like that) and pad/bag. Soon you will be a pro!

Read Ed Speer's book. Lot's of good tips on keeping warm and dry in a hammock, all handy in a book. If you order something from him, he usually gives the book to you for free.

Go with this group and be tutored by experience hammock hangers:
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=5423

Enjoy the journey!

[Peter_pan]

Folk go end to end in hammocks each year....

Commit and you will succeed....

Sit on the fence.... or hop the fence back and forth a few times and sooner or latter you'll land uncomfortably on a picket.

Pan

[Heber]

I'm certainly sympathetic to your concerns because having gear that isn't working for you is the quickest way to take the fun out of a hike. By all means try both and do what works for you.

Here's a few thoughts for you though.

Setting up in weather -- If you have snake skins I think a hammock is LOTS easier than a tent to set up in the weather. No poles to thread or stakes to pound. Hang the tarp first, then hang the hammock underneath. Easy and fast.

Putting up with bad weather -- I've tried this during a VERY severe rain storm (like 8" in 24 hours). The tent would be roomier, no doubt. But the hammock will stay drier because it is off the ground where the puddles form.

Securing gear -- There are things you can do (gear hammock, etc) but in general you are right. Having your gear inside the tent is very nice and you can't really do that in a hammock. But I can get most of the stuff I might need in my hammock at night. Most of those items are small and can be hung from the ridgeline.

Warmth -- Not an expert here but being on the ground is warmer than being in the air. Extra gear pads or under-quilt would level the field but it weighs something too. So you are right there.

But here is another consideration you didn't mention. In my mind it is the big thing that keeps me from using a tent.

I do my hiking in the Ozarks so I don't know the terrain of the AT. But when I set up my hammock at night sometimes I think to myself "gee wiz, if I had to use a tent where in the world would I put it?" I've done tent camping and I've found that it doesn't take much of a slope to make a tent a real pain to sleep in. And then when you have found a spot that is flat enough chances are there is a big rock or a root in the middle or the site is one that is likely to become a puddle in the rain.

Now maybe there are more flat spots along the AT then there are in the Ozarks. But from the pictures it doesn't look like it. I think the ease of site selection for a hammock make a hammock a superior thing to take on a trail where there are trees.

Just my opinion of course. Enjoy your hike, however you choose to do it!

[Nest]

1. Setting up in weather
2. Staying out in weather, bad weather would be easier to put up with in a tent
3. Securing gear in weather
4. Warmth, planning on the nest and sniveler

Ok, this is just me, but maybe it will give you some ideas.
1. Get a bigger tarp than the stock tarp. You will appreciate it on the AT. Set the tarp up first, then chill out under it during a storm while you cook and relax. As you relax watch your tenting friends struggle with their tent, and getting the inside soaked as they put the rainfly on with rain pouring through the bugnet into the tent. Then they have to crawl inside the tent and cook in their vestibule. If you have the larger tarp, you have an entire shelter on your back pretty much.

2. Bad weather is awesome in a hammock! Just chill out and read a book. The tenters are stuck in a tent with 4 walls and get really bored. In a hammock you have close to 360* visibility. You can see wet hikers walking by, birds flying around, or just watch the rain falling. Much more interesting than a tent wall. Also, I found that the trees are so dense on the AT that tarp "storm mode" isn't necessary. Pitch the sides of the tarp out as far as you want so you can see all around. Wind blown rain doesn't work in the middle of the woods. My entire thru hike this year I never got wet in my hammock.

3. Everyone has their own ways to deal with this. I would take my pack at night, and put my rain cover on it. Since the pack is nearly empty I could pull the draw cord on the pack cover and almost enclose the entire pack. Then lay the pack with the cover on the ground, and cover the little open end of the pack cover with my rain jacket and tuck the sides in under the pack. Again, no matter how bad the weather was, my pack never got wet. Just the outside of my pack cover and outside ov my rain jacket got wet. They will be wet anyways when I start hiking.

4. Warmth is all on the parson. How cold you sleep and all. I would take the underquilts, but also carry the pad for the start. I caried half a z-rest to use as a sit pad, to go to ground if necessary, and as a door mat under my hammock. It also served as a backup in case I needed more insulation. 6 oz and served more purposes than any other piece of gear. Plus I could accordian it up and hit my fellow hikers with it and it made a really loud noise.

[Hector]

Heber said:

I do my hiking in the Ozarks so I don't know the terrain of the AT. But when I set up my hammock at night sometimes I think to myself "gee wiz, if I had to use a tent where in the world would I put it?"

My first long walk in the woods, I used a tarp and bivy with an insulated air mattress. It was comfortable enough, but hard to find flat places relatively free of pointed rocks in the Ouachitas (very similar to the Ozarks) to sleep comfortably. I had to walk to established areas, even if I was tired and wanted to stop now, or wanted to keep going for a while but was afraid I wouldn't pass another good spot before nightfall.

Since then, I've hammocked all the way, and for this terrain it's made life much simpler. I walk until I'm ready to stop, then find a couple of trees and hang. It's harder to find a place to hang my food bag than to hang the hammock. I only had difficulty one time, and that was in an area that had suffered a lot of ice storm damage some years before and was full of widowmakers.

If you walk where the trees are right, you can't beat hammocking, IMHO. And you can set up an HH on the ground if you need the bug net (or just tarp if you don't). I'm sold. But we must all sell ourselves (or not) on this one.

[Just Jeff]

Setting up in the weather is much easier - hang your tarp separately first. Then get under there nice and dry and unpack your hammock. Much better than crawling around in the mud setting up a wet tent.

Re: staying in the weather, I'd much rather sit in my hammock in a rainstorm, sitting up using it like a lounger and looking around at the sights and enjoying the good ventilation, than holed up in a hammock scrounched up on the ground. Just me.

Lots of ways to deal with your gear...ridgeline, gear hammocks, homemade ridgeline pockets or just put it in a bag liner under your hammock (I use trash bags).

Staying warm isn't very hard...thicker insulation on bottom (lots of options for that) and a warm bag or quilt on top. I'd take a backup CCF pad for the beginning if you're just using a Nest on bottom...the Nest by itself gets me to the 30s but I'd want to be prepared for colder than that. And the weights are about the same...in theory ground setups are lighter but for the ground and hammock setups that people actually use it's roughly the same.
http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockGroundWeights.html

I say go for it. Especially if you supplement the Nest with a CCF pad in the beginning, you'll be ready to stay in shelter or just under a tarp on the ground if you don't like the hammock. Then mail the hammock home after 100 miles if it's not working out.

[ankh]

Ok a larger tarp, perhaps the square Blackcat, gives more protection, more square footage to crawl under. I like my snake skin for the HH, stuff sack for the tarp?

An under quilt, sniveler, and the nest, skip the ccf pad except for a sit pad. Is the ccf and UC over kill?

OK I'm back on board, weak moment. I hate lying on the ground. thanks

[Just Jeff]

Definitely test first - you should have plenty of suitable weather in NJ to test for the beginning of the trail in GA. Get your system dialed in at home b/c there's a learning curve to hammocking in the cold. Not difficult, but it takes a few nights to figure things out. You don't want to start a 2000 mile hike that way!

Re: bottom insulation, if you put the Nest and NS on bottom, then use another quilt or bag on top, you should be fine. Or the Nest and a torso-sized CCF on bottom and the NS on top with your winter clothes, you'll probably be ok depending on how you sleep.

Like I said, the Nest gets me into the 30s. Figure out your start date and check temps for Georgia and the Smokies at the times you'll be there. Unless you start late, I'd be prepared for single digits in the Smokies just in case.

Might have a look at 2Questions mods to put zippers on the HH bugnet as well.