backpacking with.... tenters!

**canoebie** · 03-06-2009, 09:08

A hammock can work both ways. I was on a trip last memorial day with a bunch of friends from college, our 31st annual canoe trip together, and the first night I was beat because of work and other things. I did not want to miss the fire time, so I hung not too far from the fire, got all snuggled down into my warm bag, it was 30 degrees, and simply lay there amongst them and listened and watched and recalled many memories from trips past.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of someone starting the fire. I drifted off at some point, yet it felt as though I had been part of the social life from the evening before. The advantage of a hammock is the flexibility. Unless you are in an area with no trees, you can hang just about anywhere. Even ground dwellers like some protection, so it seems to me there are lots of options.

This particular night, I was on a hillside by the fire and very much part of the group. At least for a while.

**bristolview** · 03-06-2009, 12:01

I actually agree with everyone here with regard to going to sleep and the comments in this thread. Sleeping is not the only thing that a tent is for though. Depending on the weather and such, rain, cold mornings, etc... people tend to hang out in their tents, talk, tell stories etc... (My daughter likes to ping me to make sure I'm still there, "Daddy, you awake?". My wife and daughter take a tent; small 2 person ultralight). I can either sleep a bit away and not hear my daughter, or sleep on the ground outside (bivy, no I don't have another backpacking tent. The one they use was my old one that I used to use on solo hikes, before heading into the trees with hammock). If I were hiking with my buddies, the comments in this thread apply entirely. If hiking with my daughter and wife, I want to stay closer. My daughter feels more secure with me nearby (not that I'll protect her from a bear, but that the bear will get a snack and be satisfied... me. She calls my bivy a "Bear Burrito" and the hammock a "Bear Pinyata". She's 7).

Someone mentioned that the tenters like the open tarps of the hammocks, and I have to agree with that too. In rain, the hammock does tend to be the social center; which is funny, since everyone always asks about the hammock in rain. I love the sound of rain on the rainfly.

**stoikurt** · 03-06-2009, 17:14

If you're hiking and camping with your wife and daughter seems like you might be able to have a little more control on campsite choices so as to have a hanging site close enough to a tenting site. Maybe not so much with a larger crowd.

**bristolview** · 03-06-2009, 17:35

Very true. Most of the time I can actually find a decent tent/hammock site. A few times I've not found a good spot for both, but generally you're right.

One poster mentioned the "One Tree Hang"... what is that?

**Ramblinrev** · 03-06-2009, 17:38

Originally Posted by bristolview

One poster mentioned the "One Tree Hang"... what is that?

Pretty much what it sounds like. Hang from one tree and use another support for the other end. Folks have used trekking poles, canoe paddles, aluminum crutches, any number of thigs. There are several threads on the forums for treeless hangs or one tree hangs.

**pedro** · 03-06-2009, 18:46

Originally Posted by Ramblinrev

Pretty much what it sounds like. Hang from one tree and use another support for the other end. Folks have used trekking poles, canoe paddles, aluminum crutches, any number of thigs. There are several threads on the forums for treeless hangs or one tree hangs.

Please don't try this with collapsible trekking poles. They will....collapse. Use ski poles instead.

**Doctari** · 03-06-2009, 19:15

Where I hike there are usually trees everywhere. Even the "Clearings" arn't that big, and tho it has never been tested, my tarp has 135 square feet* of potentail coverage, AND If I so choose, it can be rigged so that you can actually walk around under it. Guess where the party will be on a rainy day.

* average sized living room (about): 196' - 400'