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  1. #1
    Member JumpinJackJim's Avatar
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    Go to Ground Back Ups for Backpacking?

    While I've been hanging for a couple of years now primarily as a base camper, I'm looking more into backpacking. Got my gear and pack weight down pretty low, but find myself at this early stage lacking experience relative to whether hanging is permitted or available on any given trip. I know there are some states and parks where hanging is not permitted, and I have been invited on some trips where the host claims that there may not be trees (kayak/canoe/beach, etc.), where I pack a tent, leave my hammock home, only to find out I could have used my hammock.

    Any of you guys bring along a back up ground option, like a thermarest neo and an ultralight trekking pole-style tarp tent, etc.?

    I'm sure just really doing my homework before the trip is the best solution, so I just pack the one shelter (hammock or tent), but am just curious. I've not had much success in pitching my WBB and SF as a bivy, etc.
    Last edited by JumpinJackJim; 04-07-2014 at 11:12. Reason: Typo
    J3

    "No Matter where you go, there you are." -B. Banzai
    -Crede quod habes et habes-

  2. #2
    Senior Member Bushwhacker's Avatar
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    Most hammocks can double as a bivvy. (And you already have a tarp)

    Quote Originally Posted by JumpinJackJim View Post
    I've not had much success in pitching my WBB and SF as a bicycle, etc.

    No, I'm not sure that you can make a hammock turn into a bicycle, even with 50 guylines .

    Did you mean you used the bike as a fake tree?


    EDIT: Saw your edit. How are you setting up the bivy?

  3. #3
    SilvrSurfr's Avatar
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    There are a bazillion "What if I have to go to ground?" threads on this forum, to which a common reply is, "We pack to our fears." So if it's something you worry about, then check out those threads and you'll find others who worry about the same thing and the myriad reasons they worry about it.

    In the Northeast, I don't have the slightest worry about having to go to ground. Then again, I don't often hike with ground dwellers, and if they wanted to camp in a pasture, I'd say "I'm gonna go find some trees."
    "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr View Post
    if they wanted to camp in a pasture, I'd say "I'm gonna go find some trees."
    Most of my group trips have been mix tents and hammocks. The hammockers go find trees and tenters have to look for flat spots. If I had no trees I would use trekking poles and pitch tarp on ground then just lay under and hope it doesn't rain and a river flows through. Maybe one day I'll make a tyvek bathtub for such occasions.

  5. #5
    Member JumpinJackJim's Avatar
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    I tried in backyard with hiking poles. Two tie outs from each pole top to ground, opposite ridge line, with hammock on ground-head end somewhat elevated. I'm sure that this requires more trial and error than I dedicated to the project. It just seemed so flimsy, it was hard to put more effort into it. I did not get to tarp. Perhaps, now that I am thinking again about it that my efforts should be tarp first/only with poles, just laying hammock on ground as a bug sack. I tried to copy a YouTube set up I saw a few months ago that propped head end up to clear bug netting off of floor/ground.
    J3

    "No Matter where you go, there you are." -B. Banzai
    -Crede quod habes et habes-

  6. #6
    canoebie's Avatar
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    The only time I had to go to ground was camping on an island on the Black River in SW Wisconsin. I simply used a pad and set up bivy style with some creative lashing on my paddles to provide tarp support and it worked out fine. I think you will survive without a ground option (read tent) just fine. Besides, these are the kinds of challenges that make improvisation an adventure.
    “Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
    ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

  7. #7
    Senior Member Boston's Avatar
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    If you want to be prepared for that eventuality there are ways you can do it without packing the kitchen sink:

    1) If the rest of your kit allows it, use an U/L backpack like the G4 that uses a pad as part of it's frame. The pad is quad use in this case: Pack frame, sit pad, foot insulation, and ground pad.
    2) Use 3/4 or 2/3 UQ insulation (or just use a pad..but really..you don't want to use a pad in a hammock, right?) - no need for full length because you carry the pad.
    3) Bring a light weight ground cloth. Gossamer gear has one that weighs only 1.6oz. You can also use this with the hammock set up.
    4) Bring a netted hammock, or a bug net that can be rigged to work on the ground
    5) Bring a tarp that can be rigged to work on the ground
    6) Practice setting this up so you don't look like a fool in front of your friends

  8. #8
    Senior Member lijn's Avatar
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    My (as of yet untested) summer setup:

    hammock + tarp + exped multimat + TaR self inflatable pad + sleeping bag.

    For ground use, I can set up the tarp as a tent/bivy and use the multimat as a groundcloth.
    If you think this through, the piece of gear that you don't really need is... the hammock. And while I think in summer it's OK to bring a bit of extra gear, for 3-season camping I might want to be more sure of my camping options and leave either the multimat or the hammock at home, committing to ground or hammock.

    I could also make a hammock of silnylon or something else that's waterproof and can be used as a groundcloth. Yes, that makes for a clammy sleep, but given that I am using a pad for bottom insulation, it might not be that big of an issue.

    Thought this through and through, but 'being prepared for ground' just means using a pad and carrying some extra gear. I see no way around it. OTOH, for me camping means setting up wherever I like AND being able to change plans whenever I want and just go someplace else where the weather is nice(r). Here in Europe camping outside of official campsites is limited to a few places, so walking the trails almost always means sleeping in huts or other official shelters. The few places (countries is more like it) where wild camping is allowed, would probably require you to bring a tent for certain stretches and have limited options for resupply, so choosing 'ground' as an option there is more likely.

    I guess what I'm trying to say is that flexibility is gonna cost you, weight-wise.
    Still getting the hang of it

  9. #9
    Member MattBigmonster's Avatar
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    You already have a tarp and two quilts to cover yourself, 2/3 of what you need fot tarp camping (what I have been doing before hammocking).
    The real and only problem is bottom insulation. The best thing I manage to came up is my "floor" material I use to stand on when getting out of my hammock. It's either:
    - short CCF pad.
    - cheap blue tarpaulin that can be folded in to a sleeping pad along with spare clothing/hammock/leaves.

    That is my "what if" inshurance...

  10. #10
    Senior Member Rolloff's Avatar
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    I'll bet you already have a bunch of stuff to use between you and the ground.

    Empty pack, Pack cover, Dry bag, Foam insert(from pack), Refletix or CCF sit pad, Small ground cloth used beneath hammock.

    On top of that, I always carry a couple full sized trash bags, and a few plastic grocery bags. Emergency vapor barriers, and you never know when you're going to find something out there, that should never have been left in the woods. You can fill them with leaves or cloths and take a dry nap on those too.
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