A few Noob Questions

[Floridahanger]

I use cargo straps DIY'ed to tree straps, MSH/toggle, then Amsteel whoopies hitched to my hammock. Once my suspension is up, sometimes, I put a slippery half-hitch at the constriction to stop possible slipping and it also acts like a drip break. Sometimes I don't do this.

I have been in some torrential downpours in backyard and woods. I haven't had any water hit the hammock yet. There should be very little, if any, water rolling down the lines. Don't worry about it, unless your using u channels for suspension.

[Nodust]

With Google and Bing satellite maps, you should always be able to ascertain beforehand if the area you're going hiking has trees.

I'm using google maps to pick campsites in Glacier Park. Just do some research.

Ain't going to ground.

[SirLips]

I have read up on the noob "to the ground" fear and almost thought about not asking, however this really is a concern for my august BWCA trip. We are base camping on a specific lake due to the fishing, which is our main goal. You MUST camp at 1 of the designated camp sites, so we cant "keep walking". The issue is this is the lake we will camp on. Won't be changing that as that lake is the entire reason for the trip. Or better yet that lakes fishing. (We are talking 30+ inch walleye!!) I have tent camped there before and we never run into crowded issues and always get one of the top two or three campsites right away. However out of the 15-20 spots on the lake only 4 or 5 have trees due to devastating fires in 2006 and 2007. We are pretty sure at the time we are going that we will have a tree camp site right away, but if by chance we don't get one the first night or two we wanted to see what the options are. The boys are bringing a tent and we can fit four in it if needed, but wanted to see if there are other options. I wouldn't be surprised to see all tree sites taken for the first night but don't expect it to be an issue.

If you do a search for alpine lake in the BWCA you will see what I mean. They saved A few of the camp sites and they have great trees but most do not. It's just west of seagull lake. A BWCA map search shows the camp spots.

Btw, thank u for all the great replies. Much appreciated.

[Surfdog]

It's always possible that you will end up somewhere without a place to hang.
And although I would love to say I will never sleep on the ground again, stuff happens. I would not embark on any trek without having at least practiced how to set up my hammock for ground dwelling, should the need arise.
If your in the BWCA, are you paddling or hiking? If your paddling it's really a non-issue. Throw a pad and groundsheet in the canoe and your good to go. If your hiking and really worried about it, pack in a pad and groundsheet. A lightweight pad and sheet may add a few more ounces but it sure beats sleeping directly on the hard ground..... especially the older you get.
At any rate, if you practice setting up in ground mode a time or two and bring the additional gear you should be prepared for any contingency.

Good luck on your trip. Photos of 30" Walleyes, or it never happened?

[dakotaross]

Agreed, you have a hammock setup so that you won't be miserable on the ground, but you don't want to be even more miserable if your hammock setup doesn't work well for YOU on the ground. I think your noob question is a little more specific than what we normally see. I think a good portion of us are hikers where campsites aren't always preplanned - therefore, the "keep walking" mantra. Some of us, including me at one point, will take a pad in case we encounter a place where trees aren't suitable for whatever reason, but in the years in which I did that, the pad never came out of the pack - it was dead weight.

For what its worth, I took a CO trip one time where I knew I was camping at 10000' and was worried about not finding suitable trees. Concerns were valid, but it would not have been a problem to hang, EXCEPT I could not have done it on the tent pad or within compliant distance from the marker either. Still, I have a hard time believing the rangers would've had a problem with it after the fact (I'm sure they would've if I asked first). I didn't hang, but instead tarped on the pad with my hammock tarp strung to small trees on either side unsuitable for the weight of me in a hammock. I took a bivy on that trip, but I easily could've taken my HH to slip into instead.

[MAD777]

Thanks SirLips for explaining the circumstances of your planned trip. I now see that "keep walking " would mean that you can't "keep fishing." As a fly fisherman, I get it.

Here's my solution from an ultra light backpacker's perspective. Take a full length pad and lightweight bivy. You already have the tarp and probably a ground sheet. The bivy won't add much weight or bulk and the pad can carried outside your pack.

[SirLips]

All great suggestion. I Appreciate the replies.

On this trip im not concerned about not having a place to sleep, more so was just trying to see if there was some smart way to hang, when trees are not ideal.

I would guess a large portion of the people here are backpack campers/hikers and weight is a concern, which makes Hammocks perfect. Even in the BWCA, but to a lesser extent, weight is a concern, as you still need to portage short distances between lakes, possibly several times a day. Then, there is our "Fishing trips". We do this specific trip to fish and be comfortable. We bring all the things that 99% of BWCA campers wouldn’t, because we don’t worry about weight at all. We double or triple portage and bring hundreds of pounds of gear. Not normal or even possible for most doing a regular BWCA trip.

The tricks:
A) we found a great lake that is only 1 portage in, from an entry point. The entry point lake is very large, so the "get away from it all" comes from the long paddle, not from several short paddles and short portages to "get away". So, we have only 1 portage...it’s a bit long 101 Rods (1 rod=16 feet), but we do not mind breaking the "bring enough to only have to single/double portage" rule as we only have one portage to deal with.

B The trick to getting the gear in is not a weight concern, but a SPACE concern. We just have to have enough room to put all the packs in the space of the canoe.

C) We are not doing hammocks to save space or weight, but for comfort. Our teenaged boys will have a large tent (would fit all 4 of us very easily, along with all the gear still) so we have a place to sleep if not in hammock.
------

Regular backpack/hiking/camping trip= Extreme light weight.

Regular BWCA Trip=still ample concern on weight, but much more equipment used than a hiking trip, if wanted, as the canoes take the vast amount of travel weight.

OUR "fishing trip" to the BWCA = Think full sized air mattresses, 6 person tents per 2 people (teenagers) and gear, dry ice coolers, non-dehydrated food, 10 lbs of leeches/crawlers, 50 lbs of tackle and 2 rods per person, depth finders, rod holders, REAL bed pillows, Bag chairs and 5 course meals. We even bring 2 aluminum 8' poles to lash the 2 canoes together to make a canoemaran, so we can stand while fishing and can sit in comfy bag chairs in the canoe! Its most definitely NOT the normal BWCA trip we do, this is about fishing on the best walleye lake in the world in comfort for 7 days.

If we don’t find a good tree camp, we will stay in the tent with the boys until one opens. BUT, if someone posts some crazy amazing "no tree" hanging idea...id be all ears. Probably more for the "just to do it", than out of necessity.

[Floridahanger]

...If we don’t find a good tree camp, we will stay in the tent with the boys until one opens. BUT, if someone posts some crazy amazing "no tree" hanging idea...id be all ears. Probably more for the "just to do it", than out of necessity.

Since weight is no issue, but bulk is, here is my suggestion.

You can make a set of bipods out of PVC and dowel rods. Each bipod can be made by using a 10' PVC cut in quarters. 2 each, 2 1/2' pieces for each bipod. Cut the bottom dowel rod 6" shorter than the PVC and the top dowel rod 6" longer than the PVC. The top section with longer dowel slips into the bottom section to form your 5' leg. Make 4 legs.

Put 2 legs together with an eye bolt at top to guy out with 1 or 2 Amsteel or zing-it/lash-it guy lines. Add an SRL across to the other bipod and hang your hammock here. This will add only a few pounds and just a little extra bulk for each hammock. You can even strap each bipod to the sides of your pack

Bipod Youtube link
-->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiRD7...etailpage#t=16

Good luck on your trip.

[Fourq2]

With Google and Bing satellite maps, you should always be able to ascertain beforehand if the area you're going hiking has trees.

Its worth noting that, at best, these satelite images are years old and cannot be used as a reliable source. As a general guide to an area they work great though, so not to discount them altogether.

[Moose85]

Does anyone have any recommendation for what size of ground sheet to use. I'm currently using a Hennessy Expedition and if i ever do have to use it like a bivy I want to protect the bottom.