Keeping Hammock Dry When Trying to Hang it During a Rainstorm

[gargoyle]

It never rains when I camp, I wont allow it!!

Tip #346, Do not hold the hammock or whoopie sling in your teeth while putting the strap around the tree. The wind may grab the hammock and rip out a tooth, or at least try.

[nothermark]

If you hang your tarp on a separate ridge line in it's own bag you can deploy it first at a comfortable height, porch mode. You can then deploy the hammock at your leisure while staying relatively dry.
I also carry something to put my pack on/in to keep it out of the wet and dirt. A heavy trash bag in an outside pocket works well. Off one shoulder with the pack, pull the sit on, flip it open and drop the pack on it. Pull the tarp, snap ridge line hook on one end, walk to other tree deploying tarp and ridge line as you go. Tie off and deploy corner lines to anything convenient. Out of the rain! Stop and look and think about improving things then. Maybe even a hot drink before going further with stakes and hammock. It gives you a chance to think. ;-)

[lymphocytosis]

There are other reasons you never want your hammock to touch the ground besides not getting it wet or covered in snow. A rogue stick or pinecone could damage the hammock body, something you definitely don't want in a piece of fabric that needs to support your weight.

I'm also a big fan of the bishop bag, or double-ended stuff sack as the case may be.

[grich9860]

i store my hammock it a stuff sack that has a small opening in one end and a regular size opening in the other. once the tarp is up i can attach the hammock from the large open end and then simply walk to the other tree while letting the hammock flow out of the stuff sack. hope this helps

[garethw]

Hi
I've got the snakeskin on my DD Travel hammock. Once I've pitched my tarp, I can string up the hammock without it getting wet, even if it accidentally touches the ground.
cheers
Gareth

[Doctari]

I'd like to add, so I will: Practice at home, a LOT! AND, practice with your tarp slung / rigged LOW as some of us do in high winds, as it is a bit different than when your tarp is high enough to easily walk under, or even a bit harder (slightly) than with no tarp "in the way". Practice slow, deploy fast! Hanging your hammock over your shoulder in the back yard as you hang is easy, doing it after a 15+ mile day, in a pending or blowing T-Storm,, not so much So, if you can do it without thought, by muscle memory, you are ahead of the game.

How to practice: Find a few sets of trees if you can, spaced differently. Set up, look for mistakes, take down & pack. move to set of trees #2, Set up, look for mistakes, take down & pack, move to set of trees #3, Set up, look for mistakes, take down & pack, move to set of trees #1. Repeat till you can do it with (literally) eyes closed.

Now you are set for your gear staying dry while setting up in the rain, in the dark, with a burned out flashlight.
A bonus: you will be sitting in your dry hammock as your tenting buddies are trying to mop out the inside of their soaking wet tent so they can lay out their pad & bag.

[dejoha]

+1 on Shug's (and others') advice on a Bishop bag and double-sided stuff sacks.

As you get more proficient, you'll be able to deploy your tarp, hammock, and insulation all without touching the ground. Part of the solution is in packing techniques, but also in set-up habits.

Some hammocks come with their own stuff sacks and those work great for keeping a hammock off the ground.

STEP 1: Pitch the tarp. If your ridgeline is separate, string it up and then clip your tarp to it one end at a time, keeping the material off the ground. "Sensitive" materials like silnylon can puncture on rogue sticks and rocks if you're not careful. See the tip below on a packing technique.

STEP 2: Attach your tree webbing straps. This is made easier if you use hardware options like Dutch clips or carabiners, but you can also thread the strap through a side with a sewn eye loop. You can also tie an overhand knot on your straps to keep them hanging on the tree until you can attach the hammock.

STEP 3: With the hammock still stuffed (see tip below), carefully attach one end of the hammock to one strap and slowly unpack the hammock while walking under your tarp to the other strap on the opposite side. In this way, the hammock never touches the ground and stays dry under your tarp.

TIP: My hammock has a built-in stuff sack and I stuff the hammock in from the center so the two ends with the suspension line (whoopie slings, in my case) are at the top of the sack when I'm done. In this way, I can unpack the hammock and reveal it little-by-little while I'm setting it up so it never touches the ground. Tarps can be packed the same way, if you're careful, so the two ends on the ridgeline are the very last to be stuffed in and so they are the first to come out when your'e ready to hang.

[Doctari]

I should have said: Once you figure out how to do it RIGHT, then practice practice practice! Because like dejoha says, it's all about packing technique, & set-up habits. & it's those set up habits that you want to encourage, IE: do the set up the same way EVERY time. Even the packing up part, THE SAME WAY EVERY TIME. Put your gear in your pack THE SAME WAY EVERY TIME.

[TiredFeet]

This is the reason I like the hammock and suspension to be separate.

1. I hang the tarp ridge line.
2. I hang the tarp from the tarp ridge line
3. I hang the hammock suspension from tree to tree
4. I hang the hammock on the suspension

Nothing touches the ground, especially not the hammock.

[CrackMunk]

Snakeskins! I have HH and keep the thing in the skins. I do use a large tarp even though I still have the stock on the hh.