I am thru hiking the AT starting next March 1. I am basically sold on he hammock idea. 1 is there anyone on here that has thru hiked the AT and used a hammock system the entire trail. 2. I have a eno system and with their under quilt, a top quilt and bug protection I am almost at five pounds. With tent I am at three max with bag and pad. ANY SUGGESTIONS?
I have not hiked the AT but it's one of my life goals. Although the ENO system is good, there are many more lightweight options out there. Check out the vendors section on this site. Go with some of the cottage vendors. Warbonnet for a example has a complete system, and you will have much less weight than with ENO. ENO is great for car camping and for getting started, it's actually what I have, but I will upgrade to something else when I through hike.
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Just a suggestion. If you really want to make an informed decision as to what may be best for you, I would recommend making this forum your tv time for about the next month or three. Worked for me and I feel I have a decent understanding now. I read a ton of posts here which will cover all your questions and make your head spin with options. There are so many cottage venders with excellent equipment that I don't want to start naming them and forget some excellent options for you. They are all here. You can certainly cut your weight significantly with a lighter hammock and suspension, down underquilt/topquilt, cuben fiber or lighter weight tarp. I'm sure you'll also receive a number of excellent recommendations. Your budget will probably be the biggest factor in what you go with...Good luck!
Obviously you'll need to ditch the ENO stuff if you want to get lighter than your tent. You didn't mention tarp weight in your original post. Is that part of the 5 lbs or in addition to?
Top and bottom insulation are both needed in a tent system too. Your UQ can be around 10-14 oz. that's comparable with most lightweight pads unless you get a closed cell foam or the half length neo-air. So really the weight you need to consider vs tent is hammock, suspension, bugnet, and tarp. You can get those 4 components down to 16-18 ounces if you really want to (and have the money for cuben fiber). Unless you have a 16-18 ounce tent then you can save some decent weight by going to a lightweight hammock system.
Currently I am sitting at home waiting for the results of an MRI on my knee that put me off the AT after about 1500 miles. I hiked for 4 months when I hurt my knee. Pretty disappointed at the moment but as to your question. I did all 4 months, and if I can continue, will do the rest in a hammock. Wt is important but not the end all. I would say that around 20-23lbs on your back excluding food and water puts you in a lot of company. I exclude water and food because that is where there is a lot of flex in weight depending on what you like and how fast you hike to hit resupply spots. Weight is important but I think comfort more so, to a point. I carried a WBBB XLT double layer and have no desire to change that out. It is not the lightest by a long shot but the shelf and double layer paid dividends "for me". Under and top quilts can be weight saving areas. I used a 3/4 UQ and was fine (I started end of Feb so some cold weather). Any thing that can serve double duty is also a plus in weight saving areas. Also, if possible, I would recommend getting stuff that packs down small, that can be almost as important as weight. Could I have gotten a little lighter with an expensive tent? Sure, but at a significant loss in comfort for me. At times you will sleep in a shelter, even with a blow-up mattress I never slept as well in a shelter (on the ground) as I did in my hammock. I stayed in shelters in really bad weather and where it was required. If you can afford cuben fiber that is a good place to save weight. My pack was a Z-pack where I saved 2-3+lbs of weight over many I met on the trail. Cuben fiber tarps and stuff sacks also save wt. I found that if I could stay at 30lbs or less total weight on my back, I was very comfortable. I should mention that I am 61 to put all this in perspective. You will hear a lot of people talk about really light pack weights but I found (limited sample) that about everyone fell between 25 and 35 lbs. Couples had the advantage of sharing weight and were the most common 25lb carriers that I saw. Hope this helps a little. I wish you luck. If I don't require surgery I will probably try to complete the hike this year. I probably only need 6-8 weeks so if I am back out before middle of August I can still finish. I guess later if I flip flop this last part. Oh, actually the hardest part of the AT hike for me was the mind numbing boredom. Did see some great stuff and met some great people but mostly, it was just slogging along by myself knocking out miles. If you love to hike than I suppose you will not be bored. This was only the third time I hiked over 10 miles in my life, I am really a sailor, so my perspective may be very different from many. All the best.
There are lots of tips on weight savings on here but it will take quite a bit of time researching. For options on hammock gear it's best to be able to "try before you buy" so get to a few hangs if possible. ENO is sort of like the "Ozark Trail" stuff from Walmart. It's relatively inexpensive, works pretty well, but is kind of heavy and the workmanship is sometimes sketchy. Shedding weight is going to cost you a bit so start saving your pennies or beef up your DIY skills.
Fortunately, you've come to the right place to find pretty much the most condensed source of hammock-camping related info on the web. Good luck.
Are you the guy I gave a ride to the truck stop at DWG where you showed me your helios suspension? Although I seem to recall it was a foot problem.Originally Posted by Jake2c
For the range of temperatures you will encounter on a thru, it will be nigh impossible to get as light with a hammock system as with a ground dwelling system, given the best/lightest gear choices in both categories. I assume that hanging gives you a better night's sleep, so the extra weight has a nice payoff. That said, with other hammock system choices than the Eno system you have now, you should be able to shave at least a pound off your baseweight. I personally find that for 3-season use, my hammock system is 8-16 oz heavier than my ground dwelling system. The colder the weather, the more substantial the UQ needs to be, and the weight difference rises. YMMV.
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I haven't thru hiked the AT, but I do hike and hammock camp quite a bit. My strongest argument for weight and space savings will be Dutchwaregear 2.2 Kevlar straps. I have tried so many different suspension systems for hammocks. Learn to tie a Becket hitch or j-bend or girth hitch (my favorite-also called hobo hitch). So versatile and simple.
Other than that, spend hours and hours here on the forums and field test as much as possible. Good luck next Spring.
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Last edited by Foxpoop; 07-11-2016 at 12:50.
I haven't hiked the AT either, but weight is weight. Since it's beginner-oriented, an ENO system will naturally weigh more than some of the lighter options provided by the cottage vendors. Here's my weight for a 20* system using cottage vendor gear:
HG Winter Palace tarp 8.6 oz.
Continuous Ridgeline with Dutch Wasp & hook plus guylines 2 oz
HG Phoenix 20* 15.43 oz.
HG Burrow 20* 18.66 oz.
Dutch Poly D 1.4 hammock with Whoopie Hook suspension 14.1
Total 58.79 ounces
or 3.67 lbs.
Add another 7 ounces for a Fronkey bugnet, which probably will only be needed in the June to August time frame. On a through hike, you probably don't need 20* quilts for June-August time frame, and can get by with 40* quilts, or around 3.36 lbs.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
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