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  1. #1
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    bridge hammock/one person tent combo

    ok... my motto has always been: when i don't know about something, i don't know what i should not be able to do... it has worked pretty good for me so here goes.

    i'm interested in building a hammock for my daughter. i think i would enjoy camping in a hammock but i don't think my son would like the idea of sleeping alone in the woods. my daughter is much more independent (which i suspect is part of the reason she wants a hammock).

    anyway, we live in a desert. we often go to the forrest to camp, but there are some good hikes right close to home. unfortunately, desert landscape doesn't lend itself to "hammock camping". i don't think they make saguaro huggers, and i would guess that thin bug netting wouldn't help much when the enormous and very heavy saguaro comes crashing down on her (saguaros have very shallow roots).

    so, to keep our gear to a minimum, i think i'd like to design a bridge hammock that can also serve as a 1 person tent. here are my thoughts:

    (totally new at this hammock stuff so forgive some of the names i give things)

    use thick silnylon for the body and the draft protector ends
    attach bug netting over the body and the draft protectors designed to hang from the ridgeline (mitten hooks)
    where the ridgeline attaches to the suspension line put the same type of hardware that i put where the spreader bars fit into (so a piece of metal with 5 small holes -- one for the spreader bar, one for the ridgeline, one for the suspension line and one for each of two guylines that i'll use to pitch it as a tent)
    when hanging as a hammock, the two guy lines just become drip lines
    when pitching it as a tent, use the guy lines with stakes and the spreader bars as tent poles. this would give me an "A" frame with the ridgeline on top
    make sure the bug netting height when hung as a hammock was a couple inches less than the length of the spreader bars so that when pitched as a tent and clipped in with mitten hooks to the ridgeline it would pull up the sides of the hammock a couple inches to create a tub for the floor.
    when hanging as a hammock use a not fully inflated, insulated air mattress as your underquilt
    when pitching as a tent, fully inflate the air mattress.
    in both cases, put a tarp over the ridgeline if needed

    what am i not thinking of here? this seems like it would completely work. essentially, one could hike from desert to forrest (like the AZ trail) and still get some hang time without the need to carry two different shelters. all the components of one work for the other (i guess i can't figure out a use for the tree huggers when pitching as a tent... yet).

  2. #2
    Senior Member ufdigga's Avatar
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    Sounds more like a hammock/bivy bag combo than a hammock/tent combo. But it sounds reasonable! Most hammocks with integrated bugnets can be set up this way. The problem usually becomes that underquilts can't replace a sleeping pad when you want tent-mode.

    Using silnylon probably isn't neccessary. It won't turn the hammock body into a waterproof tent bathtub floor. For that you would need something non-permeable (which would work, but would create vapor barrier issues in the hammock). But if you're in the desert and not exposed to water running under your tent, so that may not be a concern.

    Make sure to include a ground tarp for tent-mode, to avoid abrading the hammock bottom and creating a future point of failure when hanging.

  3. #3
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    yes... would need a ground tarp... what is a lightweight option for that... i've used home depot blue tarps when car camping, but those don't seem to pack down very small...

    as for the underquilt, i was going to use a partially deflated insulated sleeping pad for that in the hammock and then use that for the tent.

  4. #4

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    If you are car camping try Acrete's portable hammock stand. https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...portable-stand 2 tripods for the first hammock and each additional tripod supports another hammock. E.G. 3 tripods = 2 hammocks, 4 tripods = 3 hammocks. These aren't hard to make. I've made mine out of aluminum with multipart poles for easy storage.

    Another possible answer for the desert or other poor tree areas is a sturdy staff or bipod or even my NoGround poles (click the link below).

    Good luck and hang safe.
    Come check out the Tensa4 tensahedron stand and other hammock stands at http://www.TensaOutdoor.com and [email protected]

  5. #5
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    i will need something like that for building the hammock. we only have one tree in the front yard and one tree in the back yard. but we were planning on backpacking so i think i'd rather not carry that thing around with me.

  6. #6
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    Hey Johne,
    As a fellow desert dweller, I feel your pain. Surprisingly, I've had a lot of luck hanging in places close to home where I thought it would be an issue. Sounds like a fun project. I think a good waterproof ground cloth, your bridge hammock, and tarp, along with a set of trekking poles. Would do the trick. I wouldn't recommend the silnyon for the hammock body. It won't breath and you'll end up swimming in sweat or condensation. Some nice 1.6 Hexon, or HyperD for your hammock and a good ground cloth and you would be set. Even when you get to hang from trees, your ground cloth can get used to lay your gear on, so nothing wasted really.
    Either way, I want to see pics of the rig if you build it!

  7. #7
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    thanks man... you're in cave creek too!?! small world... i think our first "backpacking" hike is gonna be at the cave creek recreational area... we'll park the car, hike the trails with all our gear and then camp overnight... get up the next morning and hike around again... just to simulate what it would be like but with a car nearby in case the kids (or i) can't hack it... i don't think there are any trees there, though... for the ground cloth, what do you all recommend? and i'll definitely not make the hammock out of silnylon... good thing i checked here first...

  8. #8
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    Yea, very small world. Look like we are less than 10 minutes from each other! Sounds like a good plan. Close to home and bail out options! For a simple ground cloth under a tarp, a sheet cut to your specs, of Tyvek works great(Home Depot, or I think a couple vendors here sell it by the foot) For a tent style footprint or bathtub floor something like PU coated 300D from RSBTR would probably be great option.

  9. #9
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    thanks for the tyvek lead... it looks like you can get a version of that that can be sewn (called 14 tyvek, 6 - 8 stitches per inch so i'll have to figure that out on my sewing machine)... so now i'm thinking that i make a tent floor tub out of tyvek and put some velcro or a zipper (i'm scared of zipper sewing though) to attach that to the bug netting when in tent mode and use it for a ground cloth when in hang mode... also, that way i don't have to let my spreader bar height dictate the distance between my hammock and the ridgeline... then if a flash flood comes through we'll just float away...

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