Help us revise our beginner's guide to hammocking!

[wilsonlin45]

Hi everyone,

My friend and I are working on writing up a guide for first time hammockers that we're planning on posting to our blog. We've been using hammockforums and various resources we gathered on google to help us put together a comprehensive beginner's guide. This guide is meant as an introduction for people just learning about hammocks, so some of the info in here might be basic to you.

But I'd like to get some constructive criticism from the experts here. It'd be awesome if anyone wants to give it a read and let us know what you think, if there's any misinformation, if we're missing anything, and just general feedback on what we've put together.

I'll post the article in the following post, but I think the best way would be to get comments on it from google docs. This way you can directly comment on specific sentences. Here's the link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

Thanks to all that can contribute!

Full disclosure: the blog is associated with my store

[wilsonlin45]

The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Hammocking

When I go backpacking with a new group of me people, most of the time, they are pretty surprised when it’s time to set up camp and they see me begin to unfurl my hammock while everyone else is unpacking their tents. I used to be like them, so I don’t blame them. Sleeping under the stars in nothing but a cozy hammock might seem a little crazy for those that lived their entire lives believing that a tent was the only form of shelter acceptable on a camping trip. The question that I get the most is “Are you really going to sleep the whole night in the hammock?” followed up by claims that sleeping in hammock must be murder on my back.



Well, the truth is that sleeping in a hammock not only feels great for my back, but it can actually be very good for you and provide numerous benefits over sleeping on the ground. Hammock sleeping is only just starting to gain ground in sleep science despite being used by various cultures as traditional bedding for centuries. The indigenous people of Latin America have long embraced the use of hammocks as a sleeping tool, and even to this day, some people grew up sleeping in a hammock every day. If the skeptics are still doubtful that hammock sleeping doesn’t have some sort of serious downside, I point to the Navy who adopted the use of hammocks instead of bed cots shortly after the discovery of hammocks by the first Europeans in South America. Sailors spent months at a time aboard sea vessels where each man was assigned a hammock.

So if all these people throughout history have relied on the hammock and studies have come out recently about the benefits of sleeping in a hammock, why is that many long time campers and hikers share the same doubts about spending a night in the hammock?

The negative connotations some people have about long term hammocking stem from a few common bad experiences: being in a hammock poorly designed for spending a lot of time in and improperly laying in the hammock. This guide will explore these areas and will address how to easily find the right hammock for you and the right sleeping technique to ensure a restful and healthy sleep outdoors that will even challenge the most cozy nights in your bed.

The Wrong Type of Hammock

However, despite how widespread these hammocks may be in the backyards of American homes, there is an unfortunate truth about this style of hammock: they are uncomfortable and a poor deviation from the traditional hammocks that have been used for centuries in Central and South America. Spreader bar hammocks differ greatly in many design aspects from the comfortable suspended beds of Latin America. These traditional hammocks feature no spread bars or thick rope bedding. This popular image of the hammock is actually very uncomfortable for anyone spending more than a few minutes at a time inside.

But why are spreader bars so bad? From a glance, it seems like a good idea to spread open the hammock and create a flatter, more bed-like appearance. By spreading open the hammock, it creates a more inviting product in the minds of the consumer. But the actual implementation of these spreaders created a number of unnecessary problems. For one, the introduction of the spreader bars disrupts the natural center of gravity of the hammock. Before spreader bars, a hammock didn’t have the appearance of a hanging bed, but once you got inside, you could stretch out, get a flat lay and move around without any fear of flipping over and falling. The spreaders, while giving the hammock itself a more inviting look, actually causes the weight to distribute unevenly, leading to sudden flips and shakes when you make the wrong move in the hammock. Many people new to hammock camping and sleeping in a hammock, recall experiences with these poorly designed hammocks and associate all the fears of flipping over and discomfort from spreader bar hammocks with all hammocks.



Now not only do spreader bars cause perfectly good hammocks to flip over, they are also physically uncomfortable to sleep in for too long. Since the use of the wooden bars at both ends prevents your weight from collecting at a lowest point naturally, the strange weight distribution causes pressure spots to develop and the uneven tension on the ropes can make your back sag in strange ways. This unnatural suspension is the cause of the back pain that many people instinctively associate with sleeping in a hammock. By using a camping hammock, your weight is distributed much more evenly throughout the entire hammock and the center of gravity can adjust with you no matter where you decide to rest inside the hammock. This is much more comfortable and after getting a flat lay, causes no back pain even after sleeping an entire night in the hammock.

Rope hammocks are just one of numerous styles of hammocks and there are many options out there that provide a vastly superior night’s sleep. Parachute nylon design is one of the most comfortable and lightweight designs out there. The nylon fabric is strong, breathable, and soft to the touch, and as a sheet, there are no criss crossing patterns to worry about embedding into your flesh. For those who’ve only experienced the horror of rope hammocks, understanding the benefits of a hammock designed specifically for camping is a necessary first step towards converting from dwelling inside tents.

How to Get a Flat Lay

Now that you’ve sorted through the hammock myths and misconceptions, you’ll probably be pretty excited about sleeping in your very own hammock soon. But you still have a few doubts. How can sleeping in such a curvy cradle possibly be comfortable? Surely something that is curved so heavily won’t let you lie flat and get a good night’s sleep. But as we said earlier, the reason the spreader bar was invented was to create a hammock that looked the part of the bed, but played it poorly. Soon, you’ll be able to see that, in fact, you can sleep perfectly comfortably in a hanging bed the shape of a banana.

When setting up the hammock, the first mistake many people make is to hang it up too tight. The logic is simple to understand: if I hang the hammock tighter, it’ll be flatter and allow me to lie in the hammock as if it were a bed. However, that logic doesn’t work in practice! What’ll actually happen when you get into a tightly hung hammock is:
The hammock will pull tighter under your body weight and the sides will cocoon around you. With your head lying at the midline of the hammock, the two sides will seem like huge walls and can make you feel claustrophobic even though you’re sleeping in the open air of a hammock.
The walls will pull tightly on both sides of you and force you stay perfectly still. The hammock will almost function as a restraint, preventing you from easily lifting your arms or moving your legs.
The extra tension caused by pulling the hammock so tightly can cause damage that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise. By setting up the hammock tight, you are introducing extra forces being applied to both the hammock and the anchor points. This can cause the hammock to rip or damage the tree you’re hanging from.


Instead, resist the urge to keep the hammock taut, and loosen it all up. Give your hammock a good amount of slack to work with. Take advantage of the loose material to stretch out and utilize the full width of the hammock. By lying at an angle, you can get a flat lay even when your hammock looks like a loose curvy sling.

After getting your hammock set up with plenty of slack, utilizing the angles your body can lie in will be the biggest key to hammock bliss. All you are doing is shifting your body from the midline of the hammock 30 degrees so that you are lying at a diagonal. What you’ll immediately notice is that the center of the hammock is the tightest, while the sides remain loose. By adjusting the angle of your body, you’ll be cutting across the curve of the hammock, and the hammock will automatically adjust by flattening out underneath you and creating a pretty flat lay with zero pressure points. You’re neck and feet will maintain a slight elevation and the hammock will naturally conform to the shape of your spine.



When using the angle trick, you’re not restricted to only sleeping on your back. You can treat the hammock as a bed and move around into all sorts of positions until you find one that you are most comfortable with. I personally prefer to sleep on my side and I can comfortably sleep in that position when I angle my body. Since the event of a flip is almost nonexistent in a well designed hammock, you can toss and turn as much as you want until you find a comfortable spot to retire for the night.

Insulation

Now that you know how to lie down in the hammock, the next step is to make sure you can stay warm! While most people associate tropical beaches and warm sunshine with hammocks, for the hiker and camper, chilly nights and an icy butt are much more common occurrences when unprepared.

Unless you’re camping out in the hot tropical rainforests, it’ll be a good idea to bring some insulation with you when spending the night in your hammock. The traditional sleeping bag and sleeping pad combo can work just as well suspended in the air as it does lying on the hard ground, with the added benefit of being a thousand times more comfortable. But why do I need a sleeping pad, you might ask. Since I’m not on the ground anyway, shouldn’t my sleeping bag be enough? That is not the case! The breathable fabric of a camping hammock that is so comfortable in the summer heat, also allows for the cold night air to pass through just as easily. A sleeping bag will cover your top insulation, but because you’re compressing the bottom half of the sleeping bag between yourself and the hammock, it loses the loft and insulating properties. A cheap foam pad can go a long way, but because they were designed to be used on a hard, flat surface, the natural curve of the hammock will cause the foam pad to suffer some minor deformations. An inflatable pad can also work very well in a hammock, especially styles that are designed to fit inside the sleeping bag such as the Kylmit Inertia X Frame. One of the biggest annoyances when trying to use a sleeping pad with a hammock is staying on top of the pad without accidentally rolling off in the middle of the night. A pad that goes inside the sleeping bag will keep the sleeping bag tethered to you so that even if you twist and turn, it’ll stay firmly underneath you throughout the night.



Another problem that might arise from using a sleeping pad in a hammock is that the pad may be too narrow for your shoulders. Depending on the slack of your setup, the sides of the hammock may give your shoulders a slight squeeze. Even if it’s only slight and barely noticeable, it can still compress your sleeping bag in that area and reduce the amount of insulation around your shoulders. Luckily there are a couple easy solutions for this. The first and cheapest option is to simply gather your extra clothes and stuff them into that space, creating a warm buffer layer. Simple and effective, the only drawback is that your clothes might not want to stay in place all night if you move around at all. Another option is to purchase specially designed sleeping pads for hammocks. These pads are almost the exact same as a normal camping pad, with the addition of two “wings” on both sides that add insulation for your shoulders and arms. You can easily modify your foam pad to make your own “wings” by cutting pieces off a cheap foam pad and attaching it to another foam pad with some duct tape.

Of course, for the seasoned hammock camper, the ultimate form of insulation comes from an under quilt-top quilt combo in lieu of a sleeping bag and pad. The premise behind these down quilts is simple: imagine a sleeping bag has been chopped in half across its length. Now you keep one half as a quilt to cover your topside, while you hang the other half underneath you, on the outside of the hammock, effectively forming an insulating cocoon around you. Since the insulating layer is on the outside, it does not suffer the same compression a sleeping bag would if you were to use it normally while lying in the hammock. Instead, this down layer - the under quilt - is allowed to expand and provide a ton of insulating surface area. The top quilt behaves in a similar fashion to a warm blanket. The under quilt-top quilt combo is the insulation system of choice for most hammockers because it gives you full insulation, but without the constricting confines of a sleeping bag. You’re free to move around and get into whatever comfortable position you want without losing any warmth. The only downside is the high price tag attached to purchasing a top quilt and an under quilt.

So if you have some extra money to spend and a desire for toasty nights and full range of motion, look into investing in a nice set of quilts to make take sleeping in your hammock to the next level. But for the budget hammocker, don’t be shy about reusing your sleeping bag and sleeping pad. There are also a couple tricks to get a great insulation system without breaking the piggy bank on a new underquilt and top quilt.

Bug Nets

Another common complaint I hear from tent campers thinking of adopting the hammock life is the insect problem that comes with any open air camping. A tent is naturally protected from most biting buggers as long as you’re not leaving the door open for long periods of time. But most hammocks will leave you completely exposed and at the mercy of tiny flying bloodsuckers. Fear not! Many options exist for you to protect yourself from mosquitoes, biting midges, spiders or other creepy crawlies that might wander into your hammock at night. Many bug nets designed specifically for use with a hammock exist to give you complete 360 degree protection by encasing the hammock in a mosquito net that can be easily attached to the ends of the hammock.

Oftentimes the best defense against mosquitoes and other pests is to avoid camping in areas that are hubs of mosquito activity. Stay away from camping near large pools of stagnant water where mosquitoes breed. The shore of that crystal clear lake might seem like a picturesque campsite, but be aware that mosquitoes are thinking the exact same thing! Sometimes, just moving a few hundred feet away from the edge of the lake can drastically reduce the amount of mosquito activity.

For those that live in areas where mosquitoes are an unfortunate constant, there are also many hammocks with built in mosquito nets attached to the upper portion. However, while these hammocks can prevent insects from getting in, they still do not fully prevent you from getting bitten through the fabric itself. If the mosquitoes are especially thick in your area, don’t be shy to give yourself a liberal spray of insect repellent before you head to sleep.

Bad Weather

Just because a hammock is best enjoyed in sunny weather, it doesn’t mean that you can’t use them in all weather conditions as long as you are well prepared. Just because there’s some rain in the forecast doesn’t mean that you’re now resigned to staying in a tent, with the added bonus of possible moisture soaking through. No, simply bring a rain fly and you can easily beat the weather while you hammock to the pitter patter of raindrops on your lightweight roof.

Rainflys come in many different shapes and materials, but almost any kind of tarp can be constructed into a sturdy shelter to protect your hammock. However there are several rainflys out there that are specifically designed for hammocking and have some hammock specific features to differentiate them from a standard ultralight backpacker’s tarp. These hammock rainflys are made with silnylon, a strong synthetic material that is also waterproof while being much lighter than the standard blue plastic tarp you might find at your local Walmart’s sporting aisle.

These rainflys can be easily set up by creating a ridgeline above your hammock with a piece of rope tied right on the two trees that you’re hanging your hammock from. The rainfly is draped the ridgeline and then tied to the ridgeline with either some cord or a hook to keep the fly taught on both ends. The sides of the rainfly are pulled outwards with guylines and staked down, similar to a tent. Depending on the weather conditions, you can keep the tarp more open when it is just a light drizzle or pull it down tight on both sides if you’re facing a massive squall.

While these lightweight silnylon rainflys are the shelter of choice for ultralight backpackers, any form of tarp, including the heavy blue tarps from the hardware store, will work to create an effective shelter from the rain. The downside of these tarps is the bulk and weight, but they are very durable and only cost a fraction of what a silnylon fly will run you.

If you’ve decided to stick with your hammock even in the thickest of storms, there are even shelters designed that fully encase your hammock on all sides, complete with zippable doors. These extreme shelter systems will convert your hammock into a floating fortress capable of protecting you from anything the clouds are going to throw at you (just as long you’re not hammocking on the tallest tree in a lightning storm). Essentially, your shelter will become a suspended tent, providing the complete protection of a traditional tent, but still keeping you aloft and allowing you to sleep in the comfort of your hammock. However, these fully enclosed shelters are restricted to a single hammock, so if you are trekking with a group, each person will need their own. In lighter weather, a single large rainfly can provide enough coverage to protect 2 or sometimes even 3 hammocks, allowing you and your friends to hang out together while waiting for the sun to shine through.

Straps or Cords?

Another common source of confusion comes from how to actually attach the hammock to the trees. Many hammocks come with a set of paracord or some other type of rope as their “suspension system”. Is it good enough to simply take a piece of rope and tie it around the tree to hook up the hammock? The short answer is no. Using rope leaves a very small amount of surface area making contact with the tree bark. The small surface area causes an excessive amount of pressure to the tree without spreading out the weight. Similar to how prolonged use of a woven rope hammock will uncomfortably dig into your skin, using a bare rope on the tree will dig into the bark of the tree, causing damaging the bark and causing stress to the tree. To avoid this, always use some form of webbing or tree straps when setting up the hammock. The width of the tree straps distributes the pressure across a larger surface area. It’s just like how lying in a criss crossing rope hammock will cut into your skin, but lying in a parachute nylon hammock will spread your weight out across the fabric and leave no random pressure points. Remember that you’re using a living tree to get that perfect hang. Do it a favor and don’t cause unnecessary damage with cords and rope!



In case of emergency
Having a hammock is not just great for relaxing and getting a great night's sleep. The bright colors and large fabric makes the hammock a perfect item to have in the worst case scenario. If you ever find yourself lost in the wilderness, the eye-catching colors of a hammock make for an excellent flag to signal emergency rescue crews. The large surface area allows the hammock to catch the wind and let's you fly a flag that is highly visible for miles around. If you damage your sleeping bag, or you end up lost without one, you can create an emergency sleeping bag by filling your hammock with grass, moss, pine needles, or other natural materials that can trap air. The hammock will keep the insulating materials in place while you wrap yourself inside it.

When you're lost, you might find yourself stranded in a place where there are no trees to fix as anchor points for your hammock. In this case, your hammock can act as an impromptu bivvy and provide some protection from the elements by crawling into the hammock on the ground and wrapping the sides around you. You can also remove the rope gathering the two ends of a parachute nylon hammock and revert it to a large rectangular sheet of nylon. While a hammock is not completely waterproof, this sheet can still be used in a pinch to create an impromptu shelter using a few poles or sticks and something to stake the corners into the ground. Your tree straps can also be used to tie branches together if you have the resources to build a shelter. Similarly, they can even be used to tightly fasten branches together into an emergency raft complete with a makeshift sail made from your hammock.

And that’s all there is to it! With this, we’ve busted through some of the common myths and delved into why some people are initially hesitant about sleeping in a hammock. I hope reading this has convinced you to pack a hammock with you on your next big trip!

[SilvrSurfr]

No mention of condensation with pads?

As a former editor, I feel you have used 3700 words to say what could be said in 1500 words. I am also somewhat surprised to hear I can use my hammock as a shelter.

You say, "While a hammock is not completely waterproof, this sheet can still be used in a pinch to create an impromptu shelter using a few poles or sticks and something to stake the corners into the ground." Really? I'm gonna use ripstop nylon as a shelter? I don't think so.

People sometimes go to ground and use the hammock as a bivy, but I don't think they're trying to do so without a tarp, which is what you seem to be implying.

[daneaustin3]

Many people do use a spreader bar style hammock to camp in. It isn't the rope type that you are discussing but I feel you shouldn't completely discount that style of hammock.

[zukiguy]

+1 on the don't bash all spreader bar hammocks. I'm a recent bridge convert and love it.

Also...people always get really worked up about privacy issues (changing clothes and such) and gear storage when using hammocks. It might be good to add some of those details up front.

Maybe too, highlight the "open air" feeling of a hammock as compared to being shut into a small 1-man tent. With my ground-dwellers I suddenly come very popular in a gentle rain as the only dry area to congregate in camp.

[Ratdog]

What blog?

pics of hanging directly over rocks? no good

pics of rope tied to steel carabiner linked to tree strap? much better pic options out there for that

[Zilla]

No offence intended but i think the best source of information for a beginner who is looking for tips and a good way to get started is right here on this forum, it not only has some of the most experianced hangers opinions but it akso has alot of different options on doing it right!
There is more than one way and style to hanging and tha hammock forum has just about every one of them allready covered from the do's and dont's to the don't really need to the must have.
Any looking to get started hammock camping and wants to find the most information on doing so need only to look right here IMO...!!!!
But like i said that's just my opinion,,and probably about a thousand or so other members i'm sure.!!

[alifeoutdoors]

Actually you could've saved a lot of typing and effort by just making your blog entry one hyperlink:

http://theultimatehang.com/

[Slugger]

However, while these hammocks can prevent insects from getting in, they still do not fully prevent you from getting bitten through the fabric itself.

Except when you buy one of the hammocks with a dual fabric bottom like the HH Deep Jungle Asym Zip. Skeeters can't get through dual bottom layers.

[wilsonlin45]

No mention of condensation with pads?

As a former editor, I feel you have used 3700 words to say what could be said in 1500 words. I am also somewhat surprised to hear I can use my hammock as a shelter.

You say, "While a hammock is not completely waterproof, this sheet can still be used in a pinch to create an impromptu shelter using a few poles or sticks and something to stake the corners into the ground." Really? I'm gonna use ripstop nylon as a shelter? I don't think so.

People sometimes go to ground and use the hammock as a bivy, but I don't think they're trying to do so without a tarp, which is what you seem to be implying.

Can you elaborate on the condensation? And thanks for the input on the length. I'll work on making it more concise and clarifying the bivy part.

No offence intended but i think the best source of information for a beginner who is looking for tips and a good way to get started is right here on this forum, it not only has some of the most experianced hangers opinions but it akso has alot of different options on doing it right!
There is more than one way and style to hanging and tha hammock forum has just about every one of them allready covered from the do's and dont's to the don't really need to the must have.
Any looking to get started hammock camping and wants to find the most information on doing so need only to look right here IMO...!!!!
But like i said that's just my opinion,,and probably about a thousand or so other members i'm sure.!!

Agreed, I think this forum has a ton of good information and it's where I started looking when I first converted to hammocks. I did find that I had to search a lot and sift through a lot of threads to find the information I was looking for. We want to create a one-stop resource for the traditional tent camper to learn more about hammocking without the commitment and effort of searching through forums.

What blog?

pics of hanging directly over rocks? no good

pics of rope tied to steel carabiner linked to tree strap? much better pic options out there for that

Good point on those pics, I'll look around for better ones!

+1 on the don't bash all spreader bar hammocks. I'm a recent bridge convert and love it.

Also...people always get really worked up about privacy issues (changing clothes and such) and gear storage when using hammocks. It might be good to add some of those details up front.

Maybe too, highlight the "open air" feeling of a hammock as compared to being shut into a small 1-man tent. With my ground-dwellers I suddenly come very popular in a gentle rain as the only dry area to congregate in camp.

Can you point me to more info on the spreader bars? What brands make these? I'll have to revise that section. I hadn't even thought of the privacy issue, I'll work that in as well.


Thanks for the great feedback so far everyone!