My first hammock camping experience

**ckfalz** · 11-26-2016, 08:55

I'd like to say thanks for all the info on this site. I've had my Dutch hammock for a while. I tried it with a pad and found that to be troublesome and uncomfortable so I decided I would go ahead and get an UQ now. After reading a lot on this website, I got the Cayenne Pepper UQ. I completed things with a Noah's tarp. I was a bit worried about how things would go, this being my first time.

I took both my dogs and the forecast ranged from 50's to 30's for overnight lows. Also some rain in the forecast. Since this is all new to me, I also brought my tent. I could not have been more comfortable the first night. I was so pleased. I was even more pleased when the temps dropped to the 30's and I was still warm and cozy. However, my dog did get cold so I moved into the tent and warmed him until he stopped shivering. I need to modify my tarp to give more protection at ground level. When it rained, I chickened out and went in the tent with the pups, I was not sure I could keep them dry if the storms were strong as they were forecasting. Still, in the morning I checked the hammock and everything was dry in there.

Next time, I am not taking the backup tent. I had a great sleep each night in the hammock and was warmer than I ever imagined.

Here is my setup. Next time, I'll drop the tarp to the ground to give the pups more protection on colder nights.

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**Silverpalm2x** · 11-26-2016, 10:06

Sounds like a good learning experience. Best of luck in the future.

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**BiGR Rich** · 11-26-2016, 10:38

If i'm not mistaken, there was a thread here about camping with dogs. There was info about bringing water & food for them, sleeping pads, lights, etc.....

Glad to hear you had a good experience, and you were prepared for everytgingď

**ckfalz** · 11-26-2016, 10:58

The dogs had jackets, sleeping pads covered with fleece. Also food & water. But I had the tarp set up with a gap between it and ground which let wind in right at dog level. I'll remedy that in future when it's really cold.

**johnspenn** · 11-26-2016, 11:39

What size is your Kelty?

I use a Noah's 12 and it's no problem to get the sides to ground level if needed.

**ckfalz** · 11-26-2016, 12:09

Originally Posted by johnspenn

What size is your Kelty?

I use a Noah's 12 and it's no problem to get the sides to ground level if needed.

That's what I have. I just didn't think it through in advance (not used to using a tarp) and didn't have them go to ground. It was not so cold the other nights and dogs were fine. I also learned that one of them finds it fun to chew through guy lines. Working on a fix for that.