Suspension failure

[JDA]

Last night I slept in my hammock. At 1 am I spent way too much time fiddling with my sleeping pad because it was sliding around and just generally giving me fits.

I have hesitated getting myself an under quilt because I am always nervous that there will be some kind of suspension/hammock failure that will force me to the ground. But last night messing with my sleeping pad I wished for an under quilt like I have never wished for one before.

My question(s) is(are): is hammock failure common enough to worry about having to sleep on the ground? For those of you that have had a failure: were there warning signs?

TIA

[SilvrSurfr]

I've never had a suspension or hammock failure in eight years of hammock camping. Though I personally don't suffer from "What If I Have To Go To Ground?" syndrome, there are apparently many who do if you look at all the threads on this forum about that subject. If I did suffer from that syndrome, I'd bring a backup suspension or even a backup hammock before I'd sleep on the ground!

[Shug]

Pad help......https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...PBkH55Ns90zkAu

Never had to go to ground due to a suspension failure since 2007.

Carry forth.
Shug

[TallPaul]

I don’t sweat hammock failure.
If it does fail, then I may suffer a bit sleepwise until I can get back to a car or a town or trailhead. In the meantime, the tarp and quilt will still work and I can jury rig something for bugs/ground sleeping.
If the concern is an area has only sparse trees (like the desert or above tree line), then I’d bring a tent or just not hike or camp there.

[OneClick]

I try not to think of the what ifs. Even if you do prepare by carrying extra junk, as luck would have it you'll probably get something like a tear down the center of the hammock so you're done anyway. Stick with quality, well-tested gear and have a good time!

[Brooklyn]

Generally not a legit worry. That said, I'm not going into the backcountry with less than in-good-repair gear. If you do a general check of your shelter and other gear for evident wear/flaws before leaving and you'll be fine. This goes with any gear, not just hammocks.

[leiavoia]

Never had this happen either.

Worst case scenario: you sleep on the cold hard ground for a few uncomfortable hours and then get up early. It isn't life threatening. You're tough. You can handle it.

[JDA]

thanks for the responses all.

I just won't worry about it.

[BillyBob58]

Last night I slept in my hammock. At 1 am I spent way too much time fiddling with my sleeping pad because it was sliding around and just generally giving me fits.

I have hesitated getting myself an under quilt because I am always nervous that there will be some kind of suspension/hammock failure that will force me to the ground. But last night messing with my sleeping pad I wished for an under quilt like I have never wished for one before.

My question(s) is(are): is hammock failure common enough to worry about having to sleep on the ground? For those of you that have had a failure: were there warning signs?

TIA

Who knows, maybe 1 in thousands of uses? If that? I mean look at all the thousands of members here posting year after year and how often is such reported? Very rarely.

But I always take some sort of pad on any of my back county trips for other reasons:
1: no trees. Only happened to me once, on my first ever hammock trip, when I had too severe a case of altitude sickness to get over a pass and down to where there were trees. Probably never happened again because once I was a true hammock convert I always make sure to arrange things so that I am not caught with no trees. But had at least 1 other close call where I was sort of wanting to go to ground out in a near by meadow because there were so many widow makers in the area where I ended up for the night. But, I took my chances and hung in the safest place I could find among those widow makers.

2: surviving the cold when it all goes wrong. Ed Speer taught me this in the 1st book on hammock camping way over 10 years ago. Plenty of people here know that during unexpectedly severe weather(maybe resulting in either unexpectedly severe cold, or damp insulation, or wind that can not be escaped, or all 3) or sometimes, for unknown reasons(UQ just won't fit right tonight for some reason), it just ain't going to work. If you can not deal with some hammock mystery to solve an unknown problem, or it is just way colder than you counted on, then going to ground is a good back up plan. We just go bck to what we know and what is almost guaranteed to keep us from hypothermia: on the ground, on a pad, tarp pitched at a low angle not providing so much of a sail in the wind. And closed up on both ends and tight to the ground, maybe with leaves piled around the bottom edges. All that stuff we know from our ground days. Plus, your UQ can now do double duty layered on top or under your TQ, suddenly you have another 30 or 50*F of warmth on top! If you have a pad to lay on, you are not as comfy a in a hammock for sure, but you will survive with ease if you have that ground pad with you.

3: back up in your hammock for when you figure out that your UQ is just not going to hack it. Add 30-40*F to your under warmth by using pad + UQ.

4: also use as sit pad, fire fan, or possibly as a wind shield for stove.

So I have never gone on a trip way into the wilderness without a pad as back up.

If you insist on using a pad alone for insulation- sounds like you will soon get an UQ- consider a bridge hammock. There is no comparison of a pad in a bridge vs gathered end. You will have none of those issues you mentioned with a bridge, especially if it has a pad pocket.
Not a tree in sight!


Sure was glad to be able to get over the pass the next morning and down to Lonesome Lake where there were some trees!I know, the tarp looks awful, but I was new, and anyway I was still super comfy after a night on the ground!

[hutzelbein]

Whenever I get worried about things like these, I like to think about this quote:

If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.

A pad is not a great match for a gathered end hammock. Still you're using one and live with all the negatives just to be able to sleep on the ground just in case of hammock failure. If you're using a hammock made from 0.69oz quilt fabric and are hanging it from Zing-It/Lash-It cord, I would say your worries are justified and it might be a good idea to keep a pad in that set-up. However, if you're using a hammock made from 40D fabric and a suspension that is sold explicitly for hanging hammocks, and if you're not over the weight limits, I'd say get an underquilt, check your gear for signs of stress before you head out, and forget about the what ifs. Yes, **** happens, but a pad could also fail. There could be land slides, earth quakes, asteroid collisions and what not. Make reasonable precautions and then forget about your worries and enjoy the next comfort level

For what it's worth: I never had a suspension failure apart from incorrectly threaded cinch buckles (which I could easily fix).