Hasn't happened to me yet. If I know for sure there won't be trees where I'm camping, then I take a tent instead--but that's rare. In the Pacific Northwest, more often the bigger problem is finding trees that are small enough to wrap my straps around. ;-)
I hear ya on that front. I had to double up a pair of ENO Atlas straps on a trip this year inside Mt. Rainier NP.Originally Posted by RichardDavies
Yeah, I had to start carrying a set of amsteel dog bones to extend my straps for the big trees. They've saved me more than once.
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Being forced to ground because of no trees does sound more like bad planning, so it is not surprising that this isn't a very common occurrence in a group that has this much experience.
In a group setting, where you have traveled into the piney woods (canoe/portage) and you don't have an easy exit .... being forced to ground isn't fatal, but it can make for a very unhappy camper. On a trip last year, one of the guys had a catastrophic hammock failure in the middle of the night. As group we just didn't plan for this type of gear failure, so after a cold night for the individual, we had to head out early. The UQs are pretty much useless on the ground, so although he went to ground, a pad would have made it workable instead of freezing ...
We have shifted our paradigm to plan for gear failure, a bit of extra amsteel for rigging, adding a 5 cm Exped downmat to my gear list .... 2 small items that allow recovery from pretty much any expected gear failures (mat for going to ground, amsteel for rigging, duct tape already on list for tears/leaks etc).
So being forced to ground is something I plan for now, not crazy, but enough to not have to leave a trip early ...
Brian
Not ever on a backpacking trip. Once on a car camping trip early on in my hammock career. Once a year I go to ground at a fundraiser in a local park that doesn't have available trees, only for one night. Only because I don't trust my DIY turtle dog build (my build ) not the design itself. I'm putting in a budget for a Tensa stand to resolve that problem.
Lucky me, lucky mud. - Kurt Vonnegut.
I, too, am always concerned. Perhaps, this just shows my inexperience in the area of backpacking and site selection.
I was lucky to have a car-camping site with a pair of trees at Colorado Bend State Park in Texas. However, I jogged through the park to investigate primitive camping options, but to no avail. The trees were all thin and small -- cedar trees, I think. Even car-camping sites had limited hangable trees.
During my road trip to New England, I was often slightly stressed at the thought of breaking out the tent in rainy weather. I slept in the vehicle in Charlottesville due to the torrential storm in Shenandoah NP and in Arkansas due to excess humidity, mosquitos, and bees in Memphis, TN. I hung at all other campsites at the risk of seeming high maintenance with the front desk. I wouldn't sleep in my hatchback again unless I find a better way to be comfortable. This led me to search for a nice fully loaded SUV with standard transmission and a great stereo without any luck.
If I do not arrive at car-camping sites early enough, I often fear that I will have no hangable trees. The National Forests in Texas also seem too dense for hanging; thus, my never-ending anxiety about planning a backpacking trip. Perhaps, I will finally take the plunge before Spring begins.
Last edited by W8lkinUSA; 11-10-2018 at 10:19.
That is what I would do as well. I'm not sleeping on the ground again. Ever.
"Behold, as a wild a** of the desert, go I forth to my work." -- Guerney Halleck
There are too many places that I still want to hike where hammocks would be near impossible that I don’t think I could say “never.” As it stands now, I’m not likely to use a tent again, but if I get an opportunity to hike somewhere that hammocks aren’t practical I’m not passing it up just to stay off the ground.
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I like camping on exposed ridges sometimes. Carry a 3/4 pad and just use your tarp staked out in an A-frame. No issues....
There you go. Stuff happens. Like you now(from experience), I have always tended to be at least minimally prepared for not being able to hang, whatever the reason might be.
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