Site selection resources

[Halfed]

A few years ago I was camping in my hammock in the middle of a nowhere in the Amazon. Really far from any "civilization". I have heard a tree falling down in the afternoon and one in the middle of the night. The last one almost block the river we had to come through. I'm not an expert in choosing trees, but I look for the small ones with no biggest around.

[Hang Williams]

Site selection is definitely still a struggle for me. My eyes haven't adjusted to looking for the right tree sites as opposed to tent sites yet so I'll keep an eye on this thread for recommended resources.

I figure the dead fall scouting is about the same as tent camping, just you happen to be amongst trees anyways. Still, I've yet to find a resource that really goes into sufficient level of detail and am left with the impression that it amounts to a judgement call. I find many established sites have at least one questionable tree, but if I go into the green stand of trees nearby I can generally find two trees without scrub between them.

[Sean McC]

When you see a true ‘widow maker’ you will know it. Kind of like when I was a kid and I wondered if I could tell the difference between a big deer and an elk and then I saw my first elk and I was like ‘oh’

And really there are plenty of widow maker out in the areas I frequent. It is just a big dead branch that is big enough to mess you up if it comes down. If a branch has needles or leaves it is probably OK. I look up when pitching any gear (tents to) and if I see a big limb that it broken off on the end with a bunch of moss hanging off it I move on. And there are lots that are that obvious as a good big dead limb has generally had plenty of time to degrade before fully breaking off. The branches need to show some sign of actually being alive. And while anything that drops on you can be dangerous I generally only worry about limbs that are over a couple inches in diameter.

I also generally do not camp by dead trees unless I am confident I know which way it is going down (leans heavily). Winds are way to finicky.

[Sean McC]

Derek does have details in the Ultimate Hang 2 about positioning for wind and things like that. So far that is above my pay grade and I am generally just looking for two solid tress where I want to have my camp (without any booby traps including shrubbery getting hung up in by stuff).

Though I highly recommend the book.

[cmoulder]

More good info from HF member Carver.

[sideshowraheem]

This link is also excellent - https://andrewskurka.com/five-star-c...-introduction/
Focus isnt on trees for hanging but overall campsite selection in areas where applicable. I've found it really helpful when I get to make the rare trip out west in national forest lands.

[WV]

Thanks for the Skurka link, Raheem. I look for zones, as opposed to spots (to use his terms), starting my site selection before the actual trees I'll use are in sight. Give me a grove of 6 to 8 inch hardwoods halfway down a ridge and 200 ft. above the stream below. If there are evergreens off to the side to block the wind, so much the better, and if there's a little level spot, my dog won't slide downhill. That's the ideal place to look for hammock trees.

[OneClick]

I'm terrible. I'll walk around in circles for 20 minutes complaining about no good spots. Then set up, and maybe move. By the time it's all over, I never looked up once or considered any kind of hazards.

[T_Rav]

I’m new to hanging, but have had similar trouble. In the sub-alpine regions of the west, our pines have been hit hard by Japanese pine beetles. It has left a large percentage of dead trees and finding a spot that is free of dead, leaning trees is difficult, sometimes impossible. As time goes by and the trees rot, this will become an even bigger issue.

[DGrav]

Peter Pan wrote this article years ago, the whole first section is about site selection with tips I still use on every trip.: https://www.jacksrbetter.com/nesting...m-an-old-coot/