Going to ground

[HomesteaderWB]

I discovered this forum some time ago, just before I left on a motorcycle trip. My ride wound up aborted I hate to say, but I did have some experiences. First among them was that I had to go to ground more often than I would have liked.

The way I handled it was to pull out an oilskin tarp, sleep pad, and sleeping bag to get through the night. Not even in the same ballpark as hammock camping.

How do you all handle it when you simply have no choice but to go to ground, especially if you only planned to hang?

[Runsalone]

For me, my plan is to use my pack and sit pad/extra clothes as a sleeping pad, lower the tarp and proceed to camp in the usual fashion. I have a little sheet of tyvek that goes under my hammock that would be used to try and keep things clean as possible. The most likely way this has happened to me (hypothetically) is that I busted my hammock, so that will also be going under, around, or over wherever it will help.

Short answer is Ill use the things I have with me to make it work. Im not going to carry extra things in case of it.

[Shug]

I would set my hammock on ground. Have not had too though.
Though I do find the Haven Tent to be a great go-to-ground option and woulfd tote it if I knew I would have to. It is pad dependent so there ya' go.
Shug

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[dkurfiss]

Motel??? I do a lot of camping/travel on my motorcycle so I just toss up a tarp and a pad I carry with me since weight is a non issue. Mostly I have a stand with me so.....unless something major breaks, I don't go to ground but have been known to use a Hampton Inn

[Saltfly]

I keep movin till I can sleep above the ground.


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[Runsalone]

Knowing the nature of the trip and/or cause of GTG would be helpful. I can only think of about three.
-wrong or no trees
-catastrophic~ish gear failure
-really really crap weather

The solution if the gear isn’t restricted to being carried in a backpack might be more elaborate. Like an entire backup hammock Lol.

[ObdewlaX]

In my early, (EARLY!) hammock days, I did a cold weather trip with my bottom entry Hennessy Hammock & didn't know much about under the hammock insulation. Back then, I was using a Z Lite CCF pad to keep my backside warm & along with a sleeping bag and layers, that was my kit up to that point. The first night out, I froze my tail off & had to go to ground, which wasn't so bad but getting into the hammock from the bottom, was a real challenge. No doubt it would be much easier via top entry.

[cougarmeat]

In my kayak I carry collapsible poles, but hiking poles would work as well. If Ground may be necessary, I carry a visqeen ground sheet and a therm-a-rest pad. I put the sheet down then the pad, then the hammock on top of the pad. I guy out the poles and connect the hammock bug net to them to keep it off my face. I also use those poles to hold the ridgeline of the tarp. Here’s a photo of a “proof-of-concept” when I was showing a fellow paddler that my hammock would make a better tent than his tent would make a hammock. Note that a UQ, especially in the summer, can be pretty small bulk-wise. So you could carry a pad AND a UQ.

hammocktent.jpg

[SilvrSurfr]

In 12 years of hammock camping, I have never had to go to ground. I see no reason why I would ever have to go to ground, since there's too much information on the Internet to ever have to go to ground. Google Maps pretty much tells you if there are trees wherever you're going, not to mention all the other info you can glean about a given area from sites like HF.

However, if you just want to be spontaneous, and have no idea where you'll end up sleeping, then by all means make sure your kit is suitable for going to ground. I personally use a GoLite pack that uses a ccf pad as a "frame," so if necessary, I can always sleep on that pad. That's about as much prep as I'll do for "going to ground."

[hutzelbein]

My solution depends on the kind of trip I'm planning.

Hiking in an area where there are trees: take the hammock and keep walking until I find two trees.
Hiking in an area with absolutely no trees: leave the hammock at home and take a tent.
Cycling with stopping at campsites: pack a hammock stand. My carbon hammock stand weighs as much as the Tarptent I used to pack as an insurance.
Car camping: definitely take my Tensa stand.