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  1. #1
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    Hammock Bug Net v. Simple Head Net

    Are there any out there who have had success using a simple head net for bugs, rather than an entire hammock bug net (either integrated or a 360 sock net)?

    The majority of the hammock camping I will be doing will be at high elevation where it is cool enough at night that I will have long sleeves, long bottoms, socks, and a top quilt covering me, so the only bare skin would be my head. Still, these same high elevation areas where I camp are notorious for mosquitos during the summer months. I like the idea of openness and not needing to get in and out of a hammock bug net, and it seems that a simple head net could suffice. I have heard of UL backpackers that make a head net work with a bivy setup. I have not tried just a head net during mosquito months out of fear that I will still get eaten alive somehow.

    Does anyone here have experience hanging in buggy areas with just a head net for bug protection? Thanks all!

  2. #2
    FLTurtle's Avatar
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    The hard part would be keeping the netting off your face. If the netting is on your face, they just gonna poke through and getcha. I guess if you wore a hat to bed and didn't roll around, flattening out the brim.

    There's also the DW Half Wit hammock with a half bug net: https://dutchwaregear.com/product/ha...bric-and-color

    Check out Sintax77's YT channel...he uses the Half Wit on a bunch of his trips: https://youtu.be/7o5IYvs9QJw?t=2087

  3. #3
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    I carry a HUG net from ArrowHead. It covers your head area and draps down towards your waist. There's a connection that goes under your hammock and a line that connects to something above the hammock (a ridgeline or suspension) to lift it off your face. The idea is the rest of your body is in a TQ and you are protected below with a pad or UQ. It only takes one Bzzzzzer to ruin a night’s sleep.

    It’s cheap (bulk/weight) insurance when you know their won’t be bugs … but there might be.
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  4. #4
    Senior Member sidneyhornblower's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mountainmatthew View Post

    Does anyone here have experience hanging in buggy areas with just a head net for bug protection?
    Yep, I've done just that on a short August two night trip looping around Blood Mountain. It worked fine for me wearing a ball cap to keep the net off my face and was, obviously, a very lightweight solution. I've considered doing it some more as I prefer modular hammock components. My bug net of choice these days is a DIY HUG-style net that I can put on or leave off depending on conditions. It weighs just a tad over 3 ounces. I'm not sure what the head net weighs but it's much lighter than that.
    "...the height of hammock snobbery!"

  5. #5
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Whatever your hammock configuration, net or netless, it might still be a good idea to have a head net.

    A few years back some friends and I did the Copper Ridge loop in North Cascades and overall the bugs were not bad at all, except at Copper Lake where the mosquitoes were horrible. However we had head nets and that made all the difference. It was pretty cool temperature-wise so we were wearing wind shells and leg coverings, so we were able to have dinner, relax and chat in peace. I think I used DEET on my hands. I was wearing a Tilley hat which kept the net away from my neck.

    I also did not regret carrying the DH Darien with integrated net.

    Some days I've hiked with giant swarms of gnats following me everywhere, and that Ben's Invisinet was a boon then, too. May and June it's practically mandatory for the black flies. It's regular kit for me in the warmer months.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
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  6. #6
    Senior Member rweb82's Avatar
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    On warmer nights, I will typically kick a leg out of my TQ to cool off. So if you're like me, the half bug net system would not be a good option. I don't mind carrying an extra 6oz. to know for sure that I will be protected from "biters."

  7. #7
    dakotaross's Avatar
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    For many of the reasons you mention, I typically go netless here in the SE Appalachians. Never had an issue. I do take a head net and have only used it once - for gnats while hiking.
    "I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
    - Kate Chopin

  8. #8
    PopcornFool's Avatar
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    Are you a cold sleeper? I usually don't go to the long sleeves and long bottoms until the temperatures drop below about the mid-50's F. Coincidentally, that happens to be roughly the same temperature that mosquitoes stop flying. In cooler weather, I typically go completely netless. I don't even start thinking about using a netted hammock or fronkey bugnet until the evening/sleeping temps are above 50 degrees.

    If your "cooler"" weather will be 50's or below, you may be worrying unnecessarily.
    If "cooler" for you means 60's or 70's, or if the skeeters in Utah fly around in little mini fleece jackets, then please feel free to completely ignore my post.
    ~ All I want is affordable, simple, ultralight luxury. That’s not asking too much is it?

  9. #9
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    Thank you all for the thoughts and input!

  10. #10
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    I personally would find a bug headnet annoying while trying to sleep in the hammock.
    Shug
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

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