Going to Ground?

[Dragonhunter]

So, looking at some summer backpacking routes, and may end up in a situation where I have a night with no suitable trees. It seems, if I pack a sleeping pad, I could use my tarp, hammock, and trekking poles to make a serviceable shelter. (the hammock for the integrated bug net, this being summer....)

I plan to do some tinkering in the back yard with this, but thought there are probably ideas/techniques out there. If I could figure out how to use the search on here more effectively, I may have found them already....

[DocTheo]

So, looking at some summer backpacking routes, and may end up in a situation where I have a night with no suitable trees. It seems, if I pack a sleeping pad, I could use my tarp, hammock, and trekking poles to make a serviceable shelter. (the hammock for the integrated bug net, this being summer....)

I plan to do some tinkering in the back yard with this, but thought there are probably ideas/techniques out there. If I could figure out how to use the search on here more effectively, I may have found them already....

https://youtu.be/0j54vMKGhiQ

Here's Shug. There's others out there - but Shug is probably the go-to resource for all things hammock camping - or at least your first stop.

[Dragonhunter]

As always, Shug has it covered. Thanks for the link. That's more or less what I was thinking, though some good tweaks and thoughts about improvising a ground sheet. I still want to play with it in the backyard before I ever think I have to do it for real.

[Bob-W]

To ensure a taut pitch don't peg/stake the tarp directly to the ground but use lines to keep things up off the ground a bit. Helps with airflow as well. Don't worry about rain getting in, even with a strong wind you are unlikely to get more ingress than the height of the edge of the tarp.

[HarveyM]

I've used a lightweight tyvek as a groundsheet. A bit noisy (only when you turn) but other than that no problems.

[OutandBack]

So, looking at some summer backpacking routes, and may end up in a situation where I have a night with no suitable trees. It seems, if I pack a sleeping pad, I could use my tarp, hammock, and trekking poles to make a serviceable shelter. (the hammock for the integrated bug net, this being summer....)

I plan to do some tinkering in the back yard with this, but thought there are probably ideas/techniques out there. If I could figure out how to use the search on here more effectively, I may have found them already....

I've been hammock camping since 1970 and have never once had to go to ground. Proper planning is everything. The right equipment is everything.
In Colorado above treeline is lightning territory every day and some evenings. You don't want to be there. Hammock camping 1970.jpg

[cougarmeat]

Dragonhunter, I have this photo in seveal posts. I put down a ground sheet (black plastic), a therm-a-rest pad, then my hammock with bugnet. Using guylines and poles - I use collapsable poles when kayaking; hiking poles would work as well - I rig a tarp over the hammock. Then I attach the ends of the bug net to the poles, lifting it off my face.

hammocktent.jpg

[Recalc]

Just got back from a 26 day hike in which 2 nights were spent in a shelter.

• Slept on Polycro Ground sheet (40 x 96 in) + Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol (6 sections cut down to fit in a GG Gorilla pack)
• Under TQ and UQ.

Upside: Kept me warm with minimal pack weight penalty.
Downside: Frequently sliding off the marginalized ccf pad; too easy to get tangled up in UQ cordage.

This system is good enough but maybe not ideal.

[cougarmeat]

T’were it me, I’d skip the UQ - unless you are using it as a TQ add-on. The area under you is compress by your body weight. It works with a hammock because hanging under, it keeps its loft.

If having the go to ground is more frequent, something like HG’s “Wide” option could be useful. It’s amazing how those few extra width inches give you more “tuck-in-able sides to minimize gaps that might form if you move around. Or ... you could lay the UQ sideways on top of the TQ so it’s really wide from shoulders/chest down to waist - also covering gaps should you move around.

Oh, i see the UNDER emphasized now. Don’t mind me; I’m old.

[Perry]

T’were it me, I’d skip the UQ - unless you are using it as a TQ add-on. The area under you is compress by your body weight. It works with a hammock because hanging under, it keeps its loft.
.

My solution to this challenge is to carry a lightweight inflatable sleeping pad and Alton Goods bathtub groundsheet (weighs 340g). I agree the UQ is pointless as insulation underneath. I carry a couple of mylar emergency blankets, $12 for 6 from Amazon. They pack down smaller and lighter than tyvek and have several applications; not just as a ground sheet. I can use one under a sleeping pad if the R value is too low. I can also have one between the UQ and the hammock if the UQ rating is too high for the ambient temperature. I can only speak about how effective it was with a Subito 5C/41F underquilt in a -5C/23F situation. I was wearing a couple of layers but using my -5C/23F sleeping bag as a TQ I was toasty. It did prompt me to invest in an Alton Goods -5C/23F UQ and -10C/14F TQ but for $2 you can't go past the mylar emergency blanket. Admittedly you can hear it crinkling everytime you move but it works.