Don't dis your tenting roots dude!
Don't get me wrong, hammocking is cool and very comfortable, but tents have their place.
+1 on the gearbox.
Don't dis your tenting roots dude!
Don't get me wrong, hammocking is cool and very comfortable, but tents have their place.
+1 on the gearbox.
Clark NX-250, Warbonnet Superfly, Custom made Down, Underground Underquilt. DIY Suspension & Continuous Ridgeline.
Clark NX-250, Warbonnet Superfly, Custom made Down, Underground Underquilt. DIY Suspension & Continuous Ridgeline.
It's funny, I've never back packed with a tent but camped with one for several several years. I started back packing a little over three years ago and went straight to a Hammock. However the one thing I do miss about a tent is simply sitting up in it inside with all my stuff spread out in a RAIN storm. Yes I know you can sit in the hammock as a chair very easily and like Shug I use a piece of plastic to put my pack and gear on however their is just something about sitting on the hard ground in a rain storm all tucked away in a tent protected from all the elements. And this is also coming from some one who uses a four season tarp with doors all year round. However when it would be time to go to sleep, I would def. want to crawl back into my hammock.
Sometimes I like to hike and think, And sometimes I just like to hike.
Hiking is'ent about waiting for the storm to pass its about learning to hike in the rain.
I miss that special zen-like moment when I break camp, clear the kids' gear from the family tent, only to discover they have dragged half of the dirt, bugs, pebbles, and pine needles from our campsite into said family tent.
I miss the yearly flash of inspiration I receive when I decide to simply pick the thing up, turn it upside down, and shake all of the aforementioned crud back into our campsite (I feel bad taking that much of a national forest with me).
I miss the yearly opportunity to resolve never to tilt a tent upside down and shake all the crud out, when I KNOW (just like Charlie Brown knows that Lucy is going to pull the football away at the last minute) that the wind will pick up or change direction, and blow all the aforementioned crud in my face.
I miss the bewildered look of dissappointment on the Missus' face as she witnesses this act, yet again.
I miss the cute, condescending way the Missus says "Well, there's always NEXT year," as I fall to the ground, brushing the crud from my eyes, spitting it from my mouth, and blowing it out of my nostrils... with the tent on top of me.
You're gonna need a bigger hammock
I was taught to hang my pack on a tree as a Scout. I've always done that and still do it out of habit. I've hung the nearly empty pack on my ridgeline from time to time, but still go to a tree out of habit. I tuck everything in tightly under the pack cover and about the only thing that has ever been wet from a storm is the waist belt.
Just the way I learned. I used to use a poncho in my heavy weight packing days and the belt never even got wet back then!
Last edited by ftroop94; 04-24-2012 at 21:39.
Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.
Not Shug but part of the answer. Live in places with minimal poisonous bugs. A lot of the camping practices here are more or less area specific. Few snakes and bugs in the frozen north. The warmer it gets the more things seem to bite or sting so the more one needs to take precautions.
FWIW it's easy to DIY a gear hammock that will live under your tarp. Use a small rope to pull it off to one side and it's possible to sit in the hammock with "stuff" within easy reach. Follow any of the basic hammock directions here and adjust the size. You also might find this interesting:
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...=SteelerNation
When tent camping....I miss the wind proofness, the privacy, and nesting. I still nest with my hammock, but it sure is limiting. I have a bigger tarp now, so that will help with wind. As for privacy....quite honestly I've reached an age I really don't care anymore and I'm sure no one wants to see anymore, and I just do the best that I can to change as quickly as I can. More fear of the damage to the other persons eyes, and not my pride.
do we have a franken hammock/tent possibility hear......mmmwwwwhhhhhahaha
sorry..... seriously though, has anyone thought of rigging a hammock through a tent, so best of both worlds....it could be called the 'Hamment' or the 'Tenock'.....i think ive lost the plot
Clark NX-250, Warbonnet Superfly, Custom made Down, Underground Underquilt. DIY Suspension & Continuous Ridgeline.
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