Who said setting up a hammock is fast?

[Floridahanger]

Your set up time with the fiddle factor that you CHOSE to do is exactly that.

My perspective is that we like to set up fast, just because we can.
We like to go slow and fiddle with this or that and take our time, just because we can.
Take your time and look for the perfect view from your trees, just because we can.

When setting up a tent, I didn't go fast, just because I could, but, because I had to. I knew the rest wasn't going to be great, so, the sooner it was done, the sooner I could sit THEN relax while I could before going to bed(and counting the time before getting up and off the uncomfortable ground).

With my hammock, I can go slow or fast. Doesn't matter. My sleep will be way better in less time than on the ground. That gives me more time to play and fiddle with my rig. That's a luxury I didn't have with the tent. Time is on your side and a hammock makes it a relaxing time.

[zukiguy]

I love to tinker as much as the next hanger. For the most part my site selection and process center around the tarp. If my tarp fits then my hammock will too. It lives on the outside of my pack so I can grab it as soon as I get into camp. If the weather looks to be turning south (or it's already raining) I can set up my tarp quickly and guy it down sharply for protection. The other option is "porch mode" if there's no wind so at least I have a dry spot to cook and relax. Many evenings my hammock and bedding don't come out of the pack until just before bed.

Once the tarp is up this little bit of space becomes "home" for the night. The rest goes up in stages as needed so there's no hurry. With a tent the fly typically goes on last and comes off first. What a terrible design for bad weather....

[hk2001]

I tend to be quite the opposite of most people apparently..

Unless I'm trying out a new piece of gear, I'm a "no muss, no fuss" kind of guy.. hammock, tarp etc is up in 5 minutes, and I'm either helping other people set up theirs, or I'm napping already.

[rob317]

I call it tuning... and i do a lot of it!

[K0m4]

I tend to be quite the opposite of most people apparently..

Unless I'm trying out a new piece of gear, I'm a "no muss, no fuss" kind of guy.. hammock, tarp etc is up in 5 minutes, and I'm either helping other people set up theirs, or I'm napping already.

This is what I do nowadays. I have a set-up, and it changes very little from one time to another. So up it goes, while the tent people are still on their knees figuring out where the first pole should go. They tend to stay in that position for a long time too - if you're set up right in porch mode, you can enjoy the show with a beer. Better than most evening TV!

[d_flo_yo]

I don't get out often enough to not constantly tune my setup. Plus, the addiction is real and there is always something new for me to play with. Rain changes things.

[Nodust]

It's fun to tune things. But if you get I to camp after a long hike and close to dark and getting cold you will want the ability to setup quick and just crash.

After making some coffee of course.

[steveflinn]

experience nurtures efficiency. i've been setting mine up daily on the back porch and doing weekend jaunts. now that i've settled on methods (i've spent a couple of years like you describe, playing and vetting and coming to have full faith in my favorite setup), i'm down to about 30 seconds take-down and put-up both. and most of that is spent either stuffing or unstuffing the pack or drybag.

hoping this is what it's like next year as I hike the PCT. especially because i plan to sleep twice a day.

[FLRider]

I dunno...I wind up with long, exhausting days frequently when I go out. This means that I want to set camp with a minimum of fuss when I reach it (matter of fact, I'm currently playing with the idea of going back over to straps and rings for this very reason). My current set-up takes me between five and ten minutes to set up in "zombie march mode", most of which is taken up by setting up my tarp (need to get a Dutch doohickey to replace my Prusik knot; the Prusik takes too long and too much finger pressure to adjust) and placing my poncho/undercover on the hammock when it's above ~50* F (below that, the UQ just stays on the hammock) or severe wind is forecast.

I use Dejoha's adjustable ridgeline for my tarp (the version with the carabiners...but, as mentioned, I intend on changing that in the near future). It's an asym, so it only requires two stakes. My stake guylines have LineLoc 3s at the tarp for adjustment and elastic loops to take up slack at the stakes. I just plant a stake, loop the elastic, and adjust as needed at the tarp.

My hammock runs in a single oversized snakeskin (similar to a Lazy Slug Tube) and uses whoopies and straps (though I'm considering going back over to just straps for convenience, now that my backpack design has changed). The straps go 'round the tree, a mini 'biner goes into the MSH knot, the whoopie goes over the knot and is clipped into the 'biner to provide assurance that it will stay on the knot, and the hammock is adjusted to the correct height and angle. The tarp CRL is then S-binered to the hammock suspension to hold the tarp in line with the hammock and prevent water intrusion through the whipping ends of the hammock. The snakeskin comes off of the hammock, and--if I don't have to hang my poncho as an undercover--I'm good to go. If I do, I hang the undercover, narrow the ends, close the head hole, place a space blanket into it all crumpled up as a dead-air space, and I'm good to go.

Takes maybe five to ten minutes, most of which is spent fiddling with the tarp to get it just right (it's tiny enough that it's not very forgiving of misadjustment).

That's not to say that your hammock needs to be set up this quickly. It's just that I don't want to fiddle with crap after a long day on trail or on the bike; I'm too tired for that crap [/DannyGloverVoice].

Hope it helps!

[Theosus]

Ive gotten much faster since I made tarp tree straps and quick-tie hooks (like dutch's tarp flies). The tarp goes up pretty quick. The hammock can be up in another few minutes with my tree straps, toggles and whoopies. Adding an under quilt and putting all my stuff inside takes some time. All together its no faster than some of my tent friends. The nicest thing is, with the tarp up, I can put everything away in a pouring rain, and then the tarp goes away last... unlike a lot of tent people that lose their shelter first. I left my tarp up last time, after everything was packed, and sat under it cooking and eating while watching my tent partners trying to pack away all their stuff without getting too soaked.