Hammocks for Bikepacking?

[HaYWiRe]

I've heard them mentioned in a few other threads, anyone else prefer to sleep suspended? Up and away from damp and slugs.

I've used to hang quite often when hiking, as I live near plenty of trees and by "waterfall county", its as light as most other shelters, or lighter if you embrace Ti, dyneema and 7/64" Armsteel.

However the places I hiked were certainly more for climbers than bikers and all my main trails are either quite open...hilly...sparse and boggy, and any more wooded areas seem like a bad place to be wildcamping.

So does anyone here use a hammock for bikepacking or touring? How practical do you find it? I mean surely you can keep the bike safe under you, no poles or rigid supports so you're only packing soft fabric and you can keep wet parts away from dry parts?

Useful for biking or not, come summer time everyone is jealous during garden parties when i crack out the portable hammock stands

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'll use a hammock every so often, however I find their use is flawed: In winter they're cold, so you need to carry extra kit to compensate and in summer, the woods and forests are full of midges

[Cheeky Monkey]

I use them more than not.

They are a compromise, often one I'm happy to make. But I also compromise for bivi / ground sleeping e.g. usually opt for a "comfy" matt (full length downmat) over ultra-light alternatives.

I find hammocks comfier than the ground. Ultimately, I think bivi kit is lighter, more compact and versatile but see above, this isn't often my over-riding reason for kit choice (the guy who wrote "The Ultimate Hang" has some good stuff on his blog discussing ground-dwelling/hammocking and the real cost / weight / bulk comparisons of the systems.

There's something really nice about sleeping and waking up in a hammock in the "right" place. Plus, my kids love it, more so than bivi-ing (not a bikepacking issue but once you've got the kit for this, you might as well use it when other opportunities arise).

The apposite phrase is, I believe, Hang Your Own Hang (HYOH)

[darbeze]

Going to try out my hammock on Bach to Bach this weekend!

I shall try and find somewhere woody to sleep..

My son writes a good hammocking blog that does cover different models that he reviews. He is mad on hanging... The few times I have tried it, I liked it very much.

http://www.hammocker.co.uk

Si

[benp1]

I haven't used my hammock for about 4-5 years! I really need to use it again at some point

I preferred ground dwelling as it was less faff and required less stuff. Hammocking was comfier, but for trips where I'm on the move ground dwelling kit is easier to carry and gives more options

[HaYWiRe]

I've been on hammock forums for years, and a big fan of Derek's work (and book)

I found winter difficult, and while getting warm insulation light enough isn't too hard, its often very bulky regardless. I tend to take a sacrifice of weight if it means smaller pack size, I got rid of my underquilts a while back because of this

I mainly liked a hammock as it means being up and away from bugs, even with an ultralight net, surprisingly roomy.

Infact, my hammock and suspension come to just under 300g, and pack just bigger than a tennis ball, so if I'm not out overnight then it makes a cracking mid ride rest stop

Its just a shame my tarp and insulation for +/- 1c weight.....far too much

[gentjim]

I am thinking about maybe bringing my hammock this weekend... Have actually been nerdily weighing my kit and thinking of my options... Thinking I won't be riding to hard and might make it more about a bike-bimble with a campout. Hmm...

BTW, I love the hammocker.co.uk blog, Si. Kudos to your son. I have embraced the idea of "adventure steak".

In terms of does it work with bike-packing, I think it broadly does, with some slight constraints. Essentially it's comfier, but on the downside you can't simply lie down, unroll bivy and have a quick kip. So if you're on a Trans Am race, less useful. If you're out and about with mates for an "adventure" (or whatever the term of the moment is) then they're great.

As with everything there's a compromise / balance, I think that the comfort of a hammock, and the consistency / replicability of the night’s sleep is great.
Lovely and warm, no downhill bivy-slippage on grass, no stiff back on stones, no damp chill when there’s run-off, no slug crawling over your face at 4am, just a great night floating in a cushion of down. (That’s’ obviously provided you actually sleep ok in a hammock, and don’t e.g. get motion sick, like my girlfriend, which is a bit of bummer for a hammock.)

I was bikepacking (mainly hike-a-bike…) on Dartmoor in the beginnings of the winter gales and in gopping rain, but once I'd decided I’d had enough (not long after I realised I couldn't feel my nose, fingers, or feet, and that I'd drowned my iphone) I was swiftly snuggled up in the hammock with a top-quilt and a down underquilt, cooking supper from my bed, and with my clothes hanging up to dry, and sipping malt from my hip flask. There was occasionally a slightly alarming sway from the gale in the trees, but I actually wound up oversleeping the next morning. Lovely.
A bivy would have been absolutely fine, although almost certainly damper, and less comfortable (YMMV).

[gentjim]

I'm clearly looking for diversions from work on my second day back, hence a second post!

FWIW, I think the views on weight are often a bit skewed slightly from what’s available in the UK at the moment vs. the US.
Ultralight in the UK is a niche. Ultralight in a hammock in the UK is a ridiculously tiny niche within a niche!

A lot of people therefore look at stuff you can buy direct online here (e.g. DD hammocks gear) which is typically fine but in the same camp as general "bushcraft" style gear, and then add up the weight and think “heavy”, but perhaps as compared to more widely available ultralight bivys, groundsheets, and tarps, rather than the more rough-and-tough bushcraft equivalent bivys and tarps, if you see what I mean.

Lightweight gear is available to us, mostly made to order in the US, and if you buy from their sales, then the import taxes seem a bit less punitive…But it does mean it's more of an arse to get hold of.

Alan Dixon’s article on Andrew Skurka’s site covers ultralight hammocking really well (albeit from a US perspective).
http://andrewskurka.com/2012/hammocks-a ... dvantages/

Overall my hammock set-up is actually heavier than my bivy, but I'm not convinced it’s "materially" heavier when taken in the context of my overall gear weight:
Hammock, rigging, plus top- and bottom- insulation - 2.08kg
Bivi, rigging, plus top- and bottom- insulation- 1.75kg
(I think the comparison is pretty like for like as both are set-ups for winter use for me at comfortable levels (e.g. I use reasonably warm under-insulation both for my bivy (Neo-Air X-Therm) and for my hammock (full length underquilt)).

That's like leaving a down vest at home, and using your top quilt around you while you sit comfortably on your hammock in the morning drinking your coffee...

While I guess it's about 15-20% weight difference when looking just at shelter and insulation alone. But if you consider that overall it's really more like a 2-3% increase when considered in the context a 10-15kg total load ...

There are two areas think things do diverge materially:
1) comfort - especially in the wet / cold – I really find the hammock so much better.
2) Faff – it’s relatively straightforward once you know what you’re doing but you do need two adequately spaced trees, a little more tweaking time than a tarp, and a bit of knowledge.

[Taylor]

Pretty much agree with Jim^^^^^

[frogatthefarriers]

I almost exclusively sleep in a hammock when bikepacking (see my posts in the Bivvy-a-Month thread). I find it so much more comfortable than ground sleeping. The biggest drawback I think, is the need to find sleeping spots with trees - the right sort of trees, in the right orientation to the wind direction. My set-up includes a neo-air mat, the whole thing adding up to about a kilo, which compares with a light tent. The saving grace is that I can sleep on the ground if I want/need to.

[gentjim]

BTW, if anyone's keen on a hammockers group for the Bach to Bach this weekend (and is anywhere near as unfit (and therefore unambitious) as I seem to be this year...) I'm thinking of a gentle loop around to the winter bivi spot for a hang. Let me know if you'd like to join.

[Mariner]

Interesting thread.
Not considered the practical aspects of using a hammmock before.
Just out of curiosity with a 'standard' set up if you are unable to bicycle the hammock do have you everything you need for sleeping on the ground or is that extra gear you have to carry just in case or are you always prepared for a mixture of ground and hammock anyway?

[HaYWiRe]

Some hammocks have protective bases and netting to setup on the ground like a tent, you'll need something to hold the net up like a branch or pole but not as hard as finding a full tree. However these tend to be on the heavier variety

Mine is an ultralight and ultrathin nylon, supports weight but a bit delicate to abrasion so I wouldn't "go to ground" in a hurry with it

And if you use an underquilt, while warmer in the air, near useless on ground, whereas using a mat obviously will insulate you both ways.

This is all why I've yet to bike with one, worry of not finding somewhere suitable stops me.

[gentjim]

And if you use an underquilt, while warmer in the air, near useless on ground, whereas using a mat obviously will insulate you both ways.

This is all why I've yet to bike with one, worry of not finding somewhere suitable stops me.

Absolutely right.

But I'd make two points:
1) How often (especially if you're biking) do you not have available trees in e.g. Wales (not necessarily true in e.g. Cairngorm). So in some (but not all) areas it's pretty reliable. And wooded areas are often warmer, less exposed, and less prone to being spotted by passers by. Have a look tomorrow at how many spots would have worked for a hang.

2) There's really an awful lot of kit overlap, so it's bivi only that you'd need to add and that (eg Borah) can be pretty minimal. If you're worried about having to go to ground you can simply use a mat/thermarest in a hammock - you just half-inflate it, and it sits underneath you (unless you squirm too much) so if you're good for both, albeit with a bit of a compromise to the otherwise 5* comfort you'd get in the hammock with an underquilt.

The honestly more major drawback is if you're cycling with a lovely group of people and you see a lovely stand of trees but they'd rather go a few miles further or shorter that day and can just kip behind the nearest wall, then you either have to pick between the two, or convince them how much cosier the woods are!

Oh, and if a Bothy is on the cards you're going to need the mat, not the quilt. Or not mind aching.

So as before, a bit less flexible, and a bit "specialist" in kit terms, but not really that hard to get right and be reliable once you adjust your head, keep your eyes open for trees, and check the map.

But that's the sort of thing you probably do automatically when looking for a good bivi spot already. It's the same but with a different lens.

Not for all, not for every outing, but not to be written off.

When you get it right you get a great sleep, and you get the same sleep each time. Which is actually pretty sweet.

A luxury though. If you're riding TransAm, Mike Hall-style, then sleeping in a loo or doorway for an hour at a time is clearly a better way to go!

[HaYWiRe]

Strangly everywhere I hike is wooded, but my favourite bike routes are either open and flat, or far too public and crowded to risk wildcamping.

That and its not quite as light as a tent when you try and do it for 2 people, as I mainly camp with the other half, the tarp was the only shared kit.

I see it as a tool for a job, and like any shelter you can pick and choose depending on area, for example, last year my tent got the most use as we camped alot in actual campsites near trailcenters, going from site to site and using the cafe. Not wilderness but great areas, quiet basic sites and fantastic built trails on the doorstep.

Brecon however would be a different story....

[ianfitz]

I've never slept in a hammock, and aside from a cheap - and heavy - netting one in the garden, don't have one. I would like to try one out though.

Although do worry that I might like it and end up with more 'kit that I need'

[HaYWiRe]

DIY is actually a great way to go if you want to try it on the cheap,

Basic Parachute nylon fabric, learn how to gather or 'whip' the ends.
1" polyester webbing (nylon webbing stretches and sags) and some knot knowledge

Find trees, practice, relax, then hit the deck when your poor knot fails (or was that just me? )

If you don't like it, webbing always gets used for lashing and it hasn't cost you much in fabric, nothing to lose, but it can get addictive....

[gentjim]

Absolutely. If you can sew / cut its a v simple and v popular to "MYOG". Then stick to a partially inflated mat for under insulation, and drape an open sleeping bag over you for top cover.

Know what you mean about shelter for two - doesn't work quite as well as you do each need one of everything.

Randomly, I got into it first with my little boys - they love hammocks as it makes them more confident wild camping in the woods being up away from the beasties!

[Cheeky Monkey]

I ride alone so my take is coloured by this (e.g. I wouldn't have Jim's group-preference-problem). I never go with enough gear to do both. I haven't had success with pads in hammocks, much preferring an UQ. If I was without trees / suitable hang points it'd be an uncomfortable night ahead with only hanging gear. Not the end of the world and not enough to make me throw in a mat "just in case".

However, I've never been unable to hang. It's not that you can't end up in the middle of a moor with barely a bush in site but I've never found myself so stranded so it's all worked out fine.

Hanging is just a different take on surviving the night outdoors. Personally I find it one that I really like, certainly enough to accept the inherent compromises like a little more weight, bulk and faff setting up.

Kids also seem to love it so that helps me get more nights out though usually on foot or carrying all their gear

[gentjim]

Haha. Agreed - carrying gear for my kids was the first thing that triggered looking into lightweight gear. Nothing like multiplying by three to make you think about what you're carrying!
And having just packed, I've officially not stuck a mat in.
First outing for my HammockGear Incubator 20 underquilt and I'm looking forward to being snuggly. (Fingers v much crossed!)

[ZeroDarkBivi]

I've not used a hammock for ages, and would only consider taking one if I was riding through jungle where slugs are the least of your concerns when sleeping on the ground. Anywhere outside of great forests a hammock just constrains where you can overnight, so I would have to take normal bivi kit as well.