hammock use ofer a wider temp range.
I started another thread on another sight that address your concern about staying warm and maybe give you some other ideas.
http://www.quietjourney.com/community/YaBB.cgi?num=1187528527/0#0
MagicPaddler
Another fantastic reason!!!
Hey I almost forgot … vermin!! My last rip to the BWCA was in mid August. Well, I guess all the campers over the summer had the mice really excited for teh free let overs from those before me. Teh sites were lousy with mice!! They were everywhere. If you put you pack down ofr a few moments, the mice would envade. I was really glad to be sleeping in my hammock and not on the ground.
Brammy
Quetico trip with hammock.
I just finished an 80 mile Quetico trip. One of our mates slept in a hammock for the entire trip. If you use a standard themarest, the hammock crushes the sleeping bag into your sholders and this becomes a cold spot.
I would suggest two solutions. First you can take take two blue closed cell pads, about 9 dollars each and duct tape them together. Lay in the hammock on the pads and mark where the pads wrap 180 degrees around you. The final pad will look like an extra wide mummy shaped configuation with a flair at your sholders. A second solution is to take an additional 48" therma-rest and lay it perpendicular to your long therma-rest to form a u-shaped insulating area at your shoulders. All points on the hammock that your body touches will need a thema-rest or closed cell pad to insulate you.
For rain protection my trip mate ran a line above the hammock and used a 10 X 10 tarp in addition to the small tarp the hammock came with. Make sure there are no sharp rocks or roots in case you would fall to the ground. Your back will be safer if it hits a flat surface. I would try a single night with your insulating system before I headed out into the boundry. Good luck.
I usually don’t worry about either
as mosquitoes don’t care for hanging around cool, moving water and the blatterworts I transplanted to the edges of some of the springs take care of the skeeter larvae, therefore very few future skeeters.
Rain? Clear plastic sheeting big enough to cover the canoe, with 1/2" dowels and connectors, and duct tape to form a sort of sampan cover with an extendable “moon-roof” with 48" inside clearence and about a foot or more over the ends and sides. Quick and easy to set up and take down.
Clark insulation
The Clark hammoc has the insulation on the outside of the bottom cloth so it doesn’t get compressed-great idea.I added some more fiberfill from a sewing store.It weighs practically nothing and lofts to pleanty of insulation and compresses.
Turtle
Hennessey & cold weather
I have the Undercover and Underpad. The Undercover alonemakes a difference, maybe 10 deg, because the hammock bottom is SO permeable. The Undercover is only about 1/4 inch thick, but is well-contoured to fit teh hammock shape.
I do confess to having slept in no lower than 45 deg nights, but I was toasty. For lower temps I believe it would be necessary to add more insulation around teh torso, possibly a fleece jacket between the hammock and cover/pad.
Jim
still seems problematic
…“as mosquitoes don’t care for hanging around cool, moving water and the blatterworts I transplanted to the edges of some of the springs take care of the skeeter larvae, therefore very few future skeeters.
Rain? Clear plastic sheeting big enough to cover the canoe, with 1/2” dowels and connectors, and duct tape to form a sort of sampan cover with an extendable “moon-roof” with 48" inside clearence and about a foot or more over the ends and sides. Quick and easy to set up and take down. "–quote
Mosquitoes don’t care to hang around cool moving water?!? I don’t know which springs you’re visiting, but I would love to go there! Mosquitoes can still breed in swampy areas surrounding the river/spring. I have been mercilessly pestered by them before, both IN and OVER a spring (several springs actually).
Mosquitoes are not attracted to the water, but they ARE attracted to a big heat source (animal or people). I’m sure they could care less about the ambient air temperature differentials.
Plastic sheeting? Dowels? I’d just prefer to set up my Clark jungle hammock…seems like a lot less trouble.
3 things you can do to fool skeeters
1. Swim in a cool spring. Lowers the skin temp. thereby fooling the “swamp angels” sense of heat detection.
2. Relax. Meditation lowers your carbon dioxide output, thereby fooling their sense of carbon dioxide detection.
3. Wear light clothing.
I told you what works for me. If it doesn’t work for you then you must be doing something wrong. Then it’s your problem, not mine.
how about making some
cross elastics for under the hammock and sliding a Therma Rest in…that should eliminate the problem of finding your ThermaRest on top of you.
And insulate too.
A disadvantage of hammock camping (this is a true story): ever get goosed by a raccoon at 3 AM?
Hammocks and cold
I’ve used about every hammock made.
The Crazy Creek is the best option for cloistrophobes.
The Hennessey is the best finished unit and fine for summer camping once one gets used to sleeping sideways so as not to awake standing. Using a full length pad inside the Hennessey guarantees that that inadvertent exit will occur several times nightly.
The Clark works just fine down past freezing with a full length pad inside.
Benefits - Turtle already covered that, but someone should add that hammocks are great for population control too.
Another thing
Another thing I found out the hard way is that if you sleep in your mummy bag with it unzipped from the waist down and twist it so that the opening is beneath you so your body is directly on the hammock,not the slippery bag,things don’t twist and move around when you sleep.This is not quite as warm as with the bag zipped up,so you need to compensate with a heaver bag or more clothes and hat.I plan on sleeping in my hammock this weekend at Kinzua,so maybe I’ll have more input.
Turtle
More input
I put a 1/4" pad inside my Clark hammock for the first time this weekend when it was app 32 and windy.I actually was too warm.It was a little less comfortable with the extra stiffness of the pad.In the future I don’t think I will use the pad unless I expect 20 or below.
Turtle
Hammock
Don’t use a yellow hammock in Bear country, they think it’s a banana. Vaughn Fulton
changing clothes?
What is it like to change clothes in a hammock? Do the Clark and Hennessey feel stable for general fiddling about such as changing clothes?
downside
its very hard…stuff tends to get tangled and under you. Hammocks are not the way to go if you need privacy.
Tom Claytor Jungle Hammock
http://www.mosquitohammock.com/junglehammock.html
Any feedback or experience on this model?
hammock vs tenting
go on line or to your local military supply store and find the military jungle hammock.it has a built in skeeter net that zips,a built in rain fly that you can leave up or down. down for rain or privacy. if you like you can still use an additional rain fly.put a foam pad in it and sleep warm and comfortable.i have one that i’v had for years so i don’t know how hard it will be to find one now.if you find any better buy some spares.
Stability
Stability has never been an issue with my Clark.They say it’s nearly impossible to dump and I believe it.I never tried to change while lying in my hammoc,but I’m sure it would be very hard.I usually sit upright with my legs outside to do that.It’s like changing in a comfortable lounge chair.You don’t have to touch the ground so your feet stay clean.
Turtle
packable hammock
I take my hammock with us on all our trips. It’s a brazillian style but packs into its own pocket and measures 5"x3"x2" when packed. I also bring 2 adjutable straps, the kind with the hooks on the ends. Find 2 trees 10 - 20 feet apart and you’re set. If the weather is nice I stay out in the hammock, if not I set up the tent. I can’t handle anything below 45 deg in the hammock though (being from Florida).
hammocks
Let’s see, I have an ENO hammock, given to me from the guy who designed and began the company, a Byer of Maine Moskito hammock, I HAD a Hennessy ultralight Backpacker a-sym and I now have a Clark North American…the later is definitely my favorite…the 6 storage pockets, Weathershield, dual entries and the ability to have breakfast in bed all contribute to putting this hammock in my winner’s circle…
I found the Hennessy to only be good for quick, overnight sleeps as living from that style (bottom entry) is very limited…
The Clark North American has 6 pockets under the hammock bed…3 on each side…this allows storage off the ground and increases insulation…the ability to enter from either side increases livability and flexibility in poor weather…quilts are the most useful thing for hammocks but I use my winter bag in winter (go figure)…I always use a sleeping pad…in warmer seasons I use an Exped Downmat 7 short…in cooler weather I go with an Exped Downmat 7 long and in winter I add a 3/8 inch mummy shaped closed cell pad under that…not sure if it’s necessary but it’s so light and I’m using a sled in winter so why risk it…
For years I used an ancient backpackerlite Thermarest 3/4 inch self-inflatable in all the other hammocks…as I am a side sleeper I didn’t like the way hammocks closed up around my face so the Thermarest was useful for that as well as cold protection…I found if it was warm enough for me to sleep in a hammock without a sleeping pad, it was too warm to sleep in a hammock…