High Sierra Topix

Just wanted to know if any of you guys ever use a hammock when backpacking?
I also wanted to get some opinions on what you guys think about using one as well.
Tyler

I used a hammock once (Hennessy brand). I found out I wasn't much of a hammocker for a variety reasons, but mainly because I'm a stomach sleeper, its cramped quarters, and didn't like the breeze below. While the hammock I had could be setup on the ground as a makeshift tent, it didn't do too well above treeline :retard: Your mileage may vary.

Same story as copeg.

Have a Hennessey but I'm a stomach sleeper and simply cannot get a good nights rest on my back in a hammock.

Stomach sleepers usually get a bridge hammock, like the Jacks R Better model. Side and back sleepers get a better sleep on a diagonal in a gathered end model, like most of the rest of the camping hammocks available....

I have a Warbonnet Blackbird that is the only way I can possibly sleep through the night without waking up. I never sleep so well at home, and on the ground even with a 2.5" air filled mattress, I wake up every single hour, on the hour, unless I've hiked a 20 mile day and am dead to the world. I am a side sleeper everywhere but in the hammock - I find myself waking up all the time on my back, and yet still comfortable. All my joint pain and hip pain that came from long days of hiking went away when I went to hammocks. Started with a Hennessy, got tired of the velcro slit, got the full zippered and bugnetted Blackbird, never going back. I missed my hammock sooooooooo much on the last trip into alpine areas that I am planning to modify my setup so it will work on the ground or in the trees, so it will go with me all the time. Even if I can only hang it two out of six nights.

I use a hammock during the bug season here in the South. I'm a stomach/side sleeper and have not had any issues getting a good nights sleep in my HH. I cowboy camp the remainder of the year.

ya i have really been thinking about getting one to take on the warmer summer trips, it would be a light alternative to bringing a tent and more comfortable then sleeping on the ground. I have heard from those who do like hammocks say that they sleep better because there are no pressure points.

They work in cold too.... I have had very few cold nights in a hammock. Fewer than I have ever had in tents, certainly. And it was my carelessness that left me cold. Forgetting the suspension for the underquilt was the fault of the person filling the pack.

I owned a hammock for a while and slept well in it, but I prefer to camp above treeline in the sierra and found myself trying to pitch it as an uncomfortable bivy more often than I could hang it from trees. Switched to a Shires Tarptent after that experience and have been happy with that choice for 5+ years. With a decent comfortable pad I get a good night of sleep on the ground too.

Ya thats true if you dont have trees to hang it from it is not very useful. So when you use it in the cold do you just put like a sleeping pad down for insulation? I think i have heard of guys doing that.

calipidder wrote:Switched to a Shires Tarptent after that experience and have been happy with that choice for 5+ years.

Would you consider that a 4 season shelter? So you actually bought one or did you make one?