First Try at Hammock Camping: Lessons Learned

This weekend, I had the opportunity to run out to a local state park and give my hammock a try. There is a definite learning curve with hammock camping. This was a car camping adventure. I specifically wanted to bring along some extra items in the car because I knew the overnight low temperatures would dip beyond the rating of my under quilt. This would be the first time I have fully set up the hammock with a fully staked out tarp and the first time to actually sleep in it. I didn't want to worry about a lot of other odds and ends. I'm easing into hammock camping.

Setting up in the Field

I have attempted setting up my hammock on two previous occasions. The first time I tried, I didn't have my spreader bars, so it was essentially just a practice at hanging my hammock and seeing if I could get the suspension to hold my weight. I also struggled a bit to find trees that were spaced far enough to accommodate my whoopie sling. I think part of the issue on the first day was that I also didn't know exactly how to adjust the sling well. Part of my problem is that I don't have trees in my yard that would work to hang a hammock, so I have to go somewhere else to even try.

On my second practice setup, I was pressed for time and there were specific things I was trying to try. My spreader bars had arrived, so this was my first opportunity to lie in the hammock as it was designed. I also wanted to try to set up my tarp in porch mode and to wanted to attach some guy lines to the tarp. To save time, I used the same two trees I had used the first time at my local park.

There is more to finding an adequate pair of trees than just their spacing. I learned that if I cannot reach my arms around a tree, my tree straps won't go around it. The timing of this discovery was also unfortunate because I had decided to practice setting things up, tarp first, which you would do if you happened to be setting up in the rain. The problem with doing that first when you don't realize that the diameter of the tree will exceed your strap's capacity is that the tarp is hung just using a long length of cord. I stretch that cord the full length between those trees, whereas the tree straps that support the hammock only go around the tree and then maybe a foot or two more to hang the suspension line. There is a limit to the size of tree from which I could hang my tarp, but it's significantly larger than what I can hang my hammock from.

The "too big" tree in the background with my backpack leaned against it.

The good thing is that doing that on a day when I'm not tired from hiking all day, and it's not raining on my is that hopefully, I won't make the same mistake when those are the conditions in which I have to set up. It was still frustrating because the wind was blowing and gusting at the lake and I was trying to attach a couple of additional guy lines that I hadn't added yet. It was windy and cold, and my hands were getting numb. Still, it was a lesson learned, and hopefully I won't make the same mistake in the future.

The other issue I had to deal with for the first time was a significant slope between the final two trees. The ground was probably 2-3 feet lower on one end. I should have made the low end my head end and made the high end where my feet were located, but that didn't occur to me in the moment. Again, notes for future setups.

One of the biggest takeaways for me after setting up between two new trees is the fact that every time I setup my hammock, it's going to be slightly different. Because of the space between the two trees where my final setup was and the difference in elevation between them, I ended up positioning the hammock closer to the lower tree. I momentarily forgot that I have complete adjustability as to where the tarp is positioned because I'm using prusik knots that can slide back and forth over the complete length of the ridgeline.

On that subject, I also decided to tighten up my prusik loops. I started with double prusiks. Now they are triple prusiks. If you don't know what that means, you can read about it in my previous article on the different knots I am using with my hammock setup here. They were not holding as well as I needed them to with only two wraps, but with three wraps on the loop, they held their position on my continuous ridgeline. In the photo below, you can see my ridgeline above the tarp. There are two peaks on the tarp at either end where the tarp connects to the ridgeline. Those attachment points are hooked to the ridgeline using a 

As the sun began to set, the wind died down. I decided to open up my tarp by putting it in "porch mode" where one side is raised using trekking poles. Here is what that looks like.

Porch mode. You can also see my yellow under quilt.

Being in a Hammock

Many people rave about the quality of sleep they get in a hammock. Based on my experience for one night, I would have to say I slept okay. In fairness, it was only one night, it was a colder night than my under quilt is rated for (I'll say more about that in a bit) and I'm comparing it to the sleep I've gotten on a sleeping pad after hiking for 10-20 miles. I will talk about the pros and cons here.

When I first got into the hammock, it was swinging. I lifted my legs off the ground and swung them into the hammock. I think this is the movement that got the hammock swinging. I thought it would eventually stop, but I was surprised at how long it kept swinging. I didn't like it. I eventually stuck my hand out and felt for the ground to stop myself. I don't know what to think about that. Is it normal? Do people like the swinging. I could see how some people might enjoy it, like rocking in a cradle, but it was too much motion for me.

Another issue I had was that the height of the hammock was tricky to get right. I have realized that I need to start out almost at hip height when I first hang it. I think my whoopie sling must be slipping a bit. I have seen in YouTube videos that they say to "milk the bury", which means to work your fingers over the spliced section on the sling to elongate it so it doesn't slip. 

Sourced from: https://www.greenbelly.co/pages/whoopie-slings

I never ended up on the ground on my butt because of the slippage, but it was noticeably lower at a couple of points during the night. I got up and adjusted it and it was okay. This is probably due to user error. I also wonder if maybe the sling grabs better in time and with use...? We'll see, I guess.

There are a couple of things about the hammock I really like. The hammock contours to your body. The Ridgerunner, specifically, is also designed so your head is supported. It reminds me a little of the Nemo Quasar 3D sleeping pad I have used in the past. There is also a backstop for your pillow so it doesn't slide away from you all night as often happens on a sleeping pad. Another huge plus is the fact that having that extra head/neck support means I felt very comfortable with my smallest and lightest inflatable pillow, the Nemo Fillo Elite. One of the extras I brought along with me in the car in case I needed them was three different pillows. My favorite pillow for ground camping is the Therm-a-rest compressible pillow, but it's much heavier and packs much larger than the Fillo Elite. 

Another really great feature on the Ridgerunner hammock is the saddle bag and header pockets.

In the photo above, there are arrows pointing to the saddle bag pockets. There are identical pockets on the opposite side of the hammock as well, and there is another pocket at the very end near your head as well. When I picked out a tent, I purchased a two person tent because I like to have my gear around me. I know where I put my glasses, my phone, my toiletry bag, etc, etc. Having that space to organize my gear was one of the reasons I hesitated to opt for a hammock setup last year. But these pockets are a great alternative for that organization space inside your tent. The side pockets have one deeper well and one shallow well. I put things like keys, wallet, phone, glasses, and headlamp in the shallow pockets (though in the future, I might put phone and glasses in the trough above my head). I was very pleased with the capacity of these pockets. Great design, Warbonnet.

You can't put everything in those pockets and I'm still going to have to adjust to having some gear on the ground next to me. I feel like it might blow away or that some animal might run up and carry it off.

The Fall of Man

While my whoopie sling didn't land my butt on the ground, rolling too far to one side of the hammock in the night did land me on my butt. The whole hammock flipped and dumped me, my top quilt, and my pillow on the ground. After that incident, I tried to be more aware of where I was in the hammock relative to the sides before I made position adjustments. It only happened once and I am pretty sure it's preventable. While I don't have a photo of the incident, I do have a photo of another hammock incident that happened back in 2021 in my sister's backyard.

I believe that happened just trying to sit in the hammock, so I've clearly made progress with my hammock skills since then. Haha.

There is a built in bug net that zips all the way around the outside edge of the hammock. I did not have the bug net deployed on this night because it was 25° F and there were no bugs, but it occurred to me that if the bug net had been deployed and I flipped the hammock over, it might have been much harder to orient myself and get things back in place, and I also suspect the net might tear. That would be not good. I would need to find the zippers to open the bug net to get myself out. The zippers would be above me, not below and they would be on the opposite side of the hammock from where I zipped them when it was right side up. Also, my headlamp would be in one of the pockets, but that pocket might have dumped and/or be on the opposite side as well. And I would need to process all of these things in the night, in the dark, possibly with wet clothes if the ground I landed on wasn't dry. I really need to get good at not falling out of my hammock.

Quilts

Look Mom, No [Pad] Straps

I'm used to having a top quilt because I have been using one for about a year now while ground camping. When using a quilt with a sleeping pad, you use elastic straps to keep the quilt from turning with you. There isn't anything to strap to in a hammock, so going into this, I was wondering if I would have issues with the quilt not staying in place. The sides of the hammock curl up around your body and I think that might help the top quilt stay situated a bit. I don't think I had more issues with draft gaps in the hammock than I do with a pad. This was one night, but it was also one of the coldest nights I have spent camping and those cold nights are when you really feel the gaps the most. 

Temperature Ratings

Speaking of the cold, let's talk about temperature ratings on quilts and sleeping bags. Quilts and sleeping bags have temperature ratings. You have to be a little careful when you look at the temperature rating to know if the rating the company gave that item is a survival rating or a comfort rating. If it's a survival rating and the temperature dips down near that rating, you will likely survive, but you are not going to feel comfortable, you will likely be chilled, and you will probably not be well rested. There is no governing body that regulates these ratings, so it's important to go with a reputable brand/company. And most reputable backpacking gear companies temperature rating is going to be a comfort rating. No one wants to just be able to just barely survive while they are camping and backpacking. You want to be rested when you wake up the next day.

I have been using a 20° rated top quilt from UGQ for almost a year now. It's been a great quilt. For much of the year, here in Arkansas, 20° is overkill. For that reason, I decided to go a little cooler for my under quilt. I bought a 30° Lynx under quilt from Warbonnet. The overnight low in the area was around 25°. I decided to start the night wearing sock, long underwear, a long sleave wool t-shirt, and my puffy jacket (mostly to keep my head warm, and because I tend to put at least one arm up under my head.

During the night, I did feel a mild chill from underneath. To supplement my insulation, I put on a pair of pants over my long underwear, I put on gloves and a hat, and eventually I even pulled out an emergency blanket and wrapped myself from my butt down in the shiny mylar blanket. This kept me toasty warm from about 10pm until I woke around 5am.

In the future, if I know I'm going to be stretching the limits of my under quilt's insulation, I will probably put my emergency blanket between the quilt and the hammock underneath me. I believe that will be both relatively easy to set up as well as an effective way to supplement the insulation from the under quilt.

On a hammock camping forum, I asked more experienced hammockers what they do to supplement their insulation. One person said they tend to go with a 10° warmer rating their under quilt than their top quilt. In hind sight, I think that makes sense, but most of my backpacking will be in temperatures warmer than 30°, so I think I'll be fine.

I think that about sums up the big take aways from this recent trial run of hammock camping. Since that time, I have made a couple of small tweaks to the hammock, but I will save that for a future post.

I feel that I am ready to use my hammock kit on the trail for a real trip, and I am now planning to use it to finish my Ouachita Trail adventure. The OT has lots of trees and the ground isn't always the flattest, so having a hammock instead of a tent should open up more potential campsites for me. We shall see...

As always, thanks for stopping by,

Gavagai