I have never tried the hammock set up. I have been using this awsome thing I got at an Army navy store. It can be a tarp, a ponch, or a one person tent. Its a pretty awsoem set up. I am planning a trip to this old abbandoned foundry that was used as a prison during the civil war. Its out in the middle of no where by the river. Rumor says there are many many snakes that inhabbit the area, so I am waiting until we get good and cold before I go hiking in.

Its a neat place. A guy from Europe came over with bunches of money and hoped to start up a steel mill in the 1800's. The process he was using over there did not work over here. He never made a single pound of sellable iron. A whole town built up around it, and then shut down along with his savings.


Chack it out some time. its called "old ardrie".
JT

That looks pretty sweet. I'd try hammock camping in a minute if we had trees to string them between!

hammock looks cozy.

my two favorite SY: SOD and S5.

id like to try camping like that...how much does a nice hammock setup run?

to be honest i dont know much about any good brands out there...

im in SO FLa so itd be hot mostly...
though i do enjoy going up to sebring in the winter...it gets crazy cold for florida.

one time it hit like 35 degrees, we slept in the truck!

Nice camping gear ! Where can you buy the winter tarp & hamock with bottom insulation?

Looks like a nice way to spend the night.

Greets,

Looks like you had a great time <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

My setup was NOT cheap - the Warbonnet Blackbird hammock is just shy of 200 bucks, the custom underquilt was over $200, and the tarp around $150. Then of course there are all the little items you end up buying - stakes, guylines, etc etc etc.



However, you can get into a hammock a lot cheaper - something like a byer moskito hammock costs less than 40 bucks, and you can use any generic tarp from walmart or something to start out. For anything below about 70 degrees, you will probably want some insulation underneath you, but a thermarest or $10 blue foam pad from walmart will do the job if you don't want to pony up the cash for an underquilt. If you're car camping and weight isn't a concern, something as simple as a blanket underneath you in the hammock would probably do the trick, depending on the temperature.


Things can also be cheap if you can get your hands on a sewing machine and do some DIY stuff. A hammock can be made for a few bucks worth of ripstop nylon from the $1 bin at walmart or clearance section at another fabric store, and you can sew your own bug net for it without too much hassle. Tarps are also pretty easy to make, and if you find the right vendor online you can buy silnylon to make your tarps for about $3-6 per yard. My fiance's winter tarp was made from scratch this way and is actually a more clever design than my winter tarp.

The bottom insulation is actually separate from the hammock. Its basically a custom built square quilt, with cinch cords at both ends to pull it tight around the ends of the hammock, and shockcords to tie off to the ends to suspend the quilt below the hammock.

There are a number of commercial companies who make underquilts, and quite a few DIY folks on hammockforums.net who will custom-build underquilts for you. A few of the vendors who sell commercial underquilts are : Jacks R Better , Speer Hammocks , Warbonnet Outdoors (also the maker of my hammock) , Arrowhead Equipment, and Te-Wa Underquilts.

The last three are more custom-built to order DIY folks, and the first couple are more mass produced. All make great products. My quilt came from none of those - it was custom built by the daughter of a guy on hammockforums.net. My fiance made her own quilt, and will soon be making me a thicker winter quilt like hers. Mine is probably good to 30 degrees - hers should be good down to about 0 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif" alt="" />


For the winter tarps, there are a couple of options as well - Warbonnet Outdoors sells an awesome winter tarp that's essentially a hex-shaped tarp, with doors that button on. So, when the weather is nice you can leave the doors at home. Speer Hammocks sells an 11x10 winter tarp that ia very similar to mine (they innovated the design), but a foot shorter. Jacks R Better sells two winter tarps - one is similar to the Speer Winter Tarp with a slightly different tieout configuration, and the other is a more elaborate full hammock hut that provides a huge enclosure. Finally, the place where I bought my tarp, Outdoor Equipment Suppliers , will custom-build you just about any configuration you want from scratch. Mine was a custom order where I basically asked for a 12x10 version of the speer tarp, with a few extra tweaks to the tieout placement.


Phew, that was a lot of words - hope that helps really confuse you <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

i have been testing out my tarp set up... and down to 40 so far its rockin it...

i picked up a hennesy hammock and i really like the door... on it... this spring im going to send it in for a zipper mod... but so far its handled some decent wind gusts and a hard rain last night... and im still waiting for my underquilt.

Great stuff, Double M. I hope you put all the information in a MM Camping Gear thread on the Outdoor side. Very nice setup, and recommendations.

Thanks for all the information.

Great looking Hammock setup. I just made the switch to tree nesting with the upper primates this past year. I have camped in my hammock for over a month with my work as a biologist now and will likely never go back to the ground unless "requested" by my wife. I have slept in mine down to 20 degrees and with proper quilting I suspect it would take me further. I first found out about hammocking on this forum which then took me to hammock forum. I thank both for changing my camping experience.

it seems like a much better way of camping than a regular tent...keeps you off the ground and away from the critters, something important down here in florida.

also, if it rains or your on soggy ground, youre up and off of that as well.

also seems like itd be alot lighter than a tent.