[at-l] The Cheap hike continued

[janl2 at mindspring.com (Jan Leitschuh)]

> This is one of the few places I could ask this and expect reasonable
> answers. 
Ah, innocent one! You haven't been reading long, have you?
;-)

> 
> I have neither tent , nor hammock, nor tarp. 
> I can find reams of good things about the Hennessy, 
> Can I get some observations about why it might NOT be a good idea. I
> understand the necessity for dealing with cold weather. 

 Frank,
I own a Hennessey, and it's a great hammock. I used in on my Long
Trail hike of August 2002.

BUT, I did NOT take it on my 2003 AT thru-hike. 

Main reasons were coldness. I have frozen in them, despite trying
every system to insulate the bottoms. Most are gimmicky, not practical
for thru-hiking. 
I also wanted a place to hang out in and cook in case of rain. Uh, we
had some rain this year...
I started with a tent, and left my hammock to be sent along later. I
kept thinking I would get it, any day now, but it never stopped
raining, and I never did send for it. I HAVE set the hammock up as a
bivy (Clyde may have a picture of this) but space is limited to
immediate sleeping area.
The only true cold-weather hammock system I know of are the Speer-type
hammocks, with their removable "PeaPods." You might ask Pog or Ed
Speer about those. I believe he has a website.
Just my 2 cents,
Jan
PS I also have a tarp, and prefer it in fall and early spring. But
folks who had tarps this year were pretty miserable - bugs more than
anything. I had a Wanderlust 2-4-2, and had lots of condensation
problems, but other than that was glad for the room and 2-pound
weight.
I never really had a problem finding a tent site. After two months of
steady hiking, what's another mile or so to find a flat spot?
> 
> ----------------

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