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[pct-l] Hammocks for the PCT?
I have a Hennessy (www.hennessyhammock.com/) and I don't think any of
their hammocks come with wedges or chocks that you could use to
string them from rocks, although you could certainly provide your own
and do just that Although it is true that you can set up the
Hennessy like a tent on the ground (when you are "forced to the
ground" as hammockers put it) the problem with this is that the only
way to enter a Hennessey is through a slit in the bottom of the
hammock Not impossible, but kinda inconvenient Of course, you can
easily string up the tarp section separately, but then you have no
bug protection and will probably want some kind of ground cloth
The main hammock problem is keeping warm and it is a much bigger
problem in western mountains than it is on the AT in summer Hennessy
has a "super shelter" set up involving a silnylon under cover and an
open cell foam pad suspended beneath the hammock I have one It is
super convenient to use, but it really only gets me down to about 40
degrees or so You can try an ordinary pad inside the hammock, but
they tend to slip around while you sleep and they are usually too
narrow, leaving parts of our body in direct contact with the outer
shell of the hammock That can be chilly Some have designed pads with
"wings" affixed to the sides to cut off side drafts The next step up
is to suspend either a down quilt or a down air mattress (DAM)
beneath the hammock I haven't tried this but it sounds comfy
JacksRBetter (http://www.jacksrbetter.com/)makes such quilts and has
a model that fits the Hennessy's bottom entry slit The DAM would be
great when you are forced to the ground, but the weight of all this
extra padding and insulation starts to add up
Side sleepers and even belly sleepers sometimes find they are
comfortable in a hammock, but I find sleeping in a hammock really
completely different from sleeping on the ground I am a side sleeper
and the ground, but I find that I fall asleep easiest by allowing the
hammock to cradle me in a position about half way between sleeping on
the side and the back I usually wake up in the morning on my back,
but the rounded bottom of the hammock allows me to sleep on my back
whereas on the ground I tend to awaken if I roll on to my back
I am interested in the comment about hanging from Joshua Trees Last
spring I took my hammock to Joshua Tree NP, but wound up sleeping on
the ground I was a little leery of the strength of the Joshua Trees
Has anyone here ever hung a hammock from a pair of Joshua's?
Wayne
On Jan 7, 2006, at 7:35 PM, dsaufley wrote:
> 2003 was the year of the Ewoks, and there were numerous hammocks used
> enthusiastically on the trail. It seems to be one of those "love
> 'em or
> hate 'em" kind of things. The Hennessy Hammock, which most were
> using,
> becomes quite level when you use is diagonal features. The only
> complaint I
> heard from the Ewoks was that insulating from the bottom was a
> problem that
> has to be addressed. The Hennessy can also be pitched like a tent
> on the
> ground when no trees can be found, and comes with wedges that can
> be used to
> string the hammock between rocks above tree line.
>
> The best thing you can do is get out there and try it for yourself,
> to see
> if it's something that works for you -- which is true for every
> piece of
> equipment you carry. Don't wait 'til you start your hike to find
> out, and
> don't take anyone else's word for what's best for you.
>
> L-Rod
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
> [mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Shutterbug
> steiner
> Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 7:17 PM
> To: pct
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Hammocks for the PCT?
>
> After meeting RONI in 2003 I thought that a Hammock might be my
> solution
> AND it was NOT. I forced my self to sleep in it maybe 14 nights
> and never
> got a good rest - on my last night of my section hike I gave up
> and just
> plopped on the ground and fell asleep instantly. I am a light,
> cold sleeper
> who tends to sleep on my side or front - all of these I learned do
> not go
> well with sleeping in the AIR. One of the sections that I used the
> hammock
> was in the Mojave desert and Joshua trees don't hang well. Make
> sure you
> use a hammcock a LOT before committing to using one the entire
> trail. Don't
> count on using them every night in alll of the first five desert
> sections
> and in the sierras, NCascades you might be too cold or too high for
> a good
> hang.
>
> Henessey hammocks are great for naps - but for me I no longer
> take them
> overnight.
>
> SB
>
> Matt Church <mdchurch@gmail.com> wrote:
> Greetings from Seattle,
>
> My pops and I are planning to head out this summer for a PCT
> thru-hike. We're looking at using hammocks with tarps as our
> shelter--something we wished we would have done on the AT. Does
> anyone have thoughts on this? We wanted to see if the trail would
> lend itself to such a means for shelter. Look forward to hearing from
> some of you!
>
> Cheers,
> Matt
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