Hammocks v. Tent

I really want to do a gear post on this subject, especially after a read through a 40+ page thread over on the ADV forums. Crazy that people would get so worked up about someone else’s choice of shelter, but alas, nothing is normal in this world…

I have camped an endless amount of nights in tents, bivy’s, tarps, and yes, hammocks. I paddled for 6 months up the Inside passage using Northface Mountaineering tent. I Kayaked the Atlantic Coast using a bivy and the occasional hammock (my first foray into hammock camping). I biked around the US using a tarp, pad and ultralight bevy sack for most of that trip. On my trek around the Gaspe peninsula in the winter it was only a hammock and ground pad and for my bike trip up through Alaska in the winter I used a prototype of the now famous Hyperlite Mountain Gear Mid.

For the past 5 years, I try and use a Warbonnet hammock for the vast majority of my current camping. Age has made it such that hanging in a hammock is so much more comfortable for me than sleeping on the ground. Two years ago I began experimenting with under quilts and that took my hammock experience to a new level.

With all of that said, there is no one right way to camp. They are simply tools for your outdoor experience, and like any tool, you should choose the one you are most comfortable with and the one that is best suited for the job.

In the coming weeks I am going to do a bit more of a detailed post on hammocks, what I use, how the work and a bit more into why for me they are my go to choice. This coming week I have a 1000 mile Moto trip out through the White Mountains, to Vermont, down to southern Maine and then back to my summer home in Lubec. That trip will be hammock based but since it is on the motorcycle and I can carry a bit more gear, I am also bringing a sleeping pad and ultralight bivy sack just incase there is some place I can’t hang. The weight/space penalty for that added flexibility is next to nothing so why not be a bit more prepared.

Write up for the trip and my thoughts on hammocks to follow.

Peace,

G-