Night Fears: Worse with Hammocks than Tents?

MichaelMerry said:

My wife waking up in the morning after a night cowboy camping in quehanna wild area, Pennsylvania

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Buckeye and Pennamite campers are obviously braver than me. And much surer of the weather, which is one reason why the following comment confused me for a minute:

Steve in Idaho said:

My current most used tent is almost entirely mesh without the fly. Just as easy to see out of as my hammock

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My most current tent also has a lot of mesh, so I at first wondered why I didn't feel more vulnerable in it than my meshless tents. Then I remembered that I always put on my rain fly. That gives me two mighty "walls" to protect me from wild creatures and supernatural ones.

I left the ground for a Hennessey some 20 or more years ago, and except for rare times when a tent is more appropriate with near car-camping situations while attending open land campground events, I have not wanted to lay back on the ground or had any hesitations of hanging during the night in very remote wilderness sites of my choosing far from any trail. I have hung my tent over steep sloped ground, thick brush, rocky landscape, wet swamps, and many other places where tenting in a small solo tent would be impossible. I rarely stay in designated campground sites, so all I need is a couple of trees 12-17 feet apart. Never mind that I must look to a predator like a paper candy wrapper surrounding a warm soft center chewy treat.

Probably just a creature of habit but, although I own a few hammocks that are suitable for extended trips, I've yet to try one out as my sole shelter.

I did find that, on my BWCA trip when I forgot the tent & was just open tarp camping for 10 days, I missed the security of tent walls a little. I'm quite sure that the mesh walls of any of my tents would not protect me if a hungry predator decided to make an assault but the "walls" certainly do provide some security.

Interestingly, I don't recall the same sense of vulnerability when I was cowboy camping but that's been many years ago when I was much younger, far dumber and often inebriated to the point that memory is somewhat unreliable.

yknpdlr said:

I left the ground for a Hennessey some 20 or more years ago, and except for rare times when a tent is more appropriate with near car-camping situations while attending open land campground events, I have not wanted to lay back on the ground or had any hesitations of hanging during the night in very remote wilderness sites of my choosing far from any trail. I have hung my tent over steep sloped ground, thick brush, rocky landscape, wet swamps, and many other places where tenting in a small solo tent would be impossible. I rarely stay in designated campground sites, so all I need is a couple of trees 12-17 feet apart. Never mind that I must look to a predator like a paper candy wrapper surrounding a warm soft center chewy treat.

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If I could be sure I was going to find suitable trees for the hang, I'd take my Hennessy Hammock every time.

TXRiverRunner said:

Thats just nasty right there. Where was this?

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This was in my suburban back yard. Probably either the Robins that nest under our deck or the doves that like to nest in our hanging flower baskets.

Steve in Idaho said:

If I could be sure I was going to find suitable trees for the hang, I'd take my Hennessy Hammock every time.

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Fortunately that is rarely any problem in the Northeast woodlands. With the exception of open cleared plots of designated (often overused) campsites along trails and waterways. According to NYDEC law, I am allowed to camp most anywhere I choose on most of the state publlic lands where I care to go, as long as I am at least 150 feet away from road, trail, or waterways.

I think I have a phobia about sleeping in hammocks. I could never do it, I feel too vulnerable. I'm not one for sleeping in hammocks anywhere for that matter. I hung one from the ceiling in front of the fireplace in my first apartment and never slept in it. I've owned a hammock since 1980 and never slept in one. Recently I accidentally dozed off in one. It was after dark at my lake house in Pa. When I realized where I was in a semi awake state I jumped right up from the fear of bears. I regularly fall asleep in my open faced baker tent 20' away with no fear at all.

I never liked the idea since the first time I saw one in use back in 92'. A friend had one and he looked like bear bait to me. This was in grizzly country, if that matters.

I’m not a hammock guy, but not because of any trepidation. I just can’t get comfortable. I tend to toss and turn at night and the hammock changes that not at all.

Otherwise, I’m more comfortable and sleep better outside than I ever do at home or, especially, any hotel. For me, I find nothing to worry about sleeping in the wilderness far away from work concerns, family issues and the myriad other things occupying my mind at home.

A 4.5” Ruger Blackhawk with 300 grain pills will go a long way to assuaging any fears about sleeping outside at night in the wild. Hammock or no.

New England Waterman said:

A 4.5” Ruger Blackhawk with 300 grain pills will go a long way to assuaging any fears about sleeping outside at night in the wild. Hammock or no.

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I don't go out in grizzly country unarmed but you are still vulnerable when you're sleeping.

I’ve slept cowboy, hammock and tent. My only fear was cowboy camping in the desert where I was convinced that a rattlesnake would slither into my sleeping bag or a tarantula would walk across my face. In a tent or hammock I sleep through the sounds around me.

A 4.5” Ruger Blackhawk with 300 grain pills will go a long way to assuaging any fears about sleeping outside at night in the wild. Hammock or no.

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There's an entire thread about this ( & I prefer auto to single action) but you may want to be careful about reciprocity if traveling. Personally, I'd rather not have the weight on the portage trails and won't be packing unless I get far enough North to paddle among Polar Bears.

Gamma1214 said:

There's an entire thread about this ( & I prefer auto to single action) but you may want to be careful about reciprocity if traveling. Personally, I'd rather not have the weight on the portage trails and won't be packing unless I get far enough North to paddle among Polar Bears.

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Do you take spray?

Do you take spray?

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I do not. I have been carrying bear bangers but have yet to fire one off in the woods (they're pretty cool on New Year's eve though)

After biting the bullet and building my first canoe, a whole world of possibilities opened up as I realized that making camping gear was well within reach and that customizing said gear to my own wants, needs, desires was also doable.

I tent camped for quite a few years, but to be honest 2 things always bugged me 1) crawling out for the nightly pee run(s) and 2) the sense of being closed in.

I bought several different alternative hammock types and used each for a season and none of them really fit in with what I wanted ... some friends had been dabbling in making their own and there was a good website of folks doing the same thing ... my wife had (officially more mine than hers now) a sewing machine and I now had some guidance ... voila, a new gathered end hammock was born (FYI GE is the only hammock I saw mentioned in this thread) and that was ... alright, better than a tent, easier to exit, but I still felt closed in some and the cocoon style it offered really didn't work so well for me.
Next up was a bridge hammock which hit the mark for me, easy exit, flat lay and excellent visibility .... just turn your head and all you see is outside. Over the last 3 years, that design has been tweaked into a 1.5 pound package that fits exactly what I want ... 1) when I am laying in it, it is almost like a bed, with no shoulder squeeze 2) swing my legs out and it is like getting out of bed 3) when I turn my head in the morning, all I see is whatever view I have setup for.

This is a pic of the current model, I made for a good friend, his tarp is in "porch " mode and that underquilt is rated at -15C ..



It's not for everyone, but the bridge hammock allows me to see and hear everything, which somehow makes me feel a bit more secure of my surroundings ....and if I am being honest, being able to easily exit at night is really nice.

This is a "Canoeing" website and all things canoe are covered here and there is a lot to cover .. I am also a member of "HammockForums" where all things hammock are covered and believe me there is lot to cover there as well ... I added the back story content of this post (rightly or wrongly) to make sure everyone understood that the topic of hammocks likely has the same breadth of variety/complexity as canoes. Just as with canoes, there are many varieties and each has its own strengths and weaknesses ... each has its own environment where it is best suited.

Cruiser said:

I tent camped for quite a few years, but to be honest 2 things always bugged me 1) crawling out for the nightly pee run(s)

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A tangent, but an important issue. There is no necessity, especially for a guy, to get out of the tent. Just use a pee bottle at night and dispose as appropriate in the morning. I have no idea whether this is acrobatically possible in a hammock.

Glenn MacGrady said:

A tangent, but an important issue. There is no necessity, especially for a guy, to get out of the tent. Just use a pee bottle at night and dispose as appropriate in the morning. I have no idea whether this is acrobatically possible in a hammock.

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For hammock peeing, my doc friend suggests what he calls a Texas catheter. You can google it. Doesn’t look comfortable or reliable to me.

Glenn MacGrady said:

A tangent, but an important issue. There is no necessity, especially for a guy, to get out of the tent. Just use a pee bottle at night and dispose as appropriate in the morning. I have no idea whether this is acrobatically possible in a hammock.

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Process is almost the same, have done both, hammock far easier.

Open fly in a hammock and simply put your feet out, stand up and pee .... cap and sit back down and resume sleeping. In a tent, you get up on your knees (version dependent), pee, cap and lay back down and go sleep.

In practice, for the hammock, I usually leave my crocs on the mat and find the nearest tree, for rain or winter camping I carry a pee bottle that sits beside the crocs ... and before anyone says anything, the water bottle is in the hammock saddlebags


Brian

Gamma1214 said:

There's an entire thread about this ( & I prefer auto to single action) but you may want to be careful about reciprocity if traveling. Personally, I'd rather not have the weight on the portage trails and won't be packing unless I get far enough North to paddle among Polar Bears.

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For me in the northeast I’m ok if I go east, but everything stays at home if I go west (New York). If I was going to be in brown bear country I’d likely lean auto as well, or double action. Black bear from a size and aggressiveness (or lack there off) the big bore ruger fits my needs. Bear spray is fine on trail but I’d hate to try and light it off through the door of a tent.
Some mountain bike trail builders had their story shared just recently on Instagram of a shall we say over confident bear tearing up their camp twice while they were out building trail in a public land area. Food and waste hung high, camo policed. It had just obviously learned at this point that tents contain food sometimes. I’m having similar issues around my house due to neighbors that don’t control their trash.

Storms are another thing to feel vulnerable about.

Hammocks being off the ground is nice knowing I won’t end up in a pool of water. Should be high n’ dry. The tarps don’t offer as much protection as a tent’s rainfly. Already had to get up in the pouring rain at night to readjust the tarp. Was getting misted by rain blowing underneath.

Then feeling the trees you’re tied to swaying. Wonder how that would shake out if one of your trees uprooted.