Night Fears: Worse with Hammocks than Tents?

[Cruiser]

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.

When you say "The tarps don't offer as much protection", it is likely you mean "the tarp I use. doesn't offer as much protection".

The tarp you use with a hammock is just another gear decision that gets made, you can get larger ones that tie out at ground level and you can get ones that are smaller/lighter that are more for wind blown rain. The one I posted above, has 2 poles, ties out at ground level and is pretty good protection. It's larger and more suited to the canoe/portage style of camping, the poles offer a built in porch mode which is how it is normally rigged.

IMO though a decent tent will handle wind better than a hammock setup, simply because the hammock is higher up off the ground, This can easily be dealt with by moving a little further into the woods.

Falling trees is a good thing to have a healthy fear of though, what about widow makers, how many folks actually check before they setup?

Brian

 

[MyKneesHurt]

I check religiously for widowmakers, they're far more likely than bear encounter or any kind of animal encounter, in my book. But, at the end of they day, there's just some level of acceptance of potential freak accidents that has to happen before you can sleep. A lot of it, for me, was quashing a sense of 'terminal uniqueness' - thinking that, because it's you and not anyone else, bad things are more likely to happen, because you're somehow special.

The worst hammock issue I've personally encountered is hyperextended legs - painful enough that you're not only not going to get to sleep but not walk very effectively the next day. They're absolutely wonderful to throw in a canoe for a noon nap, and if you're still flexible enough to spend a whole night in them, they offer amazing sleep. Once you get the hang of it, you can sleep basically anywhere on the east coast. I'll second what others have said - you are way more enclosed and restricted in a hammock than you are on the ground, but I don't know if that's mostly psychological - you're pretty restricted zipped up in a sleeping bag in a tent, too. I've heard of people getting bumped into (presumably by bears, but who knows) but most hammockers I know hang rainflies waaay down under the height of their hammock, so I guess the bear would bump into the fly?

One serious issue with hammocks is convection - you can get COLD fast, especially with moving air.

As far as noises in the night, my take is - if you can hear it, it's not after you. If you can't hear it, it's probably not there. Don't set up on a game trail, hang your food and disperse-camp if you're in brown bear country and you'll be fine, but I have peed in a half-circle around my gear or hung a sweaty shirt before, as animal deterrent. I've kept myself awake many a night wondering if it's solipsism, atavistic survival genetics, plain old fear, or something else that makes people think something is after them. In the east coast woods there's really nothing that's going to bother me outside of a freak event (rabies, food-habituated bear, etc).

I feel a bit hyprocritical as I did not use this set up once in 2024, but I much prefer a good 8x10 or 10x10 tarp over a ground-sleeping setup than either a tent or hammock. I started doing that in my early twenties some time, and it almost totally dispelled the 'wonder what that noise was??' that I had when I was a kid. You can see, you're rain-protected, you get the breeze and the feeling of being in the woods rather than encapsulated in anything. I cowboy camp once in a blue moon, I just don't like the dew and condensation I get on all my gear.

 

[Blukanu]

When you say "The tarps don't offer as much protection", it is likely you mean "the tarp I use. doesn't offer as much protection".

No, I mean with a hammock your protection is literally just a flat tarp you set up. This is opposed to a rainfly which is made to and form fitted to a tent.

Because of that the tent with rainfly has better odds of keeping you dry in a driving rainstorm.

 

[yknpdlr]

The integral rainfly/tarp that came with my first generation Hennesssy has been adequate for most non-stormy conditions, even when it rains without much if any wind. Sometimes if I experience wind and some rain, I will tie it down lower than normal, which of course restricts the external visibility of my surrondings, but it is adwquate for that. I find that alone will hold in noticeablly extra heat near me inside the hammock. If I expect a chance of worse weather I have the optional much heavier Hennessey tarp cover, that has eight tie down tabs, and of course is even more restrictive. I also have a separate very lightweight but waterproof silnylon tarp that works well for intermediate conditions, or when the original tarp is just not quite enough coverage. Either of the two larger tarps is large enough to protect my pack and other belongings under the hammock and give me a place to sit in the rain.

 

[themadindian]

No, I mean with a hammock your protection is literally just a flat tarp you set up. This is opposed to a rainfly which is made to and form fitted to a tent.

Because of that the tent with rainfly has better odds of keeping you dry in a driving rainstorm.

I have tarps with doors and I have a multifunction tarp that I can form doors if I want. The multi is what comes out the most as I have so many options on how to pitch, it's by Jacks R Better

 

[Halpc]

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

Problem with the above: you are still exposing yourself to mosquitoes/black flies when you open the hammock fly and "stand up". I assume that you are using a pee bottle when you say "cap", and not just peeing on the ground under the hammock. In a tent you don't really have to stand or kneel. I use a wide mouth Nalgene bottle and can pee lying down on my side very easily. Just place the bottle at a lower elevation than the sleeping pad. Never have to open the tent or netting. The Nalgene is very secure and so far no spills.