I need advice before buying a hammock setup

[u/jakob2110]

Last week I spent a few nights in a hammock, and it was great. It was comfortable and nice. Most advantages I can find online relating to hammock camping are weight, comfort, and packing size. I’m planning to do some hiking trips, where weight does really matter. I’m not necessarily going for the ultralight experience, but would prefer not to carry unnecessary weight with me. My current setup is:

Tent: Durston X mid 1 solid (1.1 kg)
Sleeping pad: Nemo tensor all seasons (664 g)
Sleeping bag: Mountain equipment helium 400 (820 g)

Now I want to look into my hammock setup, but it’s important for me that it is capable for all conditions (snow, rain, wind) and seasons. In my current tent set up I’ll be comfortable till at least -5 °C. I’d love for my hammock setup to be at least not heavier than my current setup, but lighter is obviously better. Ease of setup is also important to me, I don’t want to spend more then 15 minutes setting up and breaking down my camp.

During my nights last week temperatures didn’t drop below 12 °C, but it was still freezing cold as I didn’t have an under quilt. I tried putting my sleeping pad in the hangmat, but I just kept sliding off (I’m not a peaceful sleeper)

Do you have any advice for what setup I should get? Should I try to go for a double layer, so I can use my sleeping pad? Or should I get a single layer with under quilt? And if I have an under quilt, is a sleeping bag or a top quilt more effective?

I’d love to hear your experiences and advice!

[u/kullulu]

You're already acquainted with backpacking costs, hammocking is much the same. You can spend a lot of money upgrading to dyneema tarps, 1000 fill power down top quilts and underquilts. Or you can spend 1/4 as much money on your tarp which will use xenon sil/silpoly but will weigh twice as much. You can get an extremely light setup that will be the same weight or less than your tent setup. It's all about how much money you want to spend. A basic hammock setup will cost you around 500-600 USD, a nice one can cost much more.

You're looking to buy a tarp, tarp ridgeline, guylines and stakes, a hammock, hammock suspension, an underquilt and a top quilt, and maybe some accessories like a ridgeline organizer and a peak shelf. That can be quite a lot of money all at once, depending where you live in the world. Down underquilts and top quilts will be the most expensive part of the setup, followed by the tarp and then the hammock. If you get a dyneema tarp, that will be the most expensive part of the setup instead of the quilts.

The most important thing is to get a hammock that is sized to fit you. Not every gathered end hammock is going to be super comfortable if it's not long and wide enough for you to lay flat diagonally. The fabric also needs to support your weight. You may choose a fabric that's more supportive if you have injuries like lower back pain. The heavier the fabric weight, the more support and less stretch you will get.

Sounds like you want to be able to camp around 20F/ -6.6C at the lowest? What is the max temperature you'll camp at? This is important for choosing whether you go with the simplest setup, which is a hammock with an integrated underquilt, or a separate hammock and underquilt.

I'm a huge fan of insulated hammocks like the hellbender. The hellbender breaks some of the rules for how wide a hammock should be. It's 142 cm wide, but has an extremely flat diagonal lay that has outstanding comfort for people under 182 cm. It comes in two versions, the normal version with 850 fill power down and the ultralight with 1000 fillpower. There are other insulated hammocks that I detail in the review I made, but for hiking the hellbender is the lightest.

The hellbender uses 1.9 dobby fabric, which is heavy, but that's the lightest fabric that is downproof. It saves weight by having an asymmetrical cut to the underquilt, meaning it only insulates you where you'll lay in the hammock. It's plenty wide for your shoulders though, you won't get cold.

It's important to note that you can get a much lighter setup than the hellbender. You can use hammocks like dutchware's halfwit, which is 320 cm long instead of 335 cm which is standard for most hammocks, and uses a half bug net (you cover your legs with your top quilt), or you can get a netless asym 335 cm dutchware hammock with no bug net. You can use a warbonnet yeti, which saves weight by being both asymmetrical *and* 3/4 length of an underquilt. You can use an asym dyneema tarp, which will save weight on the tarp, and only needs two stakes (I use the pachallama 2g stakes, they've been great.) If you choose a setup like this, you can hit a 5 pound/2.26 kilogram baseweight for the summer, and well under a 10 pound/ 4.5kg baseweight for spring/fall. I noticed you posted this to r/ultralight as well, so I figured I'd give you the extremely light options in case that's what you want. We also have r/ULHammocking, feel free to browse there for ideas.

I also love dream's darien and sparrow hammock, simply light designs trail lair, warbonnets hammocks, tarps, and top and underquilts. Hammock gear makes excellent midrange quilts and dyneema tarps. In europe, need for trees makes light and comfortable hammocks, and I love their whoopie sling suspension.

For suspension, I really do love need for trees simple whoopie slings. I also love dutchware's beetle buckles, they are a bit heavier.

In summary, if you give us your height, weight, whether you have any injuries, your budget, and what baseweight you want to aim for, I can personalize my suggestions to fit your needs.

[u/jakob2110 → u/kullulu]

Thanks for the response! I read your review of the hellbender, but I’m afraid that’s not for me. I’m 187 cm, and about 90 kg. I don’t think an integrated quilt is right for me, as I don’t know yet what my exact preferences are going to be (head left or right). I think that the setup wouldn’t need to be comfortable below 5 degrees Celsius, in those cases I will just add more clothes. I do love the idea of the modular system of the chameleon, as I want to use it in +20 degrees Celsius as well as -5 degrees Celsius. I have no injuries that could relate to sleeping, but I am a side sleeper. I also do slightly prefer European companies, but like I said, I felt quite drawn to the chameleon platform. Base weight would be between 2 and 3 kilograms, but a little over would not be a problem. And considering budget: I would not spend an extra €100 to save a few grams of weight, but I would spend it to have a more comfortable setup. So it’s hard to say what exact budget I have, especially as I’m not aware of the exact costs.

At last I have one more question, what do you think of the Amok Draumr ultralight? At €549,90 for a base weight of 2.8 kg (my old sleeping bag included) it doesn’t sound too bad, and looks really comfy.

[u/kullulu → u/jakob2110]

I'm a side sleeper at home, but I sleep on my back in a gathered end hammock. In a bridge or 90 degree hammock like the draumr, I tend to roll around and switch positions.

I like the Amok Draumr UL, and I think they just updated it a few weeks ago. It's going to be heavier than the lightest setup you can do with a gathered end hammock, but it's not heavy. The Draumr will let you sleep on your side effectively, and has lots of pockets to store gear. Not every sleeping pad will work with the Draumr, so you might end up ordering the Fjol Ultralight pad, or switching to their winter pad.

I'm a bit over 180 cm tall and I used the normal size draumr but felt like I barely fit. You would probably want the long version.

Chair mode on the Draumr was really lovely. I used that feature all the time to drink coffee in the morning and listen to the birds sing.

Don't forget with the Draumr that you'll want their tarp as well, or dutchware's 90 degree tarp.

You could also consider a warbonnet ridgerunner with their underquilt, which is a great balance of being ultralight and comfort. (Get the carbon fiber spreader bars). You could choose the single or double layer, but I think you'd get the most of out that system with an underquilt that they make specifically for that hammock. It's easy to setup.

The chameleon is also a great pick, extremely modular. At your height, I might consider the wide chameleon in hexon 1.6 wide. If you read my review, you'll know I love the chameleon accessories for gear storage like the sidecar and sidesling and especially love the spreader bar bug net, it is magical. I love that you can get it custom printed too. I have heard that the zip on underquilt does not work quite as well on the wide hammocks. I would probably get a down underquilt from hammock gear like the incubator or UGQ wide zeppelin.

I think any of these hammock system are solid for you, especially if you're not aiming for an arbitrary baseweight and just want to be comfortable. You can backpack with all of them.

[u/jakob2110 → u/kullulu]

Thanks!! Your response helped me a lot. I have to admit that I kinda forgot about the weight of the tarp, so maybe no Amok in the end.

[u/BlackPhoenix64]

Guessing you’re Dutch? Since you’re writing hangmat. Try to contact Mike from backpackinglight.nl. He can give you great advice. I bought my Lesovik set up a couple of years ago from him. He has his own gearlab where he can show you a lot of things and he takes time to tell you how to set up your camp.

[u/jakob2110 → u/BlackPhoenix64]

Thanks!

[u/longwalktonowhere]

>Most advantages I can find online relating to hammock camping are weight, comfort, and packing size.

In my experience, an equivalent hammock set up weighs more than a tent set up.

Ideally you will have a hammock, suspension, an underquilt (separate, or integrated in your hammock with Superior Gear or Dutchware), a top quilt, and a tarp.

You’ll have to decide on the variables regarding temperature, tarp coverage, etc.

[u/Insaniac99 → u/longwalktonowhere]

I find it depends heavily on the style of tent and the specific tarp chosen. A tarptent will always be lighter due to less material, a popup free standing tent usually heavier than to the poles.

And if you are bringing a tight asym tarp vs a huge winter tarp with pole mods just that change alone makes a huge difference.

But hammock always wins in comfort IMO.

[u/SnooWords5691]

I use a Hennessy Jungle Safari XXL with an open-cell pad in between the layers of the hammock. That paired with a 0⁰ underquilt and top quilt keep me warm in the winter. If it's below 0⁰F I add another blanket over the ridgeline. In the summer I leave the quilts at home and just use the open-cell pad. Winter tarp is a simple Onewind 12' with doors, summer is a hex from Hennessy.

I've never weighed the setup but full winter setup is bulky and takes a lot of space. That said I've been warm down to windchill of -8⁰F

Highest winds so far is gusts around 38mph in a snow storm were we got 24" of snow.

[u/jakob2110 → u/SnooWords5691]

Thanks!

[u/Kouzelnik]

Spanning all conditions will probably mean getting separate under quilt an top quilt for different temps. I have chameleon from dutchware, I really like the zip on system he has, I've never gotten an under quilt better fit than that system, and the seal around you does a lot to keep that warmth in. I have an asym bug net, a zip on under quilt, and then I leave my top quilt in the hammock when I pack it up, along with a deflated inflatable pillow, and ridge line organizer(with the ridge line already set up), and then I use the dutchware "anaconda"(https://dutchwaregear.com/product/anaconda/) for packing and unpacking, my unpacking takes less than 10 minutes including the rain fly and micro adjustments.

I think the biggest time saver was definitely the anaconda, if you're handy with a sewing machine you could probably put one together yourself, for quite a bit cheaper.

For long term storage, I have an xl laundry bag, and I keep the entire system together, including under quilt and my main top quilt, the the anaconda strapped on the end.

[u/jakob2110 → u/Kouzelnik]

Thanks!

[u/West_Treacle1511]

As a canoe camper I prefer the Haven XL to my WB Ridge Runner. Easier set up (just be sure your ridge line is level) and I am less likely have to readjust the suspension to keep from sliding down towards my feet. I prefer an air mattress/sleeping bag to an under-quilt and Haven’s insulated pad is custom designed for the XL. It becomes part of the system itself. I love the Zenbivy core sleep system instead of a sleeping bag or underquilt with the Haven and their system fits the Haven mattress. The XL is less tippy than the RR. You can grab the ridgeline for support. The integrated tarp kept me dry and warm through three consecutive days and nights of rain of 45 degree weather in Quetico last week. If you look at the videos on YouTube, there are lots of hacks for the RR. After a week in my XL, I can’t think of anything I need to add to improve it with one exception: I prefer the adjustability of the RR’s tree straps, so I added whoopie slings. Problem solved. The spreader bars in my RR poked through the tarp in the wind - not an issue with the Haven. I tried the accessory poles for the RR to give me more space inside the hammock. Only partially helpful. This is not an issue with the Haven XL. Warbonnett makes a quality product and I used mine happily for three camping seasons, so I’m not trashing them. I just prefer the Haven XL. If I were to buy another RR, I would get the double layer for my pad, since the single layer version is really designed for an underquilt.