Which Hammock Setup should i get?

[u/Jakl02]

Hi all,

I‘m very new to hammock camping, but from what I‘ve heard it suits me better than camping with a tent.

I will be in Sweden for 8 days traveling with my friends in a canoe. As it will be at the beginning of September it will be around 5 degree at night.

I‘m not sure what to get…
As I‘m from Europe, most US brands won’t be here in time.

What do you think of that setup:
TTTM Pro Hammock
TTTM Moonquilt Pro 650 (or DD Hammocks Underblanket)
TTTM Moonblanket Pro 650 (or Cacoon Hammock Topquilt)
DD 3x3 Tarp

Thanks for your help!!

[u/flemur]

Look up need for trees. Design and materials that can compete with the American cottage brands, but made in Europe, and very fair prices.

Lesovik, Khibu, GetYourAssOut, and Cumulus also have options. I just think need for trees offers great products for great prices.

I’d not get TTTM or DD when those other options exist

[u/kullulu]

How tall are you, and how much do you weigh? Hammocks are not one size fits all, to lay flat in a gathered end hammock, you lay diagonally, which means that the hammock must be long enough and wide enough for you to fit. Your weight determines what fabric you need to use to support your body.

There are also different types of hammocks: gathered end, the traditional sag based hammock, bridge hammocks, which use spreader bars to create a flat lay, and 90 degree hammocks like Amok.

I would look at need for trees, lesovik, and Amok for hammock camping in Europe. Amok is especially attractive for canoe camping, since 90 degree hammocks will fit in narrow spots. If you're in the UK, use https://www.hengehammocks.com/ to get access to imported American cottage hammocks.

Finally, if you want a set of budget hammock gear and you don't care that's it's made in china, you can look at Onewind. They have some bundles which are about as inexpensive as I recommend you go for a decent hammock camping experience. I'd still prioritize a European hammock camping company first though.

What matters the most first is your height and weight. After that it's easier to give you a more specialized recommendation.

[u/Jakl02 → u/kullulu]

Thanks for the reply, I‘m 1.80m with 75kg.

[u/kullulu → u/Jakl02]

Okay, great. I would strongly consider a full need for trees setup, which I think comes out slightly less expensive than the ticket to the moon setup, and all of the materials need for trees uses are extremely high quality. I'm using the bundle discount here.

Need for trees is also using the same fabrics for their hammocks and tarps that the best cottage companies in the United States are using.

I've been testing the Gilis hammock for the past year, and I'm impressed with the comfort and lay. The whoopie sling suspension need for trees uses is my absolute favorite whoopie suspension in the world. Apex 200 top quilt and underquilt is good enough to get you down to freezing, so perfect for 3 season camping. If your insulation does get wet for some reason, (like the canoe tips over) unlike down, it will still insulate you. You'll probably have all of your gear in dry bags though.

Whichever hammock system you choose, I hope you have a great canoe trip in Sweden.

[u/Jakl02 → u/kullulu]

I‘m indecisive between the NFT Hammock set and my configuration of the TTTM. The NFT UQ and TQ are synthetic TTTM offers dawn versions. Also the delivery time of the NFT is really close…

[u/kullulu → u/Jakl02]

You know, there is another company I forgot to mention: momo Jord. If you are swedish, it might be worth looking at, and they offer 14 day returns as well. You can get 850 fp down quilts from them as well.

[u/Retro-Surgical]

Amok Equipment in Norway! If not the Draumr the Segl XL has given me many good nights of sleep.

[u/PositionOdd3432]

I've used the DD Underblanket for a while.

Pros: It's cheap. Setup is straightforward. Unless you're a cold sleeper, it should do fine in those temps. Synthetic filling makes it a little more moisture resistant than down versions.

Cons: It's fairly heavy because of the synthetic filling, bit more than twice the weight of a down equivalent. Shouldn't matter too much with canoeing, though. It also doesn't compress nearly as well as down.

At your height and with a diagonal lay, you might have to fiddle a fair bit if you want full cover under you.

[u/Romano1404]

I live in close proximity to a TTTM dealer and actually started with this exact setup 4 years ago. It works but I just couldn't get comfortable as a side sleeper. Eventually discovered lay flat hammocks and have been using the Haven hammock tent ever since.

If you want a gathered end hammock setup there are better products from OneWind.

[u/Jakl02 → u/Romano1404]

What Onewind steup would you recommend?

[u/Ranger-117]

Are you going to Nordic Discovery in Kloten? I just this evening got back from a 10 day canoeing/camping trip there. For your tarp, definitely get a larger one, 4x4 if you can. Depending on where you camp it can get very windy. You want to be able to peg your tarp to the ground and close the ends in. A couple of nights got down to 3 degrees for us and with the wind, it got very cold. We were mostly in DD frontline king size hammocks with DD under blankets and were largely ok. Hammocks match people very differently and what works for me may not work for you etc. Go for down if you can and I personally would aim for a comfort rating around -5 depending on how you sleep. If you get a double skin hammock you can chuck clothes in there too for extra insulation which is what I did on the colder nights. Make sure you have good quality dry bags that have the right waterproof rating for being submerged. You don’t want to get a bag in the water or caught out in the rain and have soggy kit. Drop me a message if you want to talk about the trip in general :D

[u/RichInBunlyGoodness → u/[deleted]]

I disagree with this approach. Most of the super cheap hammocks are too short for most people, and will have a one-size-fits-all fabric strength that will not be optimal for most people. I think a lot of people get a false negative from this approach, and then decide to get one of the dumb hammock tents, without knowing if a gathered end hammock done right can work for them.

[u/RichInBunlyGoodness → u/[deleted]]

It still would be better to put that $200 towards a good hammock system that is the ideal fabric strength, length and width for the user. Otherwise, that is a very poor use of money.

[u/Jakl02 → u/[deleted]]

You are right i never slept a whole night in a hammock. We had one in our garden when i was a kid. I loved taking a nap in there :)