HikeArizona.COM

Hey there AZ!

I'm looking to take a friend somewhere to camp on during the new moon, January 4th. We're both fit and athletic individuals, so don't mind hiking too far. I'm new to camping in this area, but have all the necessary gear (a roomy 2 person tent, 20*bag, sleeping pad, cookware) to spend a multi-day backpack with a COLD night, somewhere, but only for myself. Thus, the hammock idea, its portable, light, uses only 2 carabiners to set up, off the ground, and saves weight and space for heavier blankets/sleeping bags. But after looking at the feasible options at this time of year, I have found using a hammock in the area would be quite difficult. I'm open to Car camping or hiking to a spot, but only as long as we are away from others. Near water is not a necessity, but would be nice.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Dropping the hammock idea is an option, but would be costly to set her up with a decent pad and possibly bag.

a hammock is only one part of a system. it will not work on its own. just like a pad is one part of a camping system, it is not an entire sleep system.

you need a full "shelter" system for a hammock to work effectively in winter. a quality tarp made for hammock camping, to block wind and trap heat. a means to stay warm both above and below your body. just like using a pad or mattress on the ground to stay warm, you need same idea in hammock. do a quick wiki search on convective heat loss to get the 101 on why you need a pad or underquilt for your hammock.

see my article on hammock camping and sign up at http://www.hammockforums.net so you can get the skinny on all things hanging. why hanging is not the norm, is a mystery.

to view how an "underquilt" works, you can visit my site here: http://www.tewaunderquilts.webs.com or see HF for more. im certainly not the only vendor, but im local and here to help.
see you in the trees!

te-wa wrote: why hanging is not the norm, is a mystery.

http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=1254
http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=162759
That's why. ;)

Thanx Te-Wa for the help, and oddly enough, I just read your article. Hammocks are a great route, if you haven't already been geared up otherwise. It seems my best bet would be to bite the bullet, get a nice insulated pad, allow her to use it, and pitch the tent I already have. One of your hammocks does have a chance to be in my future though.

I think during the new moon I am going to make a winter trip to my favorite fishing spot on the black river. Never been there during the winter months, and this winter has been pretty mild so I think I should be ok. Area I go to is right about 6800 and there is no snow on the ground in this area yet. Only downer is its on the res, so have to pay for permits.

Roads open?

very few hangers were privileged enough to save all that money on ground camping gear to begin with.. but many of us backpackers have gone thru a couple "transitions" in gear anyway. (even LIZ, finally, cheese and rice!!)
if you are one of the lucky ones, you just buy hanging gear and away you go.. i wish!

a top quality hammock made for camping can run anywhere from $15 to $300+
a good start is a travel hammock by WarBonnet outdoors or a traveller by Grand Trunk. (the green one with blue sleeping bag is mine, along the Randolf Canyon route, Superstitions.) or make your own!

the WB already has the correct straps and lines to make a perfect pitch, which makes an excellent beginner hammock. you wont need netting in this weather since bugs are a non-issue.

a tarp made just for hammocks is nice, like the Maccat by OES (the last photo w/ green tarp is mine ;)
but you can get by with a cheaper model, i still suggest at least silnylon but in a pinch, an 8x10 harbor frieght pos tarp will do. you'll want to step up to catenary curves like found on the maccat which give a taught pitch, no flapping, and better storm protection.

a sleeping bag works, until you try the simplicity of a quilt. in a hammock, a quilt is like peas and carrots, jenny! you already have some sort of underside insulation be it a pad(s) or underquilt, so the useless bottom of a sleeping bag that just becomes compressed dead weight is removed, and more like a down comforter in your bed at home. a lot less wrestling going on for sure.

which brings up my closing argument: sleeping bag on a pad works. not beautifully. a quilt on top and a quilt under is the primo option. it is the choice of any serious hanger.
if you were to purchase my exact 3-season set up, it would set you back around $750. compare that to a solo silnylon tarptent, a superlight pad, and a costly down bag, it usually is a wash.. but the thousands of new hangers that used to sleep on the ground will successfully argue that a hammock is hands down a better nights sleep.

search Youtube for "Shug Emery hammock" and watch this professional clown cover almost anything you wanted to know about hanging. he has about 15 videos of reviews, how to's, and just silly stuff for fun too.

enjoy!
mike

te-wa wrote:very few hangers were privileged enough to save all that money on ground camping gear to begin with.. but many of us backpackers have gone thru a couple "transitions" in gear anyway. (even LIZ, finally, cheese and rice!!)
if you are one of the lucky ones, you just buy hanging gear and away you go.. i wish!

a top quality hammock made for camping can run anywhere from $15 to $300+
a good start is a travel hammock by WarBonnet outdoors or a traveller by Grand Trunk. (the green one with blue sleeping bag is mine, along the Randolf Canyon route, Superstitions.) or make your own!

the WB already has the correct straps and lines to make a perfect pitch, which makes an excellent beginner hammock. you wont need netting in this weather since bugs are a non-issue.

a tarp made just for hammocks is nice, like the Maccat by OES (the last photo w/ green tarp is mine ;)
but you can get by with a cheaper model, i still suggest at least silnylon but in a pinch, an 8x10 harbor frieght pos tarp will do. you'll want to step up to catenary curves like found on the maccat which give a taught pitch, no flapping, and better storm protection.

a sleeping bag works, until you try the simplicity of a quilt. in a hammock, a quilt is like peas and carrots, jenny! you already have some sort of underside insulation be it a pad(s) or underquilt, so the useless bottom of a sleeping bag that just becomes compressed dead weight is removed, and more like a down comforter in your bed at home. a lot less wrestling going on for sure.

which brings up my closing argument: sleeping bag on a pad works. not beautifully. a quilt on top and a quilt under is the primo option. it is the choice of any serious hanger.
if you were to purchase my exact 3-season set up, it would set you back around $750. compare that to a solo silnylon tarptent, a superlight pad, and a costly down bag, it usually is a wash.. but the thousands of new hangers that used to sleep on the ground will successfully argue that a hammock is hands down a better nights sleep.

search Youtube for "Shug Emery hammock" and watch this professional clown cover almost anything you wanted to know about hanging. he has about 15 videos of reviews, how to's, and just silly stuff for fun too.

enjoy!
mike

I took te-wa's advice and read up over at hammockforums (HF) and when I thought I had done enough research and narrowed down what exactly I wanted to purchase....I bit the bullet. I bought a warbonnet blackbird (WBBB) 1.1 dbl, a backwoods daydreamer winter dream v.2 tarp, and a te-wa 3 season underquilt (UQ). I eventually changed out the suspension on my hammock to whoopie slings, and wanted to be warmer so I bought a full length winter weight UQ and an over stuffed 3 season top quilt made by the good folks at hammockgear. I liked the hammock soo much I found another setup almost identical to the one I had put together...for sale at HF and snatched it up. I have probably close to 2k or so tied up in hammocks, suspension, tarps, UQ's, TQ, ridge lines, snake skins, tarp guy lines, and other hammock accessories.

I like the set up so much and find the hammock to be far more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. I still have my tents and sleeping bag/pads for when I am forced to go to the ground I can.

azbackpackr wrote:Roads open?

Where I go yes...I drive up to point of pines from globe and then north from there.