I don't mean to be a nay-sayer on various topics, but to offset the possible risk of someone thinking of a hammock as a panacea ...

"You can hammock as light as you want to go."

One thing that de-converts some folks from hammocks is the desire to be at least "weight neutral" in equivalent conditions. In colder climates and/or higher elevations, to be reliably warm enough it can be challenging to end up with an equivalently warm hammock setup without carrying more weight (and possibly bulk) as a result. Different people report differing degrees of "equivalency" with super-shelters (Hennesy), underquilts (JRB et al) etc, but when you count up everything --- I haven't seen a hammock setup as light as I can get an equivalent (lightweight) ground setup.

I do think that weight neutrality is possible, though unless you're handy with making your own gear it can come at quite a price.

"Site selection - Anywhere you have a tree or two."

This is what led me to buy a hammock in the first place --- the idea that I could walk as long as I wanted and then just quickly find a hang spot when the light was fading. I live, after all, in WA state where often it's hard to find a good tent site as there's so much brush everywhere.

Well, that brush can grow up between the two trees, preventing a good hang site. And I've walked through young forest where the trees are too close together with understory growing all the way to the ground. There are certainly cases where I'll see lots of great hang sites and no tent sites, but the reverse is also true where sometimes I'll find a great little ground camping spot with no decent hang site around.

"Don't hang from dead trees."

Side note: while this might sound obvious, it makes a great deal of sense to look UP at the solid-looking tree trunk you're about to use as an anchor. It was quite amusing for me after the fact when a dead tree trunk started falling over (towards me) as I put my weight into the hammock ...

I don't mean that as any basis for going with a hammock or not, just a side comment I couldn't resist ... :-)

One potential issue that can sort of "get" people about hammocks is that we sort of take for granted having a stable, flat, and unyielding space to be in when tenting, to lay our stuff out and sort through it, lean on an elbow on the ground, etc. With the more limited space inside a hammock, if you drop something it tends to roll underneath you. If you want to shift positions you typically grab some hammock fabric and pull to do that. I'm not saying this is some sort of horrible experience, but I will say that when I'm in the hammock I sort of miss some aspects of having a tent (and sometimes vice versa).

It should also be noted that of all aspects of backpacking equipment, I find that switching to a hammock has the overall steepest and longest learning curve. Partly that's sorting through options to find the right set for you. Partly it's picking up some skills like judging distances between trees, evaluating how level the hammock is (or isn't), figuring out how to stay reliably dry without carrying too much weight in over-tarping, using the right knots or other attachment approach.

And there are sometimes local rules about hanging a hammock on a tree. Some agencies are concerned about damage to tree bark; conscientious hammock uses have some sort of strapping (rather than direct thin cord) around the tree to limit damage, but this can be a factor sometime.

I am NOT saying that hammocks are therefore "bad". My point with the above is that a person should go into something like this being aware ahead of time of the potential downsides as well as the upsides, partly to tune expectations, partly to be alert to ways to mitigate the downsides. For me, in the places that I tend to camp, I'm a content ground dweller most of the time now, but I think hammocks make great sense for a lot of folks in a lot of situations.
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Brian Lewis
http://postholer.com/brianle