Date: 2022-01-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

As always when it comes to gear, it's just one person's opinion. What worked for me may not work for others and what I was comfortable or uncomfortable with is highly subjective. I had only ever car camped prior to the AT and had always slept in a tent, so it was what I was used to and had some experience in set up. But I also had some concerns about possible overcrowding and competition for suitable tent spots on the trail and wanted some flexibility when it came to site selection. I also knew that I had NO desire to sleep in any of the shelters that are on the trail as I considered them just a mouse-magnet and kinda gross. So I started thinking about using a hammock. During my years of reading trail journals I had only followed one hiker who used a hammock and they had dropped out after completing 500 miles, so I went to he interwebs and began to watch hammock videos and read articles on the pros and cons. There's a youtube channel from a guy named Shug who has a wealth of info on how to properly set up and tweak your hammock as well as many reviews of equipment on the market. Then my friend Josh put me in touch with his buddy Nelson who had about 7000 miles of backpacking under his belt and was a confirmed hammock camper. Nelson was a great source of info as he told me he could always find a suitable hammock sight on the trail and that there wouldn't be a lack of trees outside of a few areas in New Hampshire and Maine. I found that to be the case as well and only had one "sketchy" hang where I had to use some trees that were slightly smaller than I would prefer. So after waaaaay too much research on hammocks or all stripes I decided to go with:Warbonnet Blackbird single layer: made with 40d dream-tex nylon: 16.45 oz/467g (including double ended stuff sack and Hammock Gear ridgeline organizer)          The Blackbird has a sew-in foot box which makes getting into the desired flat lay sleeping position (no sleeping in the shape of a banana) and I found it to very durable fabric. I had to repair one hole that I made when I sat on my knife while attempting some minor foot surgery. I used one piece of tenacious tape and it held for 1200 miles. in addition to the footbox, the Blackbird also has a built in gear shelf that made life in the rack very easy. I would put my electronics bag, stuff sacks, extra clothes and sundries on the gear shelf for organization and easy access during the night. The Blackbird also has an integrated bug net that I used every night. Can't say enough good things about the Blackbird and how comfortable it was. The added benefit of never having to pack a wet and muddy tent was priceless. I got to the point where I would set up and take down as if it were raining. Namely: set the tarp up first and then hand the hammock and when braking camp get everything packed up under the tarp and then pack that last. The Blackbird has two sewn in shock cords to stake out: one to keep the bug night up and out of the way and one for the gear shelf. Stake weight below.          Pros: Durable, strong, well constructed, integrated bug net (a weight "penalty" I was happy to pay), never had a zipper fail, never a bad nights sleep, legs were always slightly elevated helping recovery.         Cons: there is learning curve to the set up, you have to get used to sleeping (snoring) primarily on your back, limited site options in the designated camping areas in the Whites, some people make fun of you for being a nerd, if you want to camp at a hostel to save money there are usually very limited options to hang, lack of a sleeping pad in you had to stay in a shelter (thankfully I never experienced such an emergency), biggest con for most is that a tent provides you that little "house feel" with four walls and space to spread out your gear. Hammocking means you have to be a little more organized and that your gear explosions are saved for the Hostel or Hotel.Warbonnet custom Thunderfly: 20d silpoly tarp, 11ft with added panel pulls, and two tarp ticks: 14.95oz/424g (including tie-out line, two mini carabiners, and four shock cord loops added to tie-outs)         I chose the silpoly fabric because it is very water resistant without the high cost of a Dyneema Tarp. In exchange for the added weight I also got the added benefits of the silpoly blocking a little more light than the Dyneema tarps and also being a little easier to pack up. The Thunderfly tarp is a compromise of sorts between a full-door tarp and a flat tarp with no doors. I choose it so I would have some weather protection on the ends and an added bit of privacy as well. MY go-to set up was to put my tarp in "porch mode" where the side towards the wind and/or the shelter was tied down close to the ground and on the lee side I'd use my trekking poles to raise the tarp 3-4 feet off the ground before securing it to the stakes. This allowed for a more open feel, more headroom, and view as I laid in the rack. I would vary the height if it were rainy or particularly windy but only on a few occasions did I have the tarp cinched down tight to the ground on both sides. So effectively, the hammock and tarp combo as a floating tent. I probably had the doors deployed about half the time, when I wasn't using them I'd either clip them back with mini carabiners or use the tie-out cord I attached to tie the doors around the trees from which I was hanging for added room. The tarp needs four stakes and tie out line (weight below) to deploy and if the pullouts were used then two addition stakes and additional line were required. I used my tarp every night that I was in the hammock - keeping rain, bugs, tree droppings and dew off my gear was worth it to me. If I wanted to see the stars, I'd just step out and do so.         Pros: Having small doors came in very handy during a few of the heavy storms I experienced, keeping me dry and happy, never leaked water and silpoly was easy to compress and pack and dried quickly, 11ft tarp (a saw more hammockers with 10ft tarps) kept me well out of the elements,          Cos: Silpoly fabric, while very water resistant, is heavier than Dyneema tarps and also weighs more when rain-soaked, that's it - that's my only con to this tarp.Dutchware Beetle Buckle Suspension Straps: pair of 12' Spider/Poly straps with Dutch's titanium Beetle Buckles. 6.05oz/172g including two shock cord drip lines         So after countless hours watching videos about Whoopie slings and lots of time practicing various knot tying techniques I punted and decided that simple is better! Dutchware's website is a hammock geeks nirvana, with lots of well thought out little pieces of gear and hardware to make hammocking more nerdy and enjoyable. The 12 foot straps are not ultralight compliant, but having the extra length was great piece of mind for me if I was stuck with very large trees (happened multiple times) or trees further apart then would be ideal (ditto).           Pros: they never slipped, never failed, gave me great piece of mind during a few raging storms that a failed knot wouldn't send me crashing into the mud, easy to coil and pack, super fast set up in the rain         Cons: there are lighter alternatives when it comes to straps, knots are lighter than even titanium hardware, extra water weight when wetStakes: Six Warbonnet 5" Titanium stakes - including 8ft of zing-it cord and one Dutchware Ringworm on 4 of the stakes 3.05/87g - 5 spare aluminum stakes (you pack your fears!) 2.75oz/77g        Yeah, I carried too many stakes. So sue me. I never claimed to be an ultra lighter! I actually only started with the six titanium stakes but my second night on the trail i found 4 aluminum stakes stuck in the ground in the out of the way place I had set up my hammock, so in the interest of Leave No Trace and cowardice, I packed them out with me. Somewhere along the way I acquired one more and kept that too. Later in Maine I bent one stake so badly I discarded it - in town. What worked for me was permanently attaching my line and Ringworms to my stakes, that way when I packed up camp I was less likely to misplace or forget a stake because of the line attached to it - and this worked! Never had an issue. You can find many strong opinions on which stakes are best for backpacking but I never really had an issue with mine. Sure, they got bent a bit from time to time but I'd just find a rock and pound them flat-ish again. Good enough.        Pros: Titanium and aluminum are both light weight, they worked just fine for me        Cons: They're stakes, I got nuthin'Stuff sacks and tarp line: Warbonnet gray tarp line, two Dyneema stuff sacks for stakes and straps, extra shock cord 1.8oz/52g        I had two 12 foot tarp lines, two spare 12 foot lines for the pull outs (only used a few times in heavy rain/wind), two 8 foot lines for additional tie-out and some spare shock cord. Yeah, yeah, overkill - I know. But the miniscule weight penalty didn't give me a moments thought. My hiking buddy Quicksilver used a lot less hardware, line, stakes, and sundries than did I and he did just fine with his hammock. That's why some of this is just so individual.So that's my Shelter system. Total weight (this is the FIRT TIME I've ever added it up!) is 42.4 ounces (or 2.64375 pounds) or 1202 grams for my Canadian and European brethren. That's plenty ultralight for me. I suppose if I ditched stuff sacks, extra lines, extra stakes, went with a smaller tarp, splurged on Dyneema fabric, shortened and lightened my straps, ditched the hardware for knots, and generally became more miserable I could get that well under two pounds.  But I NEVER had any regrets about my shelter gear. I had a few anxious times, knowing if I had to shelter up I would be sleeping on the cold, hard mouse feceed wood, but that neve came to be. There were at least a half dozen nights where had I been tenting I would have been on a slope, sleeping on rocks, waking in a rain created puddle, or other misery. My hammock packed dry into my pack every time and my tarp (wet or dry) lived in the mesh pouch on the outside of my pack. I never slept poorly due to sliding off my sleeping pad and really believe that having my feet slightly elevated every night was key to having fresh legs every morning.Team Hammock!