5+ Reasons you should Hammock Camp & CONSIDER ditching your tent

Any word on that Haven?

Yes I got to try it out the other day but not for long. Weather and work hasn’t let me take it out of the yard. Initial thoughts are that it is kind of small but very stable. Comfortable, as it does lay really flat even when laying on my side. A bit claustrophobic with the tarp on considering I am used to a ridgeline being well above my hammock. May ditch the tarp and go with my normal tarp and ridgeline. Will hopefully get to try it for a few days in January.

I have a warbonnet ridgeline bridge. It is not too wide either. Was hoping the haven be an improvement..especially if have to go to ground. Also be curious how tuff the floor is, and waterproof.

Did you shop the crua also? Looks like part of the tarp can serve as a vestibule for gear on the ground. Both these models would appear to benefit from a bigger tarp.

Haven’t tried it on the ground. I’d say the supplied top/tarp wouldn’t leave a very big vestibule for gear but will know more once I actually get to properly test it. I did look at the crua also but in the end looked like the haven was a better deal for what I was looking for.

just wanted to follow up on my grand idea of using the bike as a staked out upright and only carrying one Tensa solo pole.....no matter how much fiddling/adjusting I did, I couldn’t seem to be able to not have the forks compress and me slowly sink to the ground! Anyways, a pair of solo poles is still significantly less space taken up compared to carrying full tensa4, takes about the same time to set up and is just as stable.

Did you try pulling away from the forkssuch as pull toward the back of the bike?

I have used mine pulling at about a 30 degree angle from front to the back of the bike and that didn’t compress the forks. As you said the to single poles isn’t that much and most of the times you can find at least one solid object to tie to.

Not a reason to go with a hammock , but , a reason to hook up your safety chains. They saved this guy.

Yeeeeesh! If that’s a real pic, lucky!

He was serious about testing the working load limit of those chains!

-Jake

Real. By the time this picture was taken more chains have been run to the Semi towing the fertilizer buggy. A man , his wife and their 2 dogs were all rescued alive. The canyon they were hanging over is 100 feet deep.

Someone a few pages back bought a Haven Tent setup. I was hoping they would post how it was working out? I was thinking they look pretty interesting.

I like mine. I’ve used it 6-7 times now but still have not yet pitched it in tent mode on the ground. I found that I like having my tarp higher up off of me than the one supplied in the kit. I usually just keep it rolled up on the included ridgeline. It might be good in a downpour to use both? Already had a good sil-nylon tarp from hammock camping over the last 5 or 6 years. I probably will end up removing the included tarp all together but that may make going to ground a little more fiddly having to use my hammock tarp for a cover. Although I have used it before on the ground with a small tent footprint and a pad, so it would be doable.
As to the comfort, it’s pretty badass. I found the trick is to put your strap on your head end a foot or so higher than the foot end. This type of hammock sets up stretched tight between the trees, and doesn’t work well with my tensa solo pole. It puts too much tension on the guy lines. It can be done, just not at all confidence inspiring.
Hope this helps. Oh and they should have the XL version available by now! I’m about 5’-4” 165 lbs and it’s not very roomy. If your much bigger than that, get the XL.

@Gadget00

So I got really curious about hammock camping. I bought a wise owl 2 person hammock. Was highly rated and compared to an Eno. So I watched lots of videos, read lots of instructions ect.... The problem is I can't seem to make the damn thing work. I'm 6foot 4 and 270 lbs. No matter how tight, how loose, close trees, far trees, ect, it is horrible. I'm bent up like a banana, with my shoulders squeezed so tight it hurts. The sides wrap all the way over top of you, locking me into a nylon burrito. Everyone says " lay on the diagonal" , that isnt possible, the ends are bunched together squeezing you forcibly back to centerline. Also when I look a pictures of people allegedly laying on the diagonal, they are still all bent up just like a banana. Without some sort of spreaders at the ends the physics just dont work out to be diagonal. What the hell am I missing? because there are huge numbers of people that love these hammock things, and I like the light simple packing and setup, but so far I cannot wrap my around how anyone could fall asleep getting squeezed and bent up into a banana. I have the big woven hammock with the wood spreaders at the ends hanging in the yard. You can lay diagonal and it is super comfortable, I can sleep in it like a baby.

That hammock is 10' long. That is way too short for you. Normal sized people up to say 6' tall are using 11' hammocks minimum. Someone your size almost certainly needs a 12' hammock. You will also want to have a structural ridgeline set up correctly. That also makes a huge difference.

Slept in mine last night - like a baby. I am 6,5, 290lbs. I have a Warbonnet Blackbird XL, but you still must set it up correctly to get the results. You should check out shugemery's channel on youTube, he goes into GREAT detail on so many hammocks - he is the default hammock encyclopedia, and fun to watch too.

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I'm just gonna correct some of this.

Yes, a 10' hammock is too short for him. However, most hammocks are 10' (such as the Warbonnet Blackbird). He needs an 11' hammock, such as the Blackbird XLC.

Well, he can certainly try that.

Thank you for your opinion here but from most serious hammock makers 11' is the standard length. Check out Dutchware, Hammockgear, Dream hammock, etc.

That is probably too short for a man of your stature. The two person hammock will roll you up like a burrito. They are really to wide if your trying to see out. Some people just never take to hammocks and you may not ever like them. I’m just 5’10 and the 11’ works fine for me. Laying on the diagonal is a must for comfort. If you are being pulled to center I’m sure the hammock is to tight or just two short.

here is my wife sleeping on her side on the diagonal


She is not crunched up or bent in any contortions. If you could post up some pics we maybe able to help sort you out,if it’s possible. This hammock thing just might not work for you, but if it does, it’s a lot of fun. I do sleep better in it that a tent.