Hammock Vs Tent - Why I DON'T use a Hammock

hey guys it's Darwin and today we're talking shelters tents versus hammocks the pros and cons of each why I don't use a hammock and what's the best shelter system for you okay so by now you guys should know that I'm mainly a tenth person and in the past I've dabbled in things like tarp setups and bivy setups and in the past I have messed with some hammock now about a year ago I made a video talking about tents versus Vivi's and one question that I got a ton in the comments section wasn't on either it was on hammocks now I have done some hammock camping in the past and I do currently own a hammock set up but there's a reason that I don't take them out on my through hikes and I'll go over that in a little bit but first let's talk about the pros and cons of each alright so I can tell you being a tent person one of the biggest pros for me on using a tent on something like a thru-hike or a section hiker even a weekend backpacking trip is having a little home at the end of the day I know if I have a hard day on the trail if it's wet if it's cold if it's hot that at the end of the day I kind of have this little thing to look forward to right when I get to camp I can set up my little shelter and I have my own little space away from everybody else especially if I am camping with other hikers out on the trail whether I know them or not I like having my own little private domain in my camp spot at the end of the day it's just something that I like also if weather is bad I can get inside and I can spread out all my stuff I'm not super cramped in a little tiny spot so I do like having a little bit bigger of a tent to wear if I know there's gonna be a hardcore rainstorm and maybe there's a day that I don't want to hike maybe I want to take a zero on the trail I have a spot that I can spread all my stuff out I can cook in my vestibule and I can be comfortable when I would say the biggest Pro for me on using tents on the trail our simplicity tents especially the ones that I use are very simple to set up now in the past I have used tents that are freestanding which have an inner rain fly the poles and everything and those are pretty easy to set up but now I use a trekking pole tent that is a one-piece tent or a single walled tip and I love the simplicity of those tents because when I get to camp no matter where it's at I can throw out the tent I can stake it down put my trekking pole in it and it's ready for me to go bed so for me it's all about simplicity and tents in my opinion are just a more simplistic approach to the trail now as much as I do like using a tent there are obviously cons with using a tent over something like a hammock on the trail in my opinion number one would be setting up a messy camp and what I mean by that is when I get to camp and say it's been raining all day and the spot that I'm gonna set my tent up on is just super muddy super wet there's puddles on the ground I got a setup in that and then in the morning when I get up there tends to be a lot of mud splattered on the outside of my tent so sometimes using a tent can be a little bit more messy and the second con for me is kind of the opposite of one of my pros and that is setting up sometimes you don't always find the flattest ground sometimes especially out here in the southwest there's a ton of rocks all over the ground so setting up a tent can kind of be a challenge you have to really think about how you can set it up in between obstacles between trees and depending on what tent that you're using it can take up a lot of real estate on the ground so if you're camping around of a lot of other people you might only have so much room to work with all right so that basically covers the pros and the cons of tents for me but let's talk about hammocks now like I said I have used hammocks in the past on overnight backpacking trips on section hikes but I'm by no means an expert on using hammocks all the time so I decided to bring in frozen from outdoor adventures to give us a little bit more insight into the hammock world hey Darwyn thanks for having me what's up man thanks for coming on so what would you say are some of the pros or advantages to using a hammock on the trail there are some great benefits to using a hammock on the trail the first thing that comes to mind is the ability to set up camp where a typical tent might not be able to for instance say the ground is uneven or there's obstacles in the way like rocks or sticks or even logs hammock campers are able to hang over top of those obstacles and really get a comfortable night's sleep another great benefit is the ability to elevate your feet after a long hard day of hiking with my hammock setup I'm able to raise my foot end of the hammock six inches higher than the head end of the hammock which allows my feet to be elevated throughout the entire night no matter what position I'm sleeping whether it's on my back on my side or even on my stomach my feet will be elevated the entire night the biggest benefit of using a hammock at least for me is when I was using a tent and sleeping pad combo I never felt like I could get comfortable every hour or two I was waking up tossing and turning my back ached in the morning all that was relieved whenever I switched to a hammock I get such a great night's sleep in this thing then I wake up feeling refreshed and ready to start my day right on so it sounds like comfort is a really big Pro on using hammocks on the trail over tents but I'm sure there's some cons or disadvantages to using a hammock sure there's definitely some cons when bringing a hammock the first thing I should talk about is a hammock is usually going to weigh more than a typical tent system if you add in the under quilt the top quilt the hammock the straps the suspension and the tarp and the tent stakes you're typically going to be over the weight of a standard tent even the lightest hammock setup is still going to weigh more than the lightest tent setup so that is something to think about another thing that might dissuade people from hammock camping is its privacy issue whereas in a tent you can just close up your doors change for the night or get dressed in the morning you kind of spread out all of your gear to keep it organized with a hammock you don't have that privacy or that space typically I keep everything in my backpack and when it comes time to get changed I'm huddled up under my quilt and changing inside my hammock I think the biggest con for using a hammock on the trail is the amount of research required to actually get a comfortable night's sleep and to kind of know what you're doing I think a lot of people just go up to their local outdoor store buy the first hammock they see and expect to get a great night's sleep it's not like that at all it requires a ton of research and dialing your gear down to make sure that you can get a great night's sleep excellent points man thanks for your insight thanks Darwin looking forward to your a CT thru-hike have a good one so it definitely looks like there are some pros to using a hammock on the trail over a tent but why don't I personally use a hand on any of my hikes well for me it comes down to simplicity with the hammock system especially if you're talking about a three-season hammock system you have the tarp you had the hammock you had the bug net you have the straps the underquilt the top quilt all of that stuff I'm just a lazy hiker at the end of the day after hiking from 20 to sometimes 40 miles a day I don't want to mess with all that stuff I don't want to look for a tree I just want to grab my tent out throw it down on the ground put some trekking poles in it guy it out and be ready to go to bed I'm sure if I used hammock systems on the trail I would probably sleep a little bit better because any time that I have used hammock systems I've been super comfortable but for me it just comes down to simplicity and again like I've said in my past videos efficiency if I don't have to mess with all that stuff and I can just be a little bit more efficient in camp it's gonna make my hike overall more enjoyable but if you don't mind taking that extra time or say you're just going out for a multi-day backpacking trip where you don't necessarily have to be from point A to point B maybe a hammock system would be a great option for you to check out but if you're lazy like me and you don't really want to mess with it maybe just grab a tent my suggestion is get out on the trail maybe pick up a nice cheap budget option for a tent and a hammock and test it and see if you're a person that likes taking the time to set up a hammock or see if you're lazy like me and you just want to throw that 10 out but get out on the trail do some experimenting and find out for yourself what's gonna be the best for your next hike now I will leave some tent and hammock recommendations down in the description box from both me and frozen on what you should maybe look at if you're thinking about getting into a good lightweight simple tent or a nice hammock set up I'll leave all that down below so definitely check that out a huge thanks to frozen over at outdoor adventures if you're not following anybody this year on a thru-hike go check out frozen's channel he does a bunch of awesome gear videos not only on hammocks but on packs on kook systems plus he's doing an 80 through hike this year so go follow him as he starts pretty soon and I think he's going to be doing like two videos a week from the trail what are you we using on the trail are you a hammock person or a tent person and why leave me something down below and let me know your thoughts if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching you

Channel: Darwin onthetrail

Views: 476,176

Rating: 4.7890372 out of 5

Keywords: UL Hiking, UL Backpacking, UL Hiking Gear, Hammocks, Tents, Zpacks Duplex, Thru Hike Gear, Appalachian Trail, AT Thru Hike, Backpacking, Hiking, Hiker Trash, Adventure, Long Distance Hiking

Id: 6dj2s6v97Sg

Length: 9min 46sec (586 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 24 2019