Ditched my old sleeping pad for a hammock setup last summer

I used to be all about ground sleeping with a thick foam pad. After a rainy trip in the Smokies where water pooled under my tent, I woke up soaked and freezing. That same week I tried a buddy's hammock with a bug net and underquilt. Never going back to sleeping on the ground again - has anyone else made this switch and dealt with the cold better?

3 comments

3 Comments

iris_davis901mo ago

Have you tried a top quilt yet? I swapped to a hammock three years ago and that made a huge difference for warmth. My old sleeping bag just wouldn't work right hanging underneath me.

spencerm461mo ago

A sleeping bag in a hammock? That sounds miserable.

evan_campbell23d ago

Have you actually tried spending the night in one that way? I've been hammock camping for about eight years now, and I find a standard rectangular sleeping bag works fine as long as you get in it right and have a good underquilt underneath. The trick is to climb in carefully so the bag doesn't bunch up under you, then lay diagonally across the hammock. That way you're flat and the bag settles around you like normal. I've slept comfortably down to 30 degrees doing exactly that, so I wouldn't write it off too quick.