Hi, Ryan, tried to send you a PM but you haven't completed the profile.

Do you have Ed Speer's "Hammock Camping" book? Also, he hosts a Hammock Camping forum on yahoo.

sandy in miami

Could using the heavier weight (GASP!, sinful...) emergency blankets (i.e. reflective side and red side) as hammock material save weight in winter camping in the long run?

Edited by yalacasa on 11/01/2006 18:58:23 MST.

>Could using the heavier weight (GASP!, sinful...) emergency blankets (i.e. reflective side and red side) as hammock material save weight in winter camping in the long run?


A reflective (radiant) heat barrier needs a bit of an air gap between you and it in order to work. If you lay down right on the blanket material you will lose heat by conduction directly to the blanket. The other problem is that this material isn't breathable, so you will accumulate moisture underneath you.

Example: a +27F night in a +15F down sleeping bag. Result: very cold. I then added a space blanket underneath my bag. Result: still very cold and not noticeably warmer. My bag also was slightly damp underneath me in the morning.

If you added a sleeping pad between you and a hammock made from this material it might allow it to reflect some heat back to you, but I'm not sure that would beat using a breathable hammock material with a sleeping pad and space blanket suspended below, so moisture would condense as frost on the pad or the space blanket.

Now that I've found several warm winter hammock solutions, I'm still trying to figure out how to lighten up and (especially) reduce volume.

Edited by Otter on 11/02/2006 12:00:57 MST.

Thanks for the thoughts, still considering hammock camping.

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>Thanks for the thoughts, still considering hammock camping.


As you can see from my posts in this thread, I'm pretty happy with winter camping with a hammock. The weight may not be as light as possible (i.e., compared to a snow cave or floorless pyramid) but it's easy to ski/snowshoe over to a bunch of trees and have your shelter set up in ten minutes.

A cheap way to try it out is to get a Byer of Maine/Amazonas Moskito Traveller hammock, which can usually be found on-line for under $20. Put a closed-cell foam or inflatable sleeping pad underneath you, and you're set. It's not the easiest thing to arrange the pad, but if you like hammock camping you can switch to an under-slung insulation system. Be sure to sleep at an angle! I have a ruptured disc in my back, but as long as I sleep mostly flat in the hammock I'm fine.

I hiked the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier in mid-September, sharing a tent. It rained most of the time and I had gone fairly light on my sleeping gear (GG ThinLight 1/8" with BMW TorsoLite). It reminded me just how much I dislike sleeping on the ground, even with Excedrin PM and Aleve.

Edited by Otter on 11/05/2006 00:34:41 MST.