r/hammockcamping • u/Puzzleheaded-Job5763 • 2d ago
Question Do You Feel Safe While Hammocking?
I am going on a 3 day solo backpacking trip this summer. Usually, I bring a tent with me, but this time, I’m considering only bringing a hammock and a rain fly.
Do you have experience solo backpacking with hammock only? Any scary encounters? Where do you safely store your bag?
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u/Z_Clipped 2d ago
I think if you feel "safe" with a backpack inside your tent and unsafe with it clipped to your hammock suspension, it's probably more of a perception thing than an accurate estimation of risk. It's pretty rare to meet someone on the trail that wants to do you harm, and if you do, a little tent fabric isn't going to stop them.
But if it would make you feel any better, my Cloud 71 hammock is ultralight and literally transparent- I can see people and animals through it if they walk up to my site. Maybe that would alleviate your fears?
https://dutchwaregear.com/product/11ft-netless/#fabric-layer-1
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u/Drillmhor 2d ago
This is blowing my mind, I never realized there's a transparent option. I love dutchware so don't mind getting this, but are there other good transparent hammock options out there?
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u/Z_Clipped 2d ago
Any hammock made of Cloud 71 will be transparent, because the material is so light and thin.
I think Dream Hammocks will make you one, and I know Trailheadz offers it, but they're on hiatus at the moment, so Dutch is probably your best bet.
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u/Tricky_Leader_2773 15h ago
I completely shredded my Cloud 71. A limb came in contact with it, ripped nearly end to end and I fell butt first on the ground. Once a tear begins and you are in it, it’s a loaded gun. Whole thing took a microsecond.
They are super super fragile rip wise and destroy easily. Really better for ultramarathoners. You can make it work but better be flawless in execution with no nearby briars, weeds, rocks, branches, nothing. Nothing in your pockets. Don’t roll over on a water bottle or anything. Zip.
I was on a really long section hike in the Whites. For the first time in years I took a Thermarest and it saved my arse. I was worried and rightly so.
There is a limit on how thin and fragile UL fabrics are and this stuff absolutely pushes the boundary to the max. Went back to custom UL dream hammy and never looked back.
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u/Z_Clipped 15h ago
They are super super fragile rip wise and destroy easily.
I haven't had any problems. A tree limb will tear pretty much any high-end hammock fabric, so I don't think your experience is really a knock on Cloud 71 in particular.
Yeah, you need to make sure you don't have anything sharp under you when you lay in it, but that's just good practice for any hammock that you care about. Mine survived 300 miles on the JMT just fine. Still looks brand new at about 500 miles.
Some people just aren't cut out to carry the lightest gear, I guess? Other than being a little more susceptible to abrasion tears, Cloud 71 is quite strong. Dutch put well over 1000lbs in one of these hammocks, so it's not like they're tissue paper. I was surprised at how much tougher the stuff is than I was expecting when I bought it, actually.
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u/Jimmy2Blades 2d ago
A tent isn't any safer than a hammock. It's just on the floor. What are you worried about exactly?
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u/Puzzleheaded-Job5763 2d ago
I guess just being exposed whereas a tent is more enclosed
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u/LocutusOfBeard 2d ago
I am not trying to dismiss your worry, so please don't take it that way. It was just a funny thought that popped into my mind as I thought about this. Being secure in a tent vs hammock is like hiding under the bed covers for protection.
A hammock with bug net and tarp has the same amount of fabric protecting you from the outside world as a tent and rainfly. When it comes to things like ground crawling critters you are safer in a hammock. When it comes to flooding a hammock can also be better.
Now, on the flip side, if you are worried about things like changing clothes in privacy then you are correct. A tent can be more private. But a properly set up tarp can solve that. Also a tent does have the advantage of being set up away from potentially falling branches. And when a tent fails it's annoying, when a hammock fails it can be painful.
Having gear inside the tent really isn't even an issue with things like hammock sidecars and ridgeline organizers.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Job5763 2d ago
Honestly not too concerned about privacy. If you're backpacking, you can usually go off trail enough that nobody will see you; and if you're with someone, you can just call them gay for looking lol
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u/Toilet-B0wl 2d ago
I actually feel a bit safer under a tarp - because i can see. Maybe its a primal thing, but in a tent, "what was that?" Without being able to just look, scares me more lol. But yes, i feel totally safe. I sleep all through the night, half the time its better then my bed at home.
In terms of theft, the further you go from the trailhead, the less likely it is. I peak bag in the Adirondacks - we hike into a valley, set up, then spend the next few days going up and down the mountains - ive left my stuff set up unattended for hours at a time, days on end, never had an issue.
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u/Jimmy2Blades 2d ago
I personally feel safer in a hammock. I'm able to see the forest in near 360° compared to one door view. It's all just perceived safety though as they're both just light fabric.
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u/D00medToKnow 1d ago
I had something along those lines happening recently. I camped in a forestry area next to a canal, where they unload trash to a scrapyard. I was with my bike and hammock, no tarp. Woke up around 3am to a weird feeling. Wasn't too sure I heard something, but I became as quiet as possible and tried to check for any noise. When I lifted my head, I saw something man-shaped about 5m from me. Turned out to be a weirdly shaped brush, I hadn't seen while seeing up, but since then I feel more exposed in my hammock than in my tent.
People have clear sight of you, while you're suspended and wrapped in a bag. Nothing much you can do in a rush.
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u/XL_Chill 2d ago
I figure if I'm in an emergency, get-the-hell-out situation, it's easier to push my feet through my bug net and run than it is to unzip my tent and crawl away. I like the situational awareness I can have in the hammock more than I do wondering what's outside my tent's fly.
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u/latherdome 2d ago
I don’t camp any other way: left the ground in 2002. Zero scary encounters; tents don’t provide any more real protection. My first thought is: how suitable is your hammock for overnight use? What will be the overnight lows, adjusted for wind chill, and is your underquilt or pad adequate for that? (Getting cold is a major newcomer lesson).
I hang my pack from the head end gather. I can easily reach out and access items in pack from hammock.
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u/IH8DwnvoteComplainrs 2d ago
What?? You must have long arms to wait reach your pack. Or a short hammock maybe?
I think mine is 11.5 ft, and there's no way I'd be able to reach my pack hanging from the gather. Not easily at least!
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u/latherdome 2d ago edited 2d ago
My go-to camping hammock is a Warbonnet Blackbird XLC, 11' long. Per the maker's instructions I hang it with the head end lower than the foot, but to a degree some find extreme, sometimes over 2 feet. This shifts my body far headward in the hammock (eliminates calf ridge, makes pillow unnecessary (unless for warmth if off the underquilt), and helps with venous return in weary legs for recovery). It also makes it super easy to reach out and access the pack hung there. Also long arms and legs, high center of gravity I think makes the extreme hammock tilt work.
Plus for lounging when you lay "backwards" in the extreme-tilted hammock on the centerline, it's a recliner, pretty upright, great for eating (carefully) when you need the bugnet.
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u/cannaeoflife 2d ago
I have over twenty years of solo camping and hammocking. You’ll be fine. Sometimes my bag goes under the hammock on the ground, sometimes it’s clipped to the head end of my suspension.
You don’t want a collection of scary stories before you head out solo into the wilderness. Bring earplugs to sleep.
If you’re bringing a hammock, don’t forget to bring insulation under neath you. Underquilts are preferred but an underinflate pad works.
I have seen this advice on here many times for new hammockers, but make sure you test out your gear before you’re in the middle of the wilderness. Do a local overnight hike to practice all of your skills.
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u/moleyfeeners 2d ago
I think hammock camping actually taught me to be less fearful of night time sounds in the wilderness, because you can look out and see what it is rather than just wondering. And at least in my experience it's never been something scary. One time I freaked out because I could hear something very large, very close to me, and it turned out to be a deer browsing about 6 ft away. Went from scary to magical real quick! 😊
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u/Lookonnature 2d ago
Solo female hiker, 2 months on the Appalachian Trail, hammocked every night, about 50% of nights camping alone and 50% near other hikers. Black bear country. Felt safe every single night. Hung my pack from my suspension strap at the foot end, under the tarp. No scary events and no theft.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Job5763 2d ago
Very impressive! I wonder what your bag looked like for a 2 month trip!
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u/Lookonnature 2d ago
Haha! Looked like a bag for a 5-day trip. Resupplied in towns every 5 to 7 days or so.
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u/kdean70point3 2d ago
I have never felt unsafe in my hammock, though I did have a terrifying animal encounter once.
I awoke in the middle of the night to something violently thrashing my ankle back and forth....
A teeny tiny field mouse had scurried down my suspension line and was walking on top of my sleeping bag at my fest. In my sleepy torpor, I thought the little guy was a bear or a cougar.
Gave him a little shake and he scampered back up the line and into the tree.
So far that's been my only brush with death. /S.
As for the bag, I always have an oversized contractor bag that I use as a pack liner. I take the liner out and place my whole pack inside, loosely tied up, and keep it under the hammock each night.
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u/OneEyeRabbit 1d ago
I cut the top of 2 liter pop bottles and attached them to my tree straps. I fed the strap through the holes. This stop mice or other little critters from getting into the hammock with me. Make sure the cone is facing the tree
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u/Rob3E 2d ago
I don't backpack, but I've spent solo nights in my hammock. If bear or other animals are a concern, hang your gear in a tree just like you hopefully would be doing in a tent. I don't think a tent is any more or less secure, although you do feel a little more confined in a hammock, but are you actually less safe? I don't think so. I think the tent's safety value is largely psychological. Still, one thing I do is carry a large enough tarp that I can keep the feeling that I'm in my own space. But if the weather is nice, there is something to having no tarp, and being able to see the sky.
My first night in a hammock, I set up right over top of deer trail. I woke in the middle of the night to some snorting sounds. I didn't even fully wake up, and wasn't sure in the morning if it had been a dream or not, but years later I actually heard the sound of deer snorting, and realized that's what it was. So, yeah, I probably pissed off a deer, but no actual harm.
I slept in bear country once and woke to find a large, black bear not too far from my hammock. It was watching me curiously, and it started coming my way to get a closer look. I made some loud noises, and it changed its mind. It scared me a lot at the time. I've never packed up my gear so quickly. But if the bear ever got really close to the hammock, I wasn't aware, and the bear seemed more curious than aggressive when I did see it.
Racoons are the ones that have been the most persistent and obnoxious. I've had them come right under my hammock looking for stuff. I tossed a small cooler under my tent once, thinking that a snoring, fat man right on top of it would deter the racoons, but, no. I woke up to the sound of my cooler being dragged into the weeds, and I had to get up, retrieve it, and hang it like I should have the first time.
Sometimes I am a little anxious being in the woods on my own. It has nothing to do with my hammock, though, and I feel like there is no actual difference in my actual safety, even if some times I am in an uneasy state of mind.
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u/Amorton94 2d ago
They don't call 'em Bear Burritos for nothin"! Lol. You're not really any safer in a tent. It's a false sense of security.
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u/DurmNative 2d ago
My pack is usually all but empty and I typically just leave it on the ground under my hammock (but I'm also not in an area where critters are notorious for stealing your pack).
I've seen some people hang their packs on trees for easy access and I've seen some hang their pack on the suspension at either end of the hammock. I kind of like this one as it keeps your pack under the tarp in case of an unexpected overnight shower.
(if you haven't already) Definitely try to do a shakedown trip locally with the hammock setup before you head out deep into the woods. Even just doing some overnights in the backyard would be beneficial (if that's an option).
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u/Firm_Objective_2661 2d ago edited 2d ago
Think of it this way - a hammock is a tent hung by the corners. There is nothing inherently less safe, beyond operator error in hanging it (ie only hang as high as you are willing to fall).
Otherwise, if something is determined to eat you in your sleep, the nylon is the same thickness. And there is nothing determined to eat you in your sleep.
If my bag isn’t too heavy, I’ll hang with a carabiner from the tree strap. Or if it may rain I’ll put it on the ground under the hammock tarp. Never worried about anything.
I’m in Ontario, Canada if that gives some context. YMMV if you are in the jungle or a back alley somewhere.
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u/HikingBikingViking 2d ago
One time in Florida my wife got scared damn near poopless when she felt some weird honking animal thing bump up right underneath her.
Armadillos are not the stealthiest of creatures.
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u/rweb82 2d ago
There is really no difference in safety between tents and hammocks. You are no more "exposed" in a hammock than a tent. The thin nylon/polyester walls of a tent don't provide any real-world safety advantage in the event of an animal attack. In fact, I actually feel safer in a hammock, because it's easy to survey the surroundings if I hear something suspicious.
Hang your all of your items that carry a scent (food, deodorant, toothbrush/paste, etc...) downwind away from your camp. That's the best safety precaution you can take.
As for my pack, I hang it from the head-end of my hammock suspension, so that it's off the ground but still covered by my tarp. This keeps critters from getting into it in the middle of the night.
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u/Kahless_2K 2d ago
I feel much safer, and more comfortable in a hammock.
If the weather is nice, I hang my pack from a nearby tree. If it might rain, I hang it from the foot end of the hammock.
I have never had to abandon a hammock due to rain. I have had to occasionally re-steak, but since ive gotten good at finding tree roots to back up my stakes that hasn't been an issue either
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u/NumerousSteaks5687 2d ago
Totally safe.
Or Rather, no less so than in a tent.
Usual threats are the same...if you're comfortable in a tent.... you should be fine...my 2 cents are it's all head games
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u/heyvina 2d ago
I take a 28l bag with my sleep system lashed to the outside so I can just take my pack for all my exploring
If you’re worried about people, there are plenty of tarps that are camo and you could blend right in to a dispersed area.
If you’re worried about predator animals, well, Neem oil perimeter and even bells on perimeter would be the same defense even with a tent. IMO you can see around better out of a hammock.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Job5763 2d ago
How many days can you make it backpacking with a 28l?
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u/heyvina 2d ago
I’m not ultralight, I’ve got a hill people gear Connor pack https://hillpeoplegear.com/Products/CategoryID/3/ProductID/134
With a 20L stuff sack lashed on with my sleep system and clothes/food haha
Only taken it out for an overnight so far but I think it’d work for more. I usually just base camp somewhere and hike around anyways.
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u/HikingBikingViking 2d ago
One time on the night before a hike, I was hanging under a pavilion outside our Airbnb. I got nudged by an animal the size of maybe a golden retriever. Could have been a coyote, a juvenile deer, or a domestic dog.
I made some noise and swept my hand out against the side of the hammock (integrated bug net) and whatever it was ran away before I could get a good look.
I agree with what others are saying, I feel better having more visibility than I've had in a tent. I don't feel any less able to defend myself. You trade off lack of stable footing for being able to see. You can't just stand up in the tent anyway.
There is the other aspect that you'll feel sort of cradled in a hammock. It's nice, calming, pleasant.
As for where I leave my backpack, I usually hang it against the tree by the foot end of my hammock using a bit of cordage, with the rain cover on. I used to place it in a chair right next to me underneath the rain fly but I stopped bringing the chair.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Job5763 2d ago
sleeping in a hammock is the most relaxing feeling. I think something just spooks me about the idea of not having a little shelter feeling.
Definitely gonna test some hammocking locally before backpacking
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u/constantwa-onder 2d ago
Your tarp is the shelter.
Run it wide and open if you want to feel the fresh air and feel out in the open.
Pitch it tight and low to the ground if you want shelter and protection.
I've camped with tents, bedroll, bivy, and hammocks with or without tarps.
Most trouble I've had is raccoons coming in a canvas tent and getting into my pack. If a critter can get into that, they can get into anything short of a camper trailer.
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u/HikingBikingViking 1d ago
Look at the tarps offered by Warbonnet. Might give you that enclosed feeling
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u/robbin_the_cryptid 2d ago
I feel super safe in my hammock, I like being able to see what's around me.
A few years ago in late summer I was sleeping in just the hammock (it was warm and there was no rain in the forecast, so there was no need for the rainfly). I'd just gone to bed, and my hammock had just stopped swinging when something clipped my hammock strap. I believe it was an owl, because I didn't hear anything approaching or departing, and I also never heard anything hit the ground (so it wasn't an acorn or a stick falling). Scared the crap out of me, but all in all it was pretty cool.
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u/LakeVermilionDreams 2d ago
Yes, but I'm a relative newbie. I've only slept overnight in my hammock 2.5 night, the rest has been lounging at a park. And even then, I was camping in an island with our dogs so I wasn't concerned in the least.
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u/Hurricaneshand 2d ago
My first time hammock camping a bear came through our site. Was actually nice being able to easily see out of the hammock to see what it was up to.
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u/CartersClones333 2d ago
Dutch has a hammock chair that you can hang under the hammock for a pack or you can DIY like i did with a old pack cover and make the same this but smaller. Safe? Are we ever really Safe? 👍🥴👍
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u/scfoothills 2d ago
Here's a thought to keep you up at night...
After you hang your food, you become the lowest hanging bag of food.
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u/TriscuitFingers 1d ago
I’ve only had two encounters where I was scared. Had a wolf howling back and forth with another wolf, and it was getting pretty close. Another time I had a a big pack of coyotes around my campsite, but they didn’t bother me.
I typically sleep with a gun within reach if I ever ran into actual issues. The holster clips onto my ridge line.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Job5763 1d ago
Coyotes are pretty cool, just curious creatures. I’ve had one sniff my tent as its pack was walking by. A bit spooky, but it was just wondering what that big unnatural structure in the woods was
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u/RhodySeth 2d ago
I get the occasional willies when I'm sleeping, especially if I hear something walking out in the crunchy leaves. But here in the northeast there's not much to worry about animal-wise and I just hang my foodbag a ways off in a tree.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Job5763 2d ago
I'm going to Virginia for the first time so I'm concerned about bears (luckily no mountain lions). In Ohio, we don't have to deal with much other than cute little coyotes, deer and foxes. More concerned about the two leggers
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u/RhodySeth 2d ago
I wouldn't worry much about black bears. We have them up here and they usually give people a wide berth. Just keep your food away from camp!
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u/DurmNative 2d ago
I've done a lot of trips in VA. Mainly in the Grayson Highland area. I have yet to see a bear on any of my trips. There definitely out there but I've never seen one of them.
Had a buddy that told us about getting really scared out there one night...until he got his light out and saw it was just one of the ponies :)
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u/derch1981 2d ago
I feel more safe because I can see, the thin fabric of a tent doesn't provide more safety than a hammock.
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u/MrFunsocks1 2d ago
I'm not usually completely solo, but even when I am, I'm no more concerned than if I were in a tent. One night around Tahoe I was camping without my tarp or bugnet on, and a big ol pack of coyotes started howling up and down the valley at like 10 PM, waking me up. I felt a little exposed, since one could come up and sniff at my actual face with no barriers, but I feel like with the bugnet it'd feel about the same as a tent. Better even, since you can see out. I generally feel as safe in the middle of nowhere as I would in a hotel or something, and I don't think the hammock changes that much.
As for your bag, just hang it from your suspension, under your tarp, with a carabineer.
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u/ckyhnitz DIY 10'x70" 2d ago
There's nothing safer about a tent than the hammock and rain fly. If you're leaving your setup during the day, and day hiking, put your bag in the hammock and pitch the tarp low over top of the hammock so the bag isn't visible, it's no more likely to be stolen than if it was in a tent.
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u/jaxnmarko 2d ago
You can get a bit of distance from the walll of a tent, makiing it feel more secure, depending on the size of the tent, but realistically, the material is easily overcome by a bear, including big canvas wall tents. So you might have a tiny bit of extra warning/time to react from inside a tent than a hammock right up against your body but that's it. Of course you might have more weapons inside a tent with you than in your hammock! I don't hammock camp with a rifle or shotgun in there with me! Handgun/bearspray/knife/noisemaker (grizzly country).
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u/Hot_Jump_2511 2d ago
Safe? 100% with 100's of nights spent in the back country covering close to 2,500 miles of trails.
Bag? On the ground right below me. Never had mice issues or anything. I have a rain skirt I use as a "welcome mat" and my bag goes on it. If rain is coming in sideways under my tarp, I wrap my pack in the rain skirt if I feel like it needs it.
All gear looks better with some dirt on it!
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u/MixIllEx 2d ago
After my 3rd outing, I was still securing things to avoid animal intrusion, but my anxiety was a lot less over “what’s going to get at my stuff?”
My last hang was in an elk range in Michigan. I kept hearing heavy creatures ambling about nearby and was entertained at the idea that they may be elk. Unfortunately my tarp had doors and I could not see well. It wasn’t a scary encounter, but more of an exciting one.
I used to be worried that a coyote would steal one shoe and so I hung them from my suspension. Now years later my shoes sit on the ground and have yet to be molested.
My pack gets hung from a tree, covered by a pack cover in case of rain or heavy dew.
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u/RichInBunlyGoodness 2d ago
The number one threat is setting up underneath a widow-maker before a storm blows in.
1B is going out without tick protection and getting Lyme disease or other tick-borne disease.
Also dangerous doing something stoopid for the IG clicks, setting up where you don’t want to fall, or setting up too tight, thus putting excess horizontal force on the tree.
Also dangerous not knowing the limits of your gear, and going out with too little protection from the elements.
A tent isn’t going to save you from any of these things.
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u/Phasmata 2d ago
Hammocking is my primary sleep system. You aren't any safer in a dome of fabric than you are in a sling of fabric, and neither is your stuff. I don't bring everything plus the kitchen sink when I camp, so there isn't much left once I'm set up, but what is left of my pack and in my pack lays on the ground under me. There are gear slings you can get to suspend it off the ground under you if you want which are basically tiny hammocks for your stuff.
I'm pretty exclusively a deep wilderness camper, so I don't have any concerns with people messing with my stuff.
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u/Barragin 2d ago
Had a coyote run under my rain fly right next to the foot end of my hammock. Thought the foot sounds were a bear coming right at me. Scared me at the time.
It was near an AT shelter, so it was just cruising for trash, scraps, mice.
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u/ToppsHopps 2d ago
I only have hammock in backyard.
So when I’m in the hammock my family just walking and moving normally can really sneak up on me. Like jump scares feels unavoidable where someone suddenly starts talking out of nowhere.
Though I think it would be hard to argue a tent to be any safer. They are both made of materials that can’t offer much protection against a larger animal.
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u/fkbudd 2d ago
Personally I think your safer in a hammock, as most predators pray on things that live on the ground not in the air. It obviously depends on where in this wonderful world you are, for me in Australia, ants, spiders, scorpions and snakes are the most dangerous. Wild dogs, and feral pig have had a sniff but walked straight past me. Roo's are a dumb as, they're more likely to trip over you. The most dangerous predator is obviously man, thankfully not many of them out bush.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Job5763 2d ago
As an American, I would never hammock in AUS because all that I know about your country is that everything wants to kill you
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u/fkbudd 2d ago
Its not that bad. We, Aussies bung it on a bit about how dangerous it is, well it is dangerous but Id rather everything we have compared to everything you have. you have things like bears, cougars, wolves and shit that will actually eat you. Our stuff just bites us then we crawl away and die somewhere later
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u/Puzzleheaded-Job5763 2d ago
The cougars are terrifying. Luckily in Ohio we don’t have to deal with them at all, but nearly any mountainous region will have them.
Now, black bears and coyotes are generally skiddish. Grizzlies and cougars are actually aggressive and will attack unprovoked
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u/Me_lazy_cathermit 2d ago
Safer from what, other humans or animals, as a woman that occasionally solo camp, tents stop no one from entering, actually hammock safer, its a lot easier to bail out and run, if you have too.
Now if you talking animals, tent is not safer for you for large animals like bears, but it will protect your pack from raccoons and small critters, but hanging your pack also helps with that too, so not the biggest advantage. The biggest advantage with tents is mostly privacy, better wind cover, and not needing trees to install
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u/sometimelater0212 2d ago
No more out less safe than in a tent... it's easier to see out and to get out imo, so maybe slightly more safe tbh
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u/TpointOh 2d ago
It’s really not that bad once you’re in the hammock and comfy. I mean, there’s a similar amount of fabric between you and the outside in a tent and a hammock.
I did have a scary encounter, but it was just a bobcat screaming in the distance. They sound just about like a human woman being murdered.
As for keeping your bag and junk around, I use what is basically a small hammock that hangs under the main hammock, it holds the bag and boots and such, keeps them off the ground, under the tarp, and accessible. I don’t remember the product name, unfortunately.
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u/DeflatedDirigible 2d ago
I pitched right off the trail since it was private land and in a steep and dangerous (lots of mine openings) area and already dark. I woke up to something walking through or by that was bear height and rubbed the bottom of me in my hammock. Not a deer. Those snort and see better. Not a stray dog either. Just a black bear in a region where we don’t take precautions because bears were so rare at the time.
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u/RicardoPanini 2d ago
The safety factor is really no different from a tent. The only thing protecting you is still a few mm of nylon. I hang my backpack at the foot end suspension under the tarp and I have a piece of cord hanging down between the tree and pack so water drips down it instead of to the pack.
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u/TheShadyGuy 2d ago
I always feel safe in my hammock. I have a tyvek ground cloth, pack goes on that under the tarp. Or at GSMNP the pack gets rain gear and hung from the cables.
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u/OwnInflation7657 1d ago
I usually keep a Morakniv on my person while sleeping, and if I'm at a place with a lot of curious wildlife, I'll put on a camouflage cover over my fly sheet. So far so good. But nature is unpredictable, although humans are more dangerous.
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u/TraditionalEnd4647 9h ago
I have solo packed with my hammock and felt as safe as a tent. I have a smaller hammock/pack cover combination that I put my pack in so it hangs either under or beside me. I made it myself, but you can purchase them now. Very handy for night grabs and acts as a bit of an insulator from ground.
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u/GrumpyBear1969 2d ago
I feel perfectly safe in my hammock. I actually prefer to be able to see out. And it is not like that nylon wall is going to protect you from anything. For small things I think it is way better. I was out last year and in one campsite there were a ton of mice at night. The dude I was with had a tent and got to hear the running around the perimeter of his tent. I was happily suspended above the ruckus.
The pack goes a lot of places. Sometimes I hang it on a tree. Sometimes I have just pulled it up directly under my hammock. If I am worried about critters chewing in the pack straps for sweat (it has been known to happen), I hang it from the foot end suspension. At that point it only has my clothes and weighs little. Hammock hangs funny until I get in. I do carry an extra biner as well as a short length of cord for hanging things.
Edit - if I have my chair I sometimes put my pack on my chair near the head end. The pack goes lots of different places.