Hammock vs Ground Camping – The Results are Surprising
Hammock vs Ground Camping – The Results are Surprising
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There’s no doubt Hammock camping is growing in popularity. Especially in recent years. With more and more people ditching traditional ground setups and climbing to higher ground in hammocks, we have to ask ourselves:
Which system is actually superior? Can this be clearly measured? That’s exactly what we’ve set out to discover in this week’s video. We will explore pros, cons, price, weights, and more!
“Hammock vs Ground Camping. The Results are Surprising.”
Pros and Cons to a Hammock Sleep System
Pros
– Superior Comfort (In my opinion.)
– Consistency
– Faster setup & Take-down
– Easier setup & Take-down in bad weather
– No condensation
– Better suited for day napping
– More space because you can pitch your tarp high, low, etc.
Cons
– Need a place to hang
– Less Shelter – Bad weather can be worse
– Need a beanie/face mask
Pros and Cons to a Ground Sleep System
Pros
– Tents are better suited for bad weather
– You can spread out on long Nights (winter months)
– Retain a little more warmth inside a tent body
Cons
– Longer setup / take-down times
– Finding the right spot / getting stakes in can be tricky
– You must avoid rocks and sloped ground
– Tents are harder to keep clean because they’re in the dirt
– Condensation can build up within a tent.
As always thanks for watching. Which system do you prefer? Feel like we missed something? Let us know in the comments!
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Ground is much lighter than hammock
If you are in a warmer season, you can just do a pad in a hammock. Something like a Hennessy has a pocket and tie ins for a thin foam pad. I use a equipment sling with my setup, its like a small hammock under your hammock that I put all my equipment in. My custom made 4 season tarp is like a tent with the doors closed. I have pitched the hammock and tarp very low so the tarp is almost touching the ground.
Loved your video but did you buy the most expensive stuff for your hammock? Onewind sells an underquilt for about 60$ and the overquilt at around the same price and a hammock for only 70$ so to me in all the hammock would be the better priced choice
Great series of videos on this subject, thanks for sharing. I’m gearing up to do a 8-10 day hike this summer and I just did a comparison like this myself creating 4 different scenarios on GearGrams, Bivy/tarp, tent, hammock/tarp and tarp with a net tent. I found the hammock was lightest and tent was the heaviest, but all 4 were within about a pound of each other, so now I have to think of what system is going to work out best for the location I will be hiking, as they all have pros and cons, and usually the environment is what it comes down to anyway.
What you’re really comparing here are the sleep systems because in all fairness, the shelters don’t matter. They can be identical and have identical results in protection. The only add-on(s) would be the tent body for bug protection and some kind of bug netting for the hammock. This is by far the best comparison I’ve seen on YouTube. Thanks.
If you want to go cheaper with the hammock setup, you can get a nice lightweight down sleeping bag and CCF pad for under $300.
One major advantage of hammocks that you missed is – no rain leaking onto the floor! And tarps/rainflies are generally going to be less likely to leak than tent rainflies with seams.
A friend of mine would use neither a tent nor a hammock. It wasn’t quite "cowboy camping", which is sleeping on the ground, which is sleeping on the ground with no pad or cover, just blankets. He would bring a very lightweight cot, pad, sleeping bag, and tarp. If it started raining, he would pull the tarp over to stay dry. Very comfortable with the added benefit of sleeping under the stars.
You can sleep under the stars with a hammock, too. Just have the rainfly/tarp ready to go if it starts raining. Or compromise with "porch mode".
In order of preference or importance for me..Tarp, Hammock and then tent. If I’m on a open mountain then Tent would be no’ 1, bivvy bag always at hand in either situation.
He kept saying the tent side is cheaper and lighter if you get rid of the tent. Guess what… if you get rid of the hammock, the hammock side is also lighter and cheaper
Your numbers are off, I got a hammock with tarp ( pegs, cord included) for 86$ Cdn. Top quilt $88 under quilt 99$ so just under 300$
actually, with hammock, if there are no trees, you still can pitch your tarp, use the hammock as groundsheet. only thing missing then is an airmattres/pad, which some people use with hammocks anyways instead of underquilt (i think the narrator alluded to this too-when saying he’s deflating his pad)
https://youtu.be/0j54vMKGhiQ
But a tent can be set up nearly anywhere, a hammock without anchor points is just a tarp, on the ground 8:59
mosquitoe net hammock at walmart is just $45 bucks & a cammo tarp $20 bucks at harbor freights and a thin gym matt from walmart $10 bucks for insulation for your bottom line for warmth. Plus keep your feet 6-12 inches above your heart is excellent for your legs & feet for equal blood flow 👌
it is really hard to find a flat place for a tent but lots of places for a hammock
I cant imagine how you are paying anything like that cost for your items, and you claim that is the cheapest you could find.. just be honest. You sell products so you dont want to point out that people could be paying 5x less elsewhere. Not a good review, sorry. Also the weight breakdown seems incredibly off, i cant imagine a tent set up ever being lighter than a hammock one.
Personally I also find the hammock the most comfortable sleep in the great outdoors. If I could figure out how to hang one in alpine and coastal regions I’d only ever use a hammock. But it’s all a matter of personal preference in the end.
Throwing this out there: tent camping hits a whole other level of convenience when you sharing the tent with one or more people. In this way only one person needs to pitch and weight can be evenly divided between the group. Air pads: one person can bring a mini pump and inflate all air mattresses more quickly, making setup more convenient. When you are taking down the tent and deflating air mattresses, everything can just be crammed into the backpack, so that’s not gonna be a time issue either. When considering these things, the consideration one must have between these two things is if it’s more comfy to hammock camp
I live in the tropics. Quilts are not only unnecessary, they are way too hot. I sleep in a hammock with a military issue poncho liner. Given ground wildlife and wetness, most of the time, a hammock is not only hugely better than a tent, it is much much lighter (my tarp and hammock weigh about 1 kg total).
beard review when?
Another thing with the hammock is the underquilt not needing it in warmer weather but you can use a thin yoga mat in the hammock for just a small bit of insulation they also make a double skin hammock with a pad opening you can slide in a pad or windshield shade in side. another thing for keeping your underside warm is a small wool blanket inside the hammock unlike sleeping bags or other things that depend on loft for warmth a wool blanket will keep you warm no matter what even if it is a little damp. I have both and I will have to say the hammock is the most comfortable to sleep in I thought I would not like it till I went on my first 2 trips and slept very well. my tent trip was ok however my dog came on her first trip and we didnt sleep too good she had a little trouble getting used to it and woke up at everything she herd. My bag slid all over the pad and at my age getting in and out of the tent is a little rough
With the hammock/tarp setup you can also sleep on the ground like a tent… You might even be able to use the bugnet if you hang it up correctly.
It is more difficult to sleep on the side or the stomach in a hammock.
There are collapsible poles or even hiking poles that can be used as the second “tree”. I won’t go into weight or cost – TMI – but they are reasonable. If your have no hammock support at all you can use the hammock (with big net) as a bivi bag by putting a ground sheet down and using hiking poles to hold up the tarp and keep the netting off your face.
You forgot another hammock advantage… when your tenting and just lounging around camp…where or how do you sit? Whats more comfortable at the end of a hike…sitting in your tent or outside your tent…or sitting in your hammock? Its a built in chair!
During your price comparison you forgot to mention, that underquilts for hammocks can be replaced with sleeping pads.
Pretend
I love both. But I didn’t hear you mention the benefit of camping above tree line in tents.
What are your topquilt and underquilt made of that they’re coming in at $150 each? I have 2 underquilts and combined they cost your tarp budget.
My hammock came with a tarp, though I do have the advantage of coming from the distant future of 2024 for that one, and my hammock+tarp weigh in at 6 pounds total (though they also cost me less than $60). The underquilts were bought before this video was made.
I find it funny that he didn’t include the tarp and tent steaks for the ground ten. hmmm
A m normal sleeping bag can be used as a pod on a hammock. No underquilt or top quilt needed. Just a this bag liner.
These weights and prices for the hammock are wayyyyyyy off
Bro what tarp are you buying for 80 dollars. I can buy 8mil 10×10 for 20
"from us" says everything I need to know. Moving on
I hike and camp in Kentucky so trees are not in short supply and flat ground isnt as easy to come by however when it comes to the tent one thing I have found out is a tent /tarp setup. I use the mesh body and ground sheet but leave the rain fly off and string a med. size tarp over the tent and it lets it breathe plus you can setup in rainy weather and keep everything dryer having alot more room to do other things that trying to do inside a vestibule can be more difficult
…left sleeping bag out of the tent calculation…
Great video not enough comparing ground versus hammock sleepers. My current hammock setup banana hammock a 10 ounce tarp with a cheap folding foam pad under me with 30° Enigma quilt on top of me this gets me to 2 lb 11 oz and I know I could drop 4 oz off of my tarp weight by going with dyneena with doors I can Shane another 2.5 ounces off my pad, if I didn’t want to use it to go to ground. That gets me to under 2 1/2 pounds even if I upgrade the quilt. I take a 7 oz penalty on my small hammock just be comfortable while I’m sleeping versus doing a tarp on the ground. I think you’re going to compare any tent to the setup the time’s going to be heavier however if you remove my hammock and straps you remove 9 oz then just add back in what a ground sheet
I made my stuff for 4 seasons here in West Virginia for under 300 and we do get to below zero but I’m around 6 # for 4 season
I would love to see an updated video considering all the updated technology from hammocks and tents in the last 4 years.
you look like the mountain spirit Ruebezahl^^
Problem with hammock is it requires a bulky heavy under and top quilt, and I always add a bug net which is also bulky.
But, the comfort is unbeatable. The issue with hammocks, you can’t thru hike with them due to need for appropriate trees, and the weight and bulkiness.
In my experience, you don’t need an underquilt. Just get a regular foam pad
I love both and always will! Can’t beat the comfort of a hammock though.
Concluded just the same as Simon a bloke in the woods. Seems about right.
I went with an Amok Draumr and the pad means in the summer I have to get up as soon as dawn breaks or I’ll be sweating in my gear. But otherwise I can go 3 season with it. Idk for winter haven’t tried it but I do suspect even with a properly rated bag that I wouldn’t last long due to windchill.
$65 for my underquilt. These are crazy prices!!!
I have NO IDEA why people think under-quilt is a good idea. I have them and only needed to use one time to know they are massively inefficient. A pad in a hammock is 50% lighter, 75% less space, 500% more warmth. Comfort is equal. I use mostly the Explorer and use a pad all winter long with temps down to Neg 20F (-20F) and plenty of room to go lower. I use a over-cover, R-8 Pad, and a good bag. Pad and Bag are same for tent for associated temps.
Wow hammocks quilts n under quilts are expensive state side.Much cheaper in the UK.
Comfiest I’ve ever slept outside was on a mattress out in the African Bush in Vic Falls.
One advantage you didn’t cover is site selection.
I went on a hiking trip with my nephew and his wife. We would hike for most of the day and then set up camp. One day, it started to get pretty late and we hadn’t yet found a good site. They finally set up their tent on the most level patch of ground they could find. They spent a good amount of time trying to level and prep the ground underneath their tent, but they still said they felt like they were going to slide down the side of the mountain all night, and had buried rocks and roots poking into their backs.
On the other hand, I just found a couple of trees about 15 feet apart, set up my tarp and hammock, and went to sleep. The ground underneath me was littered with rocks and sloped away so much that when I accidentally dropped a water bottle, it rolled about 10 feet downhill.
Trekking pole tent setup is easily much lighter than a hammock setup and gives you an actual living space.
Site selection is a huge issue!
Hammocks need two trees an appropriate distance apart. There are huge parts of United States where this is difficult or impossible to find–and in those areas, a hamock is not an option.
In parts of the country that are heavily wooded, finding appropriate trees is easy. The same wooded landscape is often short on flat snooth ground for a tent–in fact the flat, level spots without rocks, and roots are often only at designated campsites. I know on a canoe trip in Maine, I can stop absolutely anywhere for the night using a hammock. With a tent–only designated prepared campsites are feasible
Good that the rich men north of Richmond don’t stop you from enjoying outdoors
A lot of people (notably women and kids) like being able to change easily in a tent. Not everyone likes to sway when they toss and turn (and today, realizing this was made 5 years ago, sliding off the pad is a thing of the past with sleep systems like Zenbivy – which is fantastic). Getting stuck in a storm in a hammock sucks, boring. Personally, the largest flaw of hammock camping is lack of security of the rest of your gear while you’re sleeping. Anyone can walk up and jack your shit just sitting in your chair or hanging on a tree and even you wake up, there’s very little you can do about it. Try getting into my tent and within seconds I’ll put a couple slugs in you. This is less of a concern on a trail than it is camping in in BFE state parks. Anyone who has had a stranger(s) approach your fairly isolated camp at night (especially when you’re solo camping or with a child) can tell you that a hammock is not where you want to be. It happens more often than you’d like to think in Florida. That said, I do have a hammock for very specific situations.