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  1. #1
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    Default Going to ground without a pad

    I have several sleep pads and I'm not in love with any of them for bottom insulation in my hammock, so I'm gonna try an underquilt.

    For those who don't carry a pad, what do you do to keep your bag/quilt clean and for comfort when you are forced to sleep on the ground? Do you use your hammock as a ground cloth?
    You can walk in another person's shoes, but only with your feet

  2. #2

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    I will speak from my experience of mainly sleeping on the ground...I have only spent about 10 nights in a hammock, and only slept well 2 of those nights so I have decided I am a ground dweller...

    I would strongly discourage attempting to sleep on the ground without a pad in times of the year when it is cold enough for a person to require an under quilt... without an insulator like a pad, the ground is going to suck the heat right out of your body...In summer months it may not be bad but it sure wont be comfortable.

    My suggestion from the expert youtube hammock campers I have watched is to at least carry a CCF pad. From what I have seen most use this even with an under quilt.


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  3. #3

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    Do you have a room with a hardwood floor? If you do, try sleeping on it without a pad. Open the window and chill the room off to about 40 degrees to simulate being in a shelter. Or try sleeping out on the porch or in the backyard directly on the ground.

    Within minutes you'll find out you really need a pad for both warmth and comfort. The only section you most likely have to stay in a shelter for sure is the Smokies. Have a pad sent to you or buy one at Fontana Village and abandon it at Standing Bear or send it home at Hot Springs.
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  4. #4
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    I had a hammock failure this fall, and ended up on the ground for several days. Bring at least a small ccf pad. I was happy I had brought a short Thermarest.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  5. #5
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    I’ve had to go to ground a few times.

    I laid out my tyvek ground sheet and my empty pack length wise, then my underquilt, then my thermarest butt pad, then my hammock which I used as a big bicycle of sorts, then I pulled the tq over me.

    This was August in northern New Hampshire and Maine - it got to 40s in the night.

    I was miserable but I didn’t freeze


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  6. #6
    Some days, it's not worth chewing through the restraints.
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    Regardless of whether I'm planning on hammocking or tenting, I always carry a 6-section z-rest pad (1/2 the pad, 6 ounces) in addition to my quilt or main sleeping pad. The pad is useful for more than backup for failures, and I always have the option to cowboy camp comfortably.

  7. #7
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    You will need something between you and the heat-robbing ground but, as you are intending to sleep suspended, think of your ground sleeping arangement the same as you would one of those foil space blankets. It won't be super comfortable but, it will get you through.

    I would never use my hammock as a ground cloth. I don't even get into my hammock without first making sure that I am clean. Instead, carry a bathtowel sized piece of Tyvek as s ground cloth. You will use your Tyvek several times a day, even when hanging. My peice is actually 5'x7' but still well worth its weight.

    My underquilt and hammock stay in my backpack with anything else than is soft and insulating. My backpack becomes my sleeping pad. I occassionally carry a small seat cushion sized peice of closed cell foam pad. Certainly if I had that along I'd use it as well.

    When sleeping in my hammock I minimize clothing and rely on my down for warmth. When sleeping on the ground, I am more likely fully clothed including coat and rain shell if necessary.

    In the past 6 years, I have resorted to this plan only twice. Both times with a scout troop when choice of site was out of my control. If choice of site is in my control, I keep hiking until a suitable hanging site is found.

    Good Luck

  8. #8
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    Default Going to ground without a pad

    Great advice everybody. I think I'll have to consider my odds of sleeping on the ground each trip. If it's a real possibility I'll have to use my larger pack that can accommodate a pad and underquilt.
    You can walk in another person's shoes, but only with your feet

  9. #9
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    If I know I will be forced to the ground, I will carry a pad. Of course, most of the time I would rather not carry that extra weight, so I try to do without. On the occasions when I was wrong and I ended up on the ground I still tried to find something (boulders etc) to tie my hammock onto leaving perhaps just my butt dragging on the ground. My backpack and/or sit pad would be placed under my butt to provide some protection. I would not let my expensive under quilt touch the ground and would rather I use that underneath in the hammock even though that is not ideal (compressing the down).

    Again, if I believe there is a chance I will go to the ground I will bring a full pad.
    “For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
    the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


    John Greenleaf Whittier

  10. #10
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    I almost always bring a 3/4 length thin CCF pad when I'm in my hammock, for use as a sit pad. It comes in handy when I need to sleep on the ground.
    Ken B
    'Big Cranky'
    Our Long Trail journal

  11. #11
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    If worse comes to worse, go the old school route:
    In this case, leaves, pine needles, tall grasses, and other such material will do wonders for insulation. If you have a pad, people generally look for a clearing. If you’re without one, you want the opposite. Build up a mound of leaves, then use your ground sheet or Tyvek that you may use while hammocking. Then layer your hiking clothes, hopefully fleece because it’s fairly durable. If you think your bed is free of things that may damage your hammock, you can then lay down your hammock. But unless it’s AP Hennessy, Clark’s or other jungle style I would advise against it.
    Finally, use your underquilt. I know, it will be compressed. But it’s still SOMETHING!

    You won’t be cozy at 30*, but you’ll manage.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by TX Aggie View Post
    If worse comes to worse, go the old school route:
    In this case, leaves, pine needles, tall grasses, and other such material will do wonders for insulation. If you have a pad, people generally look for a clearing. If you’re without one, you want the opposite. Build up a mound of leaves, then use your ground sheet or Tyvek that you may use while hammocking. Then layer your hiking clothes, hopefully fleece because it’s fairly durable. If you think your bed is free of things that may damage your hammock, you can then lay down your hammock. But unless it’s AP Hennessy, Clark’s or other jungle style I would advise against it.
    Finally, use your underquilt. I know, it will be compressed. But it’s still SOMETHING!

    You won’t be cozy at 30*, but you’ll manage.
    I would do the same as you just noted. However, I'm surprised the LNT Mafia isn't all over you for this suggestion.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by daddytwosticks View Post
    I would do the same as you just noted. However, I'm surprised the LNT Mafia isn't all over you for this suggestion.
    Lol, I was going to put a disclaimer on my post about that! If just using leaves and pine needles, they’re easy enough to scatter once you’re done. Cut grasses, not so much.

    Also, this obviously greatly increases your chances to tick exposure. But since it sounds as though we’re discussing winter conditions that shouldn’t be an issue.


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  14. #14
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    Yeah, hiked with a buddy who said he was not new to hiking, and had the equipment to prove it. But he left out a pad to save weight and rued that decision over the course of a 3 night trip. Pad is primarily for insulation.

    Unless I'm on a real lightweight short trip, I typically take a Klymit InertiaX pad. About the lightest thing you can get that is halfway comfy. It does in a pinch but I'd never want to use that for multiple nights. It is a decent supplement in the hammock when needed, and of course, very small in terms of bulk/weight.
    "I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
    - Kate Chopin

  15. #15

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    Leaves can be your friends. Have slept warm and comfortable on them more than once.
    [I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35

    [url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]

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