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Hammocking: A pictorial Guide Print E-mail
Written by British Red   
Article Index
Hammocking: A pictorial Guide
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taketothetrees7.jpg
I use a tautline hitch at the other end since it lets me take slack out of the tapes.
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I don’t like my hammock bar tight as some pitch them – just taught enough to keep me off the ground. The hammock will drop considerably with weight on it!

Its worth noting that everyone has their own way of tying a hammock – feel free to invent your own
taketothetrees9.jpg
Now, sleeping in a hammock is different to sleeping on the ground. The greatest source of heat loss is cold air under your back. A sleeping bag wont really help with this as it will become compressed between your back and the hammock and not trap any air. One solution is to use a partially inflated Thermarest type mat inside the hammock that will wrap around you to some extent when you lie on it. Other people use reindeer skins inside the hammock that are great insulators. Better still though is an underblanket. An underblanket is slung underneath the hammock – it insulates from outside and so is not compressed between back and hammock.

This is how the underblanket looks
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There are two sets of shock cords running through the underblanket that allow both ends to be attached around the hammock like this
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There is a sprung toggle halfway down the side of the blanket that allows the blanket to be raised and lowered to regulate heat when lying inside. Put some slack into this, sling the underblanket tight, then adjust from inside.
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Best climb inside for a kip then J. You can see how the hammock enfolds me and the shaow line from the “cocoon” formed by the underblanket.


 

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