Hammock & Tarp Camping

I am a keen tent camper, ranging from lugging mass amounts of gear for a weekend away with frends to big campsites to 1 man and his backpack wild camping. Each has its pros and cons. I generally trawl the internet for the latest gadets to lightweight equiptement  and have seen a few videos about hammock and tarp camping. I presume this would be even lighter than some tents but also I secretly like the idea of having to learn and put your nights sleep in the hands of the knots you've tied.

 Anyhoo. I can't really find much information about this type of camping in and arround britain. from good places to go to any equiptment that people actually use.

 I guess I'm just askeing to see if anyone has any information about camping this way in britain and anythings i really need to know.

MW3, type hammock into the search box at the top of the page and numerous threads concerning hammocks come up.

There must be some good info there?

I've taken my Hennessey hammock along various lowland trails around Europe... a quality bit of kit and lightweight at 1.1 kg. In summer I don't bother carrying a sleeping mat, so I can travel even lighter.

The downsides to hammock camping: firstly you're often a fair bit more limited in where you can sleep. More frequently than with a tent I've walked much further than desired in order to find a suitable place to wild camp. With campgrounds you might well have problems too. With the right tarp it's possible to set up a ground camp, but then you'll likely need to carry a bivvy bag too (negating the weight saving somewhat).

Secondly, compared to a tent, hammocks aren't great for sitting out bad weather.

And thirdly, it depends how sound a sleeper you are, but personally I never get as good a night's sleep in a hammock as in a tent. If you can sleep on your back and don't wriggle around much they're fine, but otherwise expect to wake up fairly frequently to adjust your position. This gets better with time, but even after several months practise I still rarely feel well rested after a night in the hammock.

Very popular with the bushcraft brigade, thats where I first encountered hammocks. I actually sleep better in a hammock than on a thermarest, possibly because I have a dodgy back. To get a bit of extra foul weather room I upgraded my Hennesy with their larger tarp, very happy with the combo. Probably the best quick pitch and leave no trace camping option, but site suitability is obviously something to be considered. Also makes quick rain shelter if your stopping for a brew, I suppose the qucikness is mainly if your using an all in one solution like a Hennesy.

You can also use thim as a chair or lounger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtjvNokD-fA&feature=player_embedded

Steve Woodward wrote (see)

For anyone interested in finding out more, a good place to start would be hikinghq. I use a DD hammock.