The previous Examiner Motorcycle article introduced tent hammocks, a lightweight alternative to a conventional tent for motorcycle campers. Today we’ll take a closer look at one of the more popular makes, the Blue Ridge Camping Hammock made by Lawson Hammocks in Raleigh, NC. We chose this one to test because it’s affordable and gets great ratings from Backpacker Magazine and Outdoor Magazine. It’s an environmentally friendly no-footprint product and the company donates 1% of proceeds to environmental causes.
Like other camping hammocks, the BRCH has a solid nylon bottom, an integrated insect net that completely encloses the occupant, and a rain fly. It also has a couple of mesh pockets and a ring for hanging lanterns or other gear.
Camping hammocks fall into two main designs. The first has a weight-bearing rope from which the hammock body and insect net hang. This results in a very stable hammock, but the shape can be a bit rounded. The other design is like a regular backyard hammock, with the weight-bearing lines attached to stretcher bars. This feels a little less stable, but gives a flatter shape. The BRCH is of the second type.
In its stuff sack, the BRCH is bigger than you might think. Weight is just under 4 lbs, equal to my Hillary one-person tent. Pack size is 6” x 22”, about 4” too long to fit in the panniers of my 2006 Sprint ST. Can’t blame the hammock for that; the Sprint’s stylish but dinky bags don’t even hold a full-face helmet. So it gets bungeed onto the cargo rack with all my other gear.
It would seem there’s not much of a size or weight advantage to the hammock—until you consider ground pads. My ground pad is one of the self-inflating kind, and packs at a whopping 10” x 32”. Even the blow-up kinds don’t pack much smaller than 6” x 20”. Camping hammocks eliminate the need for a ground pad.
As with any piece of camping equipment, you should read the instructions thoroughly and try setting up at home. When you do, you’ll soon discover that the BRCH doesn’t come with the lines to tie around the trees. To set up, you’ll need two 10-foot lengths of parachute cord, or buy the optional Tree Huggers. Tree Huggers are 6-foot lengths of 1 ½” nylon strap fitted with double D rings that simply cinch tight. They add about a pound of weight, but they make set up and adjustment very easy. If you feel uneasy trusting your life to the skill of your knots, they are probably a good investment.
Once you’ve set the BRHC up a few times it takes less than 10 minutes. Simply locate two trees about 12 feet apart and cinch the Tree Huggers about 4 feet off the ground, with the head a few inches higher than the feet. Hang the hammock, push the shock-corded hoops through the insect netting to form a tunnel, and bungee on the rain fly. That’s about it. A very detailed demonstration from Two Brothers Adventures can be seen here.
My first night in the hammock was fitful, because I had hung the head about 12 inches higher than the foot. Tucked into my slippery sleeping bag, I kept sliding down to the bottom of the hammock. I had also stretched the whole hammock a little too tight, which made it feel tippy. Every time I turned in my sleep the hammock would swing wildly and I would come half-awake, though I was never in any real danger of tipping. The rain fly was also too tight, and popped off its Velcro stays.
For the second night I re-hung the hammock so the head was only about three inches above the foot. I let out a few inches of slack, so the bottom was about three feet off the ground. I also loosened the rain fly. What a difference! With the hammock correctly hung I was cradled in a slight curve, but able to straighten out or lie on my side as I liked. The center of gravity was now well above my head and I could move freely with no sensation of tippiness. A breeze came up, rocking the hammock ever so slightly. Aaaahh. I literally slept like a baby.
Sometime after midnight the hammock showed of its superiority over a tent. It started raining, and kept raining steadily for two hours. I waited to see if there were any leaks, but the rain fly, pulled taught and straight by my weight in the hammock, did its job. There wasn’t even any condensation thanks to a generous gap between the no-see-um netting and the rain fly. I drifted back to sleep knowing that however wet the ground got, I was high and dry two feet above it. It the morning I found the track of a rivulet running right under the hammock—and right where a tent would have been pitched.
During daytime hours the BRCH made itself useful as a lounger—I just removed the rain fly, which only took a minute or two. You could also easily remove the hoops that hold the insect netting up, converting the BRCH into a conventional hammock for napping. But in Vermont’s woods I preferred to nap under the insect net, which was 100% effective.
A few more nights of testing confirmed that, once you know how to hang it, the BRCH is a very dry and comfortable way to camp anywhere there are trees. If you find yourself camping in a field or on a beach where there are no trees, you can set it up as a bivvy tent (bring along a few lightweight aluminum stakes). One caution: beware of sharp branches which are harmless when the hammock is slack, but will poke holes in it when it’s stretched tight.
The Blue Ridge Camping Hammock sells for $140, and the optional Tree Huggers add another $22. Add a couple of stakes for emergency bivvy tenting at $1 each, and you have a comfortable alternative to the tent for $175. Hammock camping isn’t for everyone; some people just can’t get used to the idea of hanging in the air all night. But if you wake up with a stiff back, neck or shoulders from sleeping on the ground, they are well worth a try.
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