Are hammocks hot in the summer

[Mark Ries]

Is the fabric used in hammocks breathable other wise does it get sweaty where your skin meets the fabric and having it wrap around you. I've never used one but thinking about it

[spelt with a t]

Almost all hammocks are made of uncoated polyester and nylon fabric, so yes, they breathe. On a summer night I find them cooler than a pad. You are above the ground and air can circulate and cool your whole body.

[peter vacco]

i don't have one (yet), but have heard you can get mosquito bit often and easily right thru the bottom surface.
just a thought …

v.

[Kattt]

There are not a lot of places where skin meets fabric, unless you take your clothes off. I am not sure in humid climates, but in my experience hammocks work well in summer.

[spelt with a t]

Re: bug bites, you can treat a hammock with a permethrin dip same as clothes, or for those with modular bugnets, it just isn't an issue since the wraparound net keeps the skeeters from direct contact with the hammock body.

Re: humidity, on humid nights without a breeze, I have found a hammock no worse than a pad, but also no better. On humid nights WITH breeze, a hammock is the clear winner.

[James Cahill]

my double-layer hammock protects from underside mosquito bites, and it still stays cool even in muggy minnesota summers (especially with the fly pitched high to allow for any breeze to pass by)

[Dale Wambaugh]

Hammocks use uncoated fabric and one of the nice features is that they are naturally "air conditioned." You are up off the ground with air flowing underneath, so too much cooling is more the issue than not enough. If night-time temperatures are below the mid-60F range, you need insulation. On the top side, you can vary your insulation and clothing to suit.

We don't have air conditioning in our house and I have headed to the back yard with my hammock for some relief on hot summer nights. I have a light "parachute" style hammock for home use that is a joy to nap in on a hot summer afternoon. My camping hammock uses a tougher 210D oxford nylon and is still quite cool.

I typically use an undercover or under quilt and my hammock has an integrated zippered bug screen, so mosquitoes aren't a problem. If you consistently camp with no insulation, a simply permethrin spray treatment on the outside should do the trick.

[Mark Ries]

Insulation at 65° wow I wouldn't have guessed that. Thanks for all the responces. What would you guys recommend for something cheap to see if I like sleeping in one,I'm sure I could rig a tarp and find something for bottom insulation so just a cheap hammock that will hold 230# and give me a starting point to see if I like sleeping in one. I live in the country and have trees that should work.

[Dale Wambaugh]

You don't need much at 60F or so. You can rig a poncho underneath with a space blanket crumples inside for a basic layer. CCF pads are the lightest option, but IMHO, they detract from the smooth fabric of the hammock body. Standard 20" wide pads are too narrow— a 25" or wider pad will help cover elbows and hips.

Tarps are typically larger than ground setups. A blue poly tarp is fine for basic experimentation in the back yard. Try a 9'x12'.

Cheap hammocks have the same terrors as other cheap gear, so caveat emptor! If you sew, making your own gathered-end style hammock is easy.

The geometry of hanging a hammock is important to the comfort. Give yourself plenty of time to experiment. Minor changes in height and length can make a big difference in how it feels. Remember, you don't sleep parallel to the suspension: you lie about 30 degrees off-center, with your body actually in a flat line rather than a "banana" shape.

Search YouTube on "Shug hammock" for a series of videos on hammock camping. Shug is quite a character and you will get a good real life look at camping in hammocks.

Time for you to explore hammockforums.net :)

[Matthew Black]

I have received mosquito bites through my Warbonnet Traveller while wearing shorts. I slept on top of my puffy the second night as it was too warm to wear wind pants.

[John Almond]

That's one of the three things that make them very attractive for subtropical camping, like what we get down here in Florida.

They're cool any time there's anything resembling a breeze, even above 80* F (note that "cool" is relative at that point; it makes it possible to sleep rather than being truly cool), they get one up off of the local arthropod population and underbrush (thick most places down here, both of 'em), and if you're getting wet from underneath in an hammock you have bigger problems than just getting wet (we don't get steady soaking rains here, usually; we get frog-strangling thunderstorms that build up a shocking amount of water in an hour or two).

As to the insulation "problem", it's pretty easily solved at temperatures above freezing. Shug's videos are a good place to start; he has a "beginner how-to" series that starts here. Once you're done with those, a good place to look for more information is Hammock Forums. Be aware that information overload may start there; they're just as big of gear-heads as BPL members are, just with different specializations.

Fair warning: I'm a member over there as well, under the same screen name of "FLRider", so I may not be the most disinterested observer.

Hope it helps!

[Geoffrey Lehmann]

For the most part I've found that hammocks are great in hot weather. An exception I experienced was having the sides of the hammock envelope me on a warm, sultry evening. This was in a Hennesy Ultralite Assym. I'm of the sawed-off persuasion at 5'6", and don't have this problem in smaller hammocks (like my Nano 7).

geoff

[Mark Ries]

Thanks for the replies looks like I better research more first

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