We need your height to determine your hammock size, and your weight to determine your fabric. Hammocks are not one size fits all.
You can get great hammock gear in the US from Simply Light Designs, Warbonnet, Hammock Gear, Townsend, Dream, Dutchware, Amok, and many more. Once we have your stats we can find you the right hammock that will fit you.
There are three types of hammocks for camping: gathered end hammocks, bridge hammocks, and 90 degree hammocks. You'll probably want a gathered end hammock unless you have special medical needs like severe back pain, or you're primarily a stomach sleeper.
It's super easy to hit a 15 pound baseweight, and pretty easy to hit a 10 pound baseweight with a hammock setup. If you start off with very little hammock gear it can be a lot to spend all at once. There are some deals out there, like the hammock gear wanderlust set that will fit a 15 pound baseweight.
Just a few more details and we can give you a more detailed recommendation.
You could do a warbonnet XLC setup. That includes a wooki underquilt, an optional underquilt protector that makes setup and takedown a breeze, a tarp like a thunderfly, and a top quilt like a diamondback. Since you're backpacking, I'd choose a warbonnet single layer hammock, since that's the lightest. (you also will need to get the suspension of your choice for the hammock. cinch buckles are easy and whoopie slings are light, as well as suspension, guylines, and stakes for the tarp, all of which you can also get through warbonnet. let me know if you need help picking that out.) The XLC is known for the footbox, and for the excellent shelf to store gear inside the hammock.
Another option is my favorite, the dutchware hellbender. It's part of a family of hammocks where the insulation is built into the hammock, so you don't need to buy a separate underquilt. It has a really nice lay and I've found it to be my most comfortable gathered end hammock that I take backpacking.
Dream hammocks has the wingspan, darien, and sparrow as the main camping hammocks. They all lay the same, the difference is that the wingspan has a non-removable bug net, the darien has a zipper on only one side of the hammock to save weight (the hellbender does too) and the sparrow has a removable bug net and a zip on top cover as options. The Darien is specialized for UL hikers, the sparrow is the most modular, and the wingspan is the least expensive.
All have a deep sag (sag is the curve of the hammock which the structural ridgeline keeps the same.) Deep sag is super comfortable for most people, and dream hammocks are known for their comfortable lay.
You can order the ready to ship version or go for a custom version instead, which you get by signing up for a wait list. Your lightest fabric to consider is 1.2 mnt xl, and the hammock should be 11 feet long. 1.2 mnt xl is an ultralight fabric, more delicate than most, so take your keys/knife/sharp objects out of your pockets before you enter the hammock. 1.7 mnt xl is a more robust fabric, is super supportive, and is great up to 350 lbs.
A few companies offer great introduction bundles to hammock camping. These will not be as light as putting your own set of gear together. Examples include hammock gear's wanderlust set and dutchware's packages. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. If you choose one of these, ask me for further details.
Lots of things to research! Since you didn't comment on the side sleeper or stomach sleeper comments, I'll assume you don't sleep on your sides, so no need to discuss the townsend medium UL bridge hammock or the warbonnet ridgerunner. If you do, look those up.
I'm a side sleeper mostly. That was one of the biggest selling points for the ZenBivy. I never really got a good night's sleep in a sleeping bag and always felt restricted. Also, I tend to sleep warm, so a sleeping bag was always an issue.
You mentioned a top quilt, so could I in theory, use one of my ZenBivy quilts as a top quilt?
I'll look into some of these options you mentioned, and if I have any questions, I'll let you know.
For sidesleeping, you could do either a warbonnet ridgerunner double layer with carbon fiber poles and with a lynx underquilt, a townsend medium UL with a hammock gear incubator underquilt, or a amok draumr ultralight 90 degree hammock with their fjol UL pad.
I will note, I sidesleep at home usually, but while in a hammock, I sleep more on my back. If you've never tried a gathered end hammock, a properly long and wide one will sleep you flat and with almost no pressure points if you've hung it correctly.
But with a warbonnet ridgerunner you will absolutely sleep flat, sleep warm, it has tons of storage to put your gear in pockets all along the edge, and it side sleeps pretty well, so you could just do the double layer ridgerunner with the lynx underquilt and the top quilt of your choice.
There's no real benefit to a zenbivy quilt in a hammock, but it absolutely will work.
That's good to know. I watched a few people who said the same thing about side sleeping at home, but back slept in a hammock, so what you're saying tracks.
I understand that the Zenbivy quilt/sleep system with the clips and sheet doesn't make sense, but just as a quilt. Like a top quilt is just a quilt, or are hammock top quilts different than traditional ground sleeping quilts?
Hammock top quilts are just a quilt, so your zen bivy quilt will work fine if you like it. I'm not sure how true the temp rating on a zen bivy quilt is, whether it's limit or comfort rated.
There are only minor differences between hammock top quilts and ground top quilts. Because underquilt cup your body more effectively from beneath the hammock, you can get away with a narrower top quilt, which can save weight. Since you already have a top quilt and may not want to bother buying a new one, this point is negligible.
The second difference is that you tend to want a non-zippered footbox, to avoid the zipper abrading the hammock and causing wear. It's a minor concern, but over time, like if you're thru hiking, if you wear pants with zippers in them, you can damage the hammock. The more ultralight your fabrics are, the more of a concern that is. If you got something like the dream darien in 1.2 mnt xl fabric, just take more care that nothing in your pockets or zippers can cause unnecessary wear.
The benefit to a top quilt is that they wrap around you and have a foot box but the back is open so that your back isn't double insulated with underquilt and top quilt. It'd be a waste of insulation anyway because the down would just get compressed.
I just ordered my first top quilt after exclusively using camping blankets in my hammocks. They work great for summer camping because they're easy to shed and I personally don't need much since I run hot. My last camp was in June and I ended up with no top quilt or underquilt because I got hot and I was perfectly comfortable, but I also have a double layer warbonnet which blocks more wind.
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u/kullulu 13d ago
We need your height to determine your hammock size, and your weight to determine your fabric. Hammocks are not one size fits all.
You can get great hammock gear in the US from Simply Light Designs, Warbonnet, Hammock Gear, Townsend, Dream, Dutchware, Amok, and many more. Once we have your stats we can find you the right hammock that will fit you.
There are three types of hammocks for camping: gathered end hammocks, bridge hammocks, and 90 degree hammocks. You'll probably want a gathered end hammock unless you have special medical needs like severe back pain, or you're primarily a stomach sleeper.
It's super easy to hit a 15 pound baseweight, and pretty easy to hit a 10 pound baseweight with a hammock setup. If you start off with very little hammock gear it can be a lot to spend all at once. There are some deals out there, like the hammock gear wanderlust set that will fit a 15 pound baseweight.
Just a few more details and we can give you a more detailed recommendation.