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marky
climber
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 2, 2006 - 02:51pm PT
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but haven't tried it and am open to the idea of it not sucking. Can anyone report hammock-bivy experiences, either on a big wall or alpine wall? thanks
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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I've done a few and to be honest, they all suck. I've even done totally free-hanging hammock bivys, and it sucked too. In fact I would have to say that the single hardest move I have ever done on a wall, was getting into my sleeping bag in a hammock.
I'm not that small of a guy, so the shoulder compression thing was even worse then what you little guy/jockey types had to endure. The spreader bars only made things only slighty better.
The one good thing I liked about Forrest Wallwombs, was they made a great belay lounge chair. With their raised sidewalls cutting both sun and wind, you could smoke a bowl w/o fighting the winds or put your head back, supported by the head pocket, and scope your partner on lead without having to use your neck muscles to support the melon. The sidewalls also created some sense of shade and cut the suns power down significantly.
But other then that, they totally blow.
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nutjob
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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I had the best bivvy of recent memory on a Hammock, but it was tied between 2 coconut palms on a beach in Belize in front of a rad house. Had a 12' chess board next to it, and a sweet private swimming pool with fountains and stuff.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Hey it is better than a night in a butt bag or sitting up on a sloping ledge and scooting back into place all night long. I'm with Can't Say. About halfway through the night the shoulders start to really hurt and by morning it is hard to move. Probably spent a hundred nights in one.
Ken
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golsen
Social climber
kennewick, wa
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These guys have more experience than I do, but I agree with them. Not the most pleasant thing. Getting into the entire sleeping bag must be one of those 5.12 moves that takes tons of practice to get wired. But I have also spent worse nights than this...
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rwedgee
Ice climber
canyon country,CA
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I guess it was better than sleeping in the haul bag or hanging in the harnesss but it only takes a few hours and you feel like a ham hanging in the red nylon bag. Really stiff the next day. Definitely spend a night in it at home & see if it's worth it.
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Holdplease2
Big Wall climber
Yosemite area
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I did it once, was not pleasant, but certainly could have been worse.
Eventually I got kinda comfy by laying on my side with my back against the wall and knees bent out from the wall, feet against the wall. The trick was a three point suspension...two bolts (the anchor) and then the rope hanging from above as the third point. A piece of gear in a crack would serve the same purpose. The granite against your body gets pretty cold at night, so don't forget about that.
I would do it again for a one bivy wall but would take a ledge for anything longer if no sleeping ledges were available.
-Kate.
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cliffhanger
Trad climber
California
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All of the nights I spent in my hammock were blissfully comfortable, with or without the spreader bar. I liked the snug, secure feel after a hard day on the sharp end. My hammock is a one point suspension design with three pairs of straps running to the hammock.
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BASE104
climber
An Oil Field
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Yeah,
I've slept in a wall womb and it was pretty miserable. At the time I didn't realize how terrible it was until I bought a Grammicci ledge. Those things were stylin'. You would have sweet dreams of your girlfriend all night and then wake up and look over the edge and say, "Oh No...."
She was always cheating on me anyway.
edit: And sleeping on a sloping ledge sitting on your haulbag isn't as bad as a hammock, IMO.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Not as bad as some folks would remember. I would recommend a sleeping pill or a vicodin or something to go along with it.
At least you get some bonus. They're WAY Lighter, and way cheaper too. I predict somebody will start making em again.
Peace
karl
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cybele
Ice climber
finally, west of the Mississippi
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I've been on the same page as cliffhanger. I have felt incredibely refreshed after nights in a properly hanging hammock. It's the powerful swaddling effect. Infants and animals naturally love it. I do have to struggle a lot to get situated, get the bag over my shoulders, etc, and getting up to pee SUCKS but once in, I fall asleep like a baby. The hammock does enforce physical submission... a feeling that some will balk against all night, others will blissfully relax into and feel cradled by ...it's the deep pressure. The key I think is not to have the pressure be too non-uniform, too much in certain areas, like the shoulders. A large guy like Can't Say would have a hard time, for sure. A hammock hanging over a gear rack with stuff poking all over has been my worst nightmare. The thing needs to hang cleanly and spread at least on 2 points, pref 3, for me to be comfortable. I like to put my feet up over the edge, elevated. And get the adjuster straps just right once in. And again, the squirming to get situated is distressing. If you can succumb to the tightness and let it be a massage you will have a better time.
On steep routes though, on an airball belay, it is arduous and nervewracking eating, taking off shoes, etc. with a hammock. You really need a nice bench belay seat to get your tasks done. Then get into bed. A portaledge makes organization and evening tasks much easier I think.
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sandstone and sky
Trad climber
AK
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I've wondered before if a brazilian style hammock might be worth looking into. You lie across it at an angle and so you're essentially lying flat, which is a huge improvement over the forced banana-shape you get in a regular hammock. I carried one in my pack during a long trip in south america and have spent quite a few nights in it. No spreader bars, but was the most comfortable hammock I've ever slept in.
Don't know how high-angle the rock would have to be before it would be possible to comfortably lie in it at the right angle though. Plus you'd need more than one anchor. I'm sure there's a reason no one's done it before. Just a thought.
The linked picture sucks but kind of gives an idea of what I'm talking about.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Outback-Brazilian-Hammock-Single-Brand-New_W0QQitemZ4428789405QQcategoryZ20719QQcmdZViewItem
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Modified Forrest Wall Womb
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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remember some very nice nights in a hammock (one or two point)... but not because of the sleeping...
starts out ok.
Wake up with that compressed shoulder feeling, 90º turn, sleep 30 min wake up, turn, sleep, wakeup, turn, sleep, wakeup... you get the picture. But the time you sleep is less and less...
But I remember the full moon peeking over the hammock as it transited over the top of El Cap So.East face. It is an image I will never forget.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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I've spent a few nights in hammocks. I copied a Bat Tent, or was it a Forrest? I think I even slept for a few minutes once.
Susanna Bandana sewed up a big hole it it before an early Aquarian Wall ascent. What ever happened to her?
They do make the best butt bag though, for all the reasons Can't Say mentioned.
One time on the shield part of the Magic Mushroom I placed a pin behind a loose flake (80 lbs.) and the flake came off in my lap. I was sitting there cradling it and wondering what to do in the middle of an A3 section. Looking down I could see many parties on the lower part of the Salathe. If I tossed it someone would have died, guaranteed. My partner, Rick Lynsky, called up that he could tie the hammock that he was using as a buttbag onto the haul rope and send it to me. I pulled up the hammock and VERY CAREFULLY put the flake in the hammock and lowered it to him. To his right there was a ledge just big enough to prop the flake on and leave it.
That hammock saved someones life!
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Done a few myself, and I gotta agree with Randy and Dave... Every one of 'em was the "worst night eva."
My first hammock was one of those fishnet jobs (made by Salewa, maybe?). And while it was better on the shoulders, that was little consolation. I've ripped-out two ripstop jobbers, 'though it was usually the stitching or the bartacks.
Another disadvantage of two-point hammocks is the tendency to compress all the down in those old sleeping bags. Zero loft on your backside. And miserably cold at around 4:00 AM...
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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When my partners and I got to the bivy cave on Dream of Dead Horses I pulled out an old Robbins peapod two point hammock and slung it to anchors on walls 3m apart.
Suddenly there was a furor!
Why hadn't I told THEM to bring two point hammocks (I didn't even know they were around!)?
It really never occured to me that given a ledge spacious for two anybody would want a peapod instead.
Was this Huck Finn's fence?
Anyone?
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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there has never been a properly designed lightweight mainly single point hammock for climbers - ever. The wall womb affair is the inverse of a proper design as it creates tension under you in all the wrong places. If you brought up the topic in the design rooms at any of the major climbing gear companies, they'd sit there and stare at you like you're from mars. It is possible to make a really simple light hammock that would work fine for a 1 or 2 night wall or alpine climb, the sort of thing designed to work with a bivi-sack.
Now, finding the right bivi-sack, one easy to get in and out of and not designed by retards is another matter altogether.
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climbrunride
Trad climber
Durango, CO
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I spent three nights in a hammock with a broken ankle. It SUCKED!
But it wasn't really my fault. First, I thought my ankle was only badly sprained, so I could climb. Second, I let Chuck Clance talk me out of using the portaledge and saving wieght with hammocks. I think he was drunk. (Imagine that.) I must have been drunk too, since I agreed.
I agree with the sleeping bag thing - definitely 5.12c+ to get all the way into it.
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mucci
Trad climber
sf ca
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Apr 23, 2009 - 05:01pm PT
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First Hammock Bivy
Can't explain how much this sucked!
Hated the Forrest hammock so much I helped design the "Cadillac"
Complete with Beer holders and thermarest slot sewn in!
http://www.mosquitohammock.com (Scroll to Bat Hammock)
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