Hammock Shmammock

Over the last few months Ryan and I have been researching gear for our upcoming AT thru hike and I must say it is quite ridiculous just how much information there is out there about gear.

There are websites related to almost every type of gear that you can imagine there is even an entire forum dedicated to hammocks. Yes, hammocks. Don't believe me? Check it out. Crazy huh?

I thought so until I started reading some of the post on there. These guys are freakin pros. I could not think of one single question to ask that wasn't already answered in great detail. Bravo Sirs.

After much research and consideration Ryan and I both decided to go the hammock route. We both purchased Hennessy ulta-lite A-syms from the peeps over at www.HennessyHammock.com as these turned out to be the lightest, best priced shelters that we found. With the 4 season super shelter and a 15 degree bag we will be toasty even in the coldest weather that the Southern winter can throw at us. Please don't take that as a challenge Mother Nature.

Some may say, "A hammock?" To them I say (to steal a quote from my friend Justin) "What is more comfortable than a hammock?" I know what your going to say and yes a king sized pillow-top mattress is in fact more comfortable than a hammock, but I would imagine that those are incredibly hard to hike with. I've never tried though.

Long story short, we are attempting to hike as light as possible and hammocks are just the best option. They are significantly lighter, they compress smaller and they take little to no time to set-up. The only downside is that when hanging off the ground your bag can compress and there is little to no insulation on your back. Hence the super shelter which will put us in business and is only 13 oz.