Probably one of the biggest drawbacks to hammock camping mentioned briefly in the last entry is being cooler than sleeping on the ground. Specifically, the part of you that lays against the hammock has little insulation from the hammock itself vs. when you are sleeping on the ground.

 

 

 

Typical mummy bags (at least my cheap one) are only comfy when sleeping supine (on your back) and can feel claustrophobic. The picture below left is very close to how I feel in a mummy bag.

                                  

 

I guess you could go very new school and get something like the picture on the right which would help with the feelings of claustrophobia, but that...

Read More »

In a previous blog entry, I have expressed my disdain for sleeping on the ground. I sleep lightly and normally on my side. So, I rarely get a good night’s sleep when outdoors. I usually toss and turn; waking every hour or less.





A friend of mine moved out to Bend, OR and is lucky enough to regularly jump in a van, ride over the Cascades, go surfing in the Pacific, camp out on the beach at night and then mountain bike in the Cascades before heading back home. Needless to say, I don’t like him much anymore! Anyway, he and I were always both in agreement about ground based sleeping. During the telling of his jealousy inducing weekend trips, he was raving about how comfortable his camping hammock was. This piqued my curiosity as I always thought laying in those hammocks hung up in someone’s back yard was pretty comfortable, but I would never have thought about using something like that for backcountry sleeping. I mean rope, wooden supports, etc. would be heavy, wouldn’t it? Well, I did some research…...

Read More »

There are a few options when one chooses to sleep outdoors. Most of them require sleeping on the ground which I have never cared for. Give me cold, rain, heat, humidity, even bugs. I’m OK with it all. However, I am uncomfortable and wake sore and pretty unmotivated after a night on the ground.

Nevertheless, here are some options (linked) that make a lot of sense from a bikepacking perspective:



The first picture is a Topeak bike-specific Bikamper which uses your front wheel (26” mountain...

Read More »

Sorry it took so long to get back to this.

 

I’ve been very busy and just had a laptop crash…like motherboard crash. So, that meant my wordy draft of

this was lost. Bummer.

 

First, I thought I would talk about first about bikepacking as a hobby, then the equipment and finally the

destination.

 

I didn’t invent the term Bikepacking and only recently came across it from a link in Mike Curiak’s awesome

mtbr.com form post about lightweight touring. I hope you have broadband because the pics are numerous!

Furthermore,  Bikepacking.net run by ScottM should be credited for much of the info here and afterward with

regards to anything bikepacking related. Just an awesome site with gear reviews, trail reports, trip reports

and great dialogue from people who have traveled the globe on a bike....

Read More »

Sheesh! I thought I would never get this blog going. You see, I am trying to use Windows Live Writer and it took more than a few twists and turns to get here. Many thanks to Webguy for getting me straight.

 

I have some specific thoughts of what this blog will be primarily about, but that’s for a later date. Just glad to get it all working.

 

Since no blog would be complete without a picture, here’s one from my stash from a 2007 trip to Idaho:

 

Read More »