Q&A / Episode 3 / How to store your pack and gear when hammock camping 

Hang my stuff on a tree with cordage, stick for a toggle, and marlin spike knot. Usually hang it under the tree straps/tarp Ridgeline.

Good morning Marine, I bought a Dutch Ware Gear "Netless Hammock Chair" in CLOUD 71 fabric. It's about 65" long and 56" wide, rated to hold 200 lbs. It's cost, $38. I use it as a gear hammock. I made up a 42 inch dog bone using red 7/64 Amsteel for the head end, feeding one end of the dog bone through one gathered end, larks heading it, essentially making a continuous loop. For the foot end I made a whoopie sling (blue 7/64" Amsteel), feeding the fixed end loop of the whoopie through the gathered end, again creating a continuous loop with a larks head. It weighs 3.5 oz. (100g) on my kitchen scale. It attaches to the hammock continuous loops on each end (inside the drip loops). The whoopie sling allows adjustment for pack weight and volume variations. It works real well holding my back pack, shoes, water bottle, etc. In the morning I swing my legs over the side and put on my camp shoes that are now within reach without having to step on the ground first...now that' luxury living!

I position my pack beneath my hammock and slip the pack into a huge trash compactor bag. The trash bag is over-sized enough to make it easy to access the contents of the pack. My shoes are sitting on top of my pack to help keep the trash bag closed. This method has worked well keeping my pack/shoes dry during major downpours/flooding. On the downside, I had a raccoon enter under my tarp area and try to break into my pack (pretty unsettling to have an animal that large just a foot from my face). Great info Marine, looking forward to your next video.

Ha, ha, ha...I love that "cover" Marine! Eagles were awesome too :D

I use the pack hang tool from Dutch. One small Dutch hook and zing it. Great to wrap around a tree, then make a loop and clip the Dutch hook back to the zing it. Stays UL, and can use it during the day to hang up and dry clothes etc.

In the UK, in the summer and autumn we suffer from Slugs. Hate those things. The number of times I find them on gear. I therefore hate leaving on the ground, but a gear sling is another idea, hanging under or to the side of your hammock. Only used once recently after getting it.

I liked that wooden hook on the tree. I usually put my backpack on one of the carabiners that attaches the hammock to the tree.

Great suggestions! Thank you! I don’t have enough experience to have techniques of my own yet, so I’m taking it all in.

I have sacrificed a few grams to carry an industrial trash bag to store my pack in during rainy weather. It gives full wrap around protection and peace of mind.

I never realized we were so close. I'm near the Willow River. Huzzah! Maybe see you out hiking sometime.👍

Mice. Well established campsites around here have mice. If you don't hang it they'll eat holes looking for crumbs or nest material. I keep a carabiner on the carry loop to connect to the continuous loop on the end of the hammock. Down wind to keep the rain off it.

I usually just pull everything out of my pack and throw it on the ground so I can see it and grab what I want when I need it. Then, when I'm ready to leave, I just put it all back in the pack

if the weather is bad i will use a small tarp or Tyvek on the ground and use small logs or branches around the edges so water can pass under not over my ground tarp, in good weather i just hang on a tree with a small rope and a toggle great stuff Brother :)

Great tips! I usually take the hit on the weight and bring a flexlite chair and set my pack on that at night. During that day I hang it on a tree trunk. However, I'm liking that tarp idea as it also gives you a clean place to stand when you get out of the hammock. Thanks for the tips!

I keep my pack hung in the tree at my foot end usually. Food bag in tree high up further away.

I always bring a small chair and set my bag in the chair, shoes on top of everything. All within reach from my hammock under the rain fly. Although I may start thinking of hanging my shoes under my bug net from the ridge line so a fox doesn't take them.

Only thing I have used different from mentioned was the Grand Trunk bug net with bathtub floor. Summer canoe camping.

Thanks for the video Marine. I do a combination of hanging my pack at the head end on the tree along with a small piece of Tyvek under my hammock. I also have a gear loft and small pouch on my ridgeline.

great tips Marine. I usually use a small silnylon tarp underneath but have been looking into a gear sling underneath because of hard storm rains etc. to get the gear off the ground completely and still within easy reach. A thing I have used in the past and still do at times in my yard when hanging out back is a small thin closed cell pad under the hammock. That has always worked well weight-wise and for sitting on the ground but can be cumbersome on a hike and blows around easily if not weighted or tied down.

The trash compactor bag serves double duty as a ground sheet for my bag and I hang my shoes. However my week trip tomorrow I'm going to test hanging my empty pack on the ridgeline from a carabiner and also clipping the waist belt around the amsteel. With the open end facing me, my shoes (in plastic bag) go into my horizontally hung dry pack. My worn clothes get aired out on shock cord from the tarp doors.

Thanks Marine, always informative and useful info.

Great tips on all your videos and thank you for using metric system as well! 🙌

When I bring my helinox chair zero (most of the time) right under my head end, hat is my BP, waterbottle and stuff holder. Off the ground and easy to grab!

Good stuff. I hang my pack on the foot end of the suspension and my shoes at the head and have a ridge-line organizer and a loft.

Thanks Marine, I always learn nw things from your videos. Great imagery with the bald eagle. Such magnificent birds at the apex of the food chain. Last week I did a 7 day canoe trip on the French River running west ending at Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. On one day we say 4 eagles. A few other days had some individual sightings. I have no data but anecdotally they seems to be making a come back. Some really good pickerel fishing as well trolling behind the canoe as we paddled downstream!.

Hello there Marine. I’ve been using a 55 gal. drum liner as a ground mat to lay flat under the hammock. And at night I simply open the end and put whatever I want in it and fold the opening under to close it all in. It’s light, multi-purpose, water proof and large. And loose clothing won’t blow away. Alway love your videos!!

Great tips Marine! I have a couple peak and ridge line lofts where I put most of the gear I want to access throughout the night. I hang my backpack from my continuous loop. For my shoes I keep them right on the ground because I don’t bring camp shoes. But I do put a stick in the ground like a post and wrap my laces around them so critters don’t take my shoes in the middle of the night. If o think it will storm I’ll hang themas well.

I have another method for you, but it's kinda hammock-specific. I have a Haven XL and there's enough room toward my feet that I just keep the backpack inside there with me. It can also help insulate my feet a bit.

And here I would have thought your No. 3 would have been one of those gear slings to hang the gear below the quilt off the ground.

I run a separate Ridgeline to hang my tarp over my hammock and that's what I hang my stuff on and it holds cuz it's blood tight when I'm done the Ridgeline

I generally Stowe it under my hammock on the ground, or the end of my hammock. Depends on the weather.

I have been hanging my pack on the tree closest to the head end. I do have a piece of Tyvek under my hammock, place shoes on it and put water bottles in shoes. Changing for bed has been my biggest challenge since hammock camping and of course getting up several times a night to pee. Thanks for the video.

Thank you so much for answering my question from a few weeks back! Very informative and interesting video! I'm still pretty new to hammock camping and haven't spent a night in one yet, but I've been on multiple daytrips. I live pretty far north (Norway) and even the summers rarely get very hot here, so there's a certain cost barrier before I can get into overnight camping with needing some quilts and such, but I'm looking forward to when I get that far into it. So far, I've kept my bags either just on the ground beside the hammock if I'm relaxing in a park (gotta keep it close so other people don't run off with it), or on the suspension when in the woods, to keep my stuff away from spiders, vipers, and mice. I do bring the important items with me into the hammock though, hanging off of the Ridgeline. I don't have a tarp yet, so I haven't actually been in a flood situation, but I'm also the type of person that want to be well prepared before I am ever in that situation, hence the question. (I also only started hanging my bag on the suspension after having asked the question to you.) Thank you again for sharing your knowledge with us!

A gear hammock/gear sling (basically that ground sheet tied underneath or parallel to the hammock) can be an interesting option too.

I always use 2 ridge lines for my tarp. One has Prussic knots to secure the tarp and I use the other to hang all my gear. All I use are a couple small carabiners to hang boots, backpack. The weight of my gear pulls the one line down, but the tarp (and hammock) remain unaffected.

Found this super helpful thank you

I just found your channel, good stuff. I did 8 years in the Marines, Oorah. I look forward to seeing more from you. Thanks

I tried hanging from the suspension but it seems to pull down too hard but I was thru hiking with full food I was at 30 pounds. I use a under sling basically a baby hammock underneath. To me the only downside is I need the hammock a bit higher to allow this to be there if there is no rain I can hang it by itself I just dont like the pack on the ground at all.

Semper Fi, nice video.

Your content is very good Sir! I use a 4ft square piece of window insulation film for a ground sheet. I think its also called polycro. Cost about $8 at Walmart, cut in half. It's tough enough I get maybe 6 or more trips out of each piece. Weighs 74g. Most of my trips are in the Smoky mountains or Monongahela. Even though I hang my food elsewhere, I never keep my pack near my hammock while sleeping for fear it attracts animals to residual food smells. No data or personal experiences to support that practice, but i sleep better :-).

Who like to store as much as possible inside the Hamic

Dew/condensation & Ants /Scorpions etc

Option 3

Thanks for tips! But what worries me more is how to protect my stuff from thieves in an urban environment. I plan to go on my next long term travel only with a hammock and, of course, sometimes I will have to sleep in places where there can be a lot of people (parks, public rest areas etc.).

Have you ever had a problem with mice? I've heard they make holes in backpacks if you leave them on the ground.

Semper Fi!

Thanks, there's always more to learn and I appreciate your continuous stream of content. I enjoyed the fox story. I didn't see the variety of gear hammocks available, have you had the opportunity to try any of these?

Shoes on the top of two sticks stabbed into the floor, bagpack in a closed garbage bag and waterbottle under the hammock

Greetings again marine. I’m looking for lightweight hammock suspensions. Do you have any recommendations? I have cinch buckles right now that feel like small bricks. Appreciate any help.

Hi Marine! Great tips as always- after watching your videos, I hung a hammock for the first time this weekend! It was very simple, thanks for sharing your experience and making something new so approachable. I had some questions- how do you like to pack your hammock during multi-night trips? Is it ok to pack the hammock up with the bugnet, underquilt, and ridgeline-organizer all together for quicker set up, or should they be packed separate? Sorry if this has been asked before.

I like how the hatchet is strategically positioned. What the heck are you doing a t night?

do you have to use a ridgeline with hammocks?

I hook my pack on to my suspension because in the middle of the night I can go pee right out of the hammock without getting out of it and not having to worry about getting it wet

What knife is that?

Have someone ever stolen your backpack while you were sleeping?

I just hang it like the hammock enough not to hit the ground or hammock

I use a twin ridgline to hang my tarp. one above to hang the rainfly, the other is under the tarp to hang loose gear, jacket, wet towel, etc. A stick to seperate these lines is good if the trees are small. My boots go upside down on two tall steaks driven in beside my hammock.