Hammock camping with dog

[GGS]

Hello all,

First of all, Sgt. Rock, you have a great site! Lots of information here, I love it!

Question, do any of you use your hammock when backpacking with a dog? I would much prefer hammock camping/hiking over camping with a tent for all the reasons y'all understand - lighter packing, very comfortable, no problem finding a camping site in a wooded area. And when the temps are reasonable and there are no bugs I can just tether my black lab to the same tree my Hennessy Expedition is tied to and she just curls up under the hammock.

However when the bugs are really bad, the ground really wet and the nights really cold... Hey _I'm_ comfortable but the dog is outside in misery, especially if mosquitoes are really bad. And in Michigan mosquitoes are really bad pretty much all of the hammock camping season.

Sooo I'm looking for ideas here. I _could_ buy a Hennessy model that could safely support our combined weight of 295 pounds and just bring the dog into the hammock with me, but in our experiments with the Explorer I find she tends to lay on top of me instead of next to me which is very uncomfortable... Nice and WARM but the pressure gets to you... Mebbe a bigger hammock would help but that is a $200 experiment... Plus doggie mud, etc...

Any ideas? A doggie bivy with mosquito netting? Child's tent?

anyone try any of this?

[SGT Rock]

Hmmm. Hadn't thought of this. Maybe you could rig a bug net like a military bug bar that went over the hamock tarp and let the dog lay on the ground under your hammock. And to keep him/her off the ground you could bring a square of foam pad.

[peter_pan]

You could make a Speer style bug drop long enough to go to the ground....your dog could then be under the hammock and within bug protection.

Pan

[Just Jeff]

Something like the A16 bug bivy would work. You could hang it from one end of the hammock and stretch it out under the hammock. If you can keep the dog in it, that is. And a square of CCF is probably the easiest and most durable for insulating him from the ground, but if it's windy he still might get cold w/o a better cover. Maybe the child's tent for colder weather - again, if you can get him to stay in there.

[lucky luke]

hi ggs,

i´m having the same problem. i was seriously considering a second hammock for my rhod. ridgeback-mix. i didn´t work on that because i would not want to "lock"him in, but if there is a slot in the netting he will go in and out and leave it open.

there is no way to leave the dog outside here in germany. too many ticks and moscitoes. or its cold and windy.... so we got us a nice sub 4 pound tent, a vaude odyssee. we both love it. wintertight. in summer we hang a floored moscitoenetting inside. not for weightsavings but better ventilation.

if we are mtneering in summer we dont have pests and we carry a tarp plus my fat thermarest and his ridgerest. tree problems anyway higher up.

not much help i´m afraid, but at least you know you´re not alone :biggrin:

greets
lucky luke

[dropkick]

My lab and I have been able to share a hammock the few times I tried it this summer. (She lies between my legs).
On the other hand my dog and I have a rather strange sleeping arrangement, as she has slept either on top of me or rammed up against me, almost since the day I got her from the pound. (I got used to it)
I'm divorced and living alone, if I ever hook up again, her sleeping habits might lead to problems, but I'm not going to worry about it until it does.

-I also make my own hammocks, so strength, size, and cost aren't an issue to me.

Anyway, the other day I saw a clever dog tent at the Good Will, it was a squared nylon tube with material hanging down on both ends to close off the doors. The tents support was provided by 3 memory wires sewn into the tent (think of those fancy cloth car widow shades). It was light weight and with the wires it could be folded fairly small.
I didn't have a use for it (my dog wouldn't use it) but still came close to buying it because I thought it was neat.
Don't know where you'd get one, but thought I'd mention it so you might look around.

[GGS]

Thanks all for your input! I think I'll start with Dropkick's idea, if his dog and he can coexist in a hammock then maybe Cozy and I can learn too, just have to experiment...

And if that doesn't work, I have lots of other ideas to try.

Thanks all!

If anyone has any more ideas or tried-and-true methods please post them.

-GGS

[Iceman]

OK GGS, (and others!) you asked, so here it is....

Why don't you lower your hammock to about one inch off the ground, then fido can lay next to you, and he will never know the difference. Toss your bugnet or tarp over him and happy tails to you!

Who says your hammock must be two feet off the ground.?

And, let me warn you, I am not, and will not be a hammock camper, untill they make them really really heavy duty. When I camp, the dog sleeps in the tent with us...