The wild idea races far ahead of the imagined object. For many years I tossed up between hammock and tent camping using a 7′ x 7′ tarp and a 169 gram (including suspension rope) Nano hammock for hammocking, then I started rigging my 8′ X 8′ cuben tarp for either purpose, but it was only really good for one person as a ground shelter – sometimes the only choice because of the absence of suitable trees – though I attached ‘wings’ to it so we could use it for either in a pinch – and added a raincoat or two at the entryway if it really bucketed down.
You can see how we used to use it here – and it only weighs 200 grams! I am swinging back to silnylon and silpoly instead of cuben fibre though for various reasons, cost (!) for one, but durability also. Now that Tenacious Tape can be used for repairs and waterproof sinylon fabrics are available in 1 oz/yd2 and even .77 oz/yd2 and are much more durable I just don’t see the point. I am sick and tired of my cuben fibre stuff sacks shredding just as I tired of my cuben fibre packs doing the same a few years back and am making new silnylon ones.
It is much nicer to have my lovely wife Della’s company but sometimes we are forced to take to the trees as the ground is so wet, so how to do this in the lightest way possible? Lightweight hammocks and suspensions for one thing. My new tent/tarp coupled with my double bunking hammock swing solves all these problems – and I daresay we can also use the tarp as the skin of an emergency boat to get ourselves across swollen rivers in our path if the need arises. Multiple use is what it’s all about.
I chose my current sleeping bag (that’s it above) because it shape-shifts to fit (you can sit up and cross your legs in it) and has plenty of room for my shoulders and arms – and of course it’s light, around 550 grams for -2C. I am quite fond of it but it does not thermo -regulate as I imagine future materials might (and be just as comfy from minus to plus 40C) though we have added down to one of mine to make it suitable for trips to Everest. Nor (I think) can it be used to catch fish (as I think future sleeping bags might) or fit in your breast pocket (as they did in Heinlein’s ‘Tunnel in the Sky’ What a great book – download it here).
What other wonders might future sleeping bags have? Could they be waterproof enough so that you could lie in a pool in the rain yet breathable enough so they were bone-dry inside? Could they catch your perspiration, and re-purify it as drinking water like the stillsuits in Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’? Could you use one as a parachute? Could they double as clothing? There are already some interesting make-overs to have this happen. I know it is a no-brainer that you can wrap yourself in it of a cold evening before bed. It would be excellent if they were fire-proof so that you did not either melt holes in them around the campfire or when cooking and you could roll yourself in one to save yourself during a wildfire.
In the meantime I am surprised that 1000 fill power down bags are not available yet. This is an obvious weight saving. You should be able to get a zipperless bag made of lightweight materials suitable for around 0C at a weight well under 400 grams I would have thought, but where are they?
See Also:
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/09/24/10-by-10-tarp-update/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/12/31/hammock-camping-double-bunking/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/01/13/simple-hammock-double-up/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/10/07/willow-kayak/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/12/27/ultralight-sleeping-bag/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/03/11/adding-down-to-a-sleeping-bag/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/17/everest-days-1-2-lukla-to-namche-bazar/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/09/26/gear-repairs-tape/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/21/backpack-repairs/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/04/14/a-hummingbird-in-the-hand/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/01/06/hammock-camping/
