HammockTent

29/09/2025

https://youtu.be/heNLt2FUOvI

This August I decided to hike from near where I live in central Switzerland down to the Mediterranean coast, along all the spectacular ridges and passes of t...

29/11/2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWbQjx133ds

This was an amazing and supremely challenging thru-hike across the entire Alpine arc, starting in the Slovenian capital city of Ljubliana and ending at the L...

11/12/2023

This hiking adventure started at Bourg St.-Pierre, Switzerland, and took me along the French-Italian border all the way to the Mediterranean Sea at Menton, F...

28/04/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5oELE4BSe4

A slightly updated version of a previously released video from the "Chemin des Crêtes". This year, I've chosen to further reduce my pack weight by using the Thermarest Uberlite pad, which worked acceptably well in the conditions that prevailed, with light frost at night. See the gear list at the end.

The Jura Mountains are a few ripples in the sedimentary rocks, just north of the Alps and the Swiss plateau. On the crest of its southernmost chains runs an ...

05/11/2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioH7Q2aELbY

Join me along this truly amazing hiking trip from Lucerne / Mt. Pilatus, in the heart of Switzerland, all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea at Menton, France. It connects some of the most iconic places of the Western Alps via some less trodden paths, as well as the occasional section on one of the big ones, like the TMB (Tour de Mt. Blanc), GR5/55/52, GTA (Grande Traversata delle Alpi) and Via Alpina.
It's an 800 km journey that involves almost 50'000 m of elevation gain and loss, across a stunningly beautiful natural arena. I've hiked it in two sections, in August 2020 and 2022, respectively.
Start at minute 8 if you've already watched part one.

Join me along this truly amazing hiking trip from Lucerne / Mt. Pilatus, in the heart of Switzerland, all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea at Menton, Fr...

13/10/2021

https://youtu.be/fEDDdkxp8wk

These are a few vistas from my 12 day thru hike of the Swiss Alps this past summer, which turned out to be stunningly beautiful and immensely demanding trip.

My original plan was to continue last year's hike from where I left (Courmayeur), and aim for the Mediterranean Sea. However, due to some policies by Italian and French authorities this turned out to be impractical, so I swapped the Sea with Lake Geneva (which I happened to be a day short to reach, as it turned out) and started near where I live in central Switzerland. Most of this trip was on or near formidable Route 6 (Alpine Passes Trail*), crossing German, Rumantsch, Italian, German again and then French speaking parts of the country, with many more distinct sub cultures (or the remains thereof).

The 90DH you can see here is still the same I used on my 2018 thru hike of the Alps, and many other shorter trips. It has well over 100 nights on it so far, and it's still going strong!

At any rate, I hope you're all having some nice opportunities to connect with nature, process things and gather strength, too.
I have to admit that recent developments have stirred me up quite a bit. It feels like the harmonious functioning of our society is under attack, and more or less dormant dysfunctions are becoming glaringly obvious. The time for band-aid fixes for the myriads of problems might be over, and we might want to change the root cause of them all: our separation paradigm. We might be at a cross roads, and it is up to us ordinary folks to take things into our own hands; and take this crisis as an opportunity to create the world we've been dreaming of. A world based on our new awareness of the interconnectedness - the oneness - of Life.

I love you all, happy hanging!

*https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/route-06.html

These are a few vistas from my 12 day thru hike of the Swiss Alps this past summer, which turned out to be stunningly beautiful and immensely demanding trip....

14/12/2020

Announcement: HammockTent.com is closing! I've been grappling with the decision for quite a while, given my love for the 90DH and its users. However, recent developments have facilitated the decision to now move on.

All items are already out of stock at HammockTent.com. But the web page will stay online for the time being, and I might be posting something related to 90DH camping and ultralight long distance hiking here on FB every once in a while.

Thank you!

Luke

07/10/2020

Know-how: short vs. long pads:

Using the 90DH with a full length or a short torso length camping pad each has its own merits. It basically breaks down to this: A long pad maximizes comfort, whereas a short pad maximizes outdoor performance.

These are some of the specifics you might want to consider:

Long pads – pros:
- Amazing comfort, even more so if you use a pad as close to the maximum dimensions allowed by the pad-sleeve as possible (remember to inflate such a pad somewhat lightly).

Long pads – cons:
- It is a little bit trickier to enter the 90DH,
- It can be less convenient to use the 90DH as a camp chair,
- The 90DH might poke into a tightly pitched 90DTT / tarp when you enter,
- It is more difficult and fiddly to properly place a down jacket on top the pad inside the pad-sleeve, in case you'd like to beef up your bottom insulation (see this post: https://www.facebook.com/HammockTent/posts/1355803151275677),
- It's harder to sit right at the edge of the hammock (for example to spit out when you brush your teeth inside the 90DH, or reach out to stuff hanging on the suspension strings or to your backpack),
-Obviously: more weight and volume

Short pads – pros:
- It is very easy to enter the 90DH, as you can sit straight into it's center,
- The 90DH also serves as a comfortable camp chair,
- The 90DH does not poke into the 90DTT / tarp when you enter,
- It is easier to place a bottom insulation beef up down jacket,
- Sitting at the edge of the 90DH is easy, you just need to bend your knees
- Obviously: less weight and volume

Short pads – cons:
- The 90DH is somewhat less comfortable and roomy. The foot side part of the hammock has no pad support and thus wobbles with your movements, and lacks the added insulation of a pad (though the legs are usually less of a concern in this regard). There can also be some pressure on your feet and head as the hammock shrinks down to the length of your body, not being spread out in the head to toe direction by a long pad.

Personally, on hiking expeditions and other outdoor adventures I almost always use my short NeoAir XLite S pad (if I bother to carry a pad at all). Exhaustion and a quickly emerging thru hiker attitude mean I do not notice a slightly reduced comfort at all, and besides that the 90DH is already very comfortable even with a short pad.
On other occasions I like to treat myself to the best night's sleep possible with my full length Exped Synmat UL (and there are better pads still than this particular older model that I own).

18/09/2020

These were the ingredients for this summer's hiking expedition: Line up some of the most often visited places in the central / western Alps, connect them via the most spectacular trails and highest passes, and hike long sections each day to get back below the tree line in the evening. The result was an exceedingly challenging and stunningly beautiful 9 day solo hike, with 9 very peaceful nights in the 90DH. Enjoy!

30/08/2020

Know-how: Making the most of your 90 Degree Tarp-Tent.

See these pictures for some tips, as well as this post below with some options should you have to go to the ground:

https://www.facebook.com/HammockTent/posts/835893669933297