HAMMOCK ,MOSQUITO NET, LINEN

I've got one of those hammocks also.Mine weighs 28 oz. and is a slightly better made version than my wive's,which weighs in at 1 lb. even.They're available through campmor.com,along with several more versions.some of which offer a built in rain fly.As you stated,it gets rid of tents,sleeping pads and other related camping gear.We'll be taking ours on a trip down the Danube river trail on bikes,from Germany to Bulgaria next spring.Weight,to a biker,is even more critical than to a backpacker,from my experience.I posted some of this info last spring,before my trip to Guatemala this summer.The hammock served me well in the jungles of the Peten.The only time I was worried was when an Israeli tourist,with a handful of flaming mosquito coils,stood over me while I lay in the hammock in the predawn hours near the Tikal ruins.The hammock is made of synthetic fibers and would possibly go up in flames easily if exposed to fire....Buena suerte.......

OK, Chuckybaby,so I'll pack a fire extinguisher too. : o Thanks for the response. Its funnny, I'm glad you answered, cause that is your quote from about 6 monthes ago!

.....But my question still awaits:
We leave for a 4 month trip from Guate to Panama in December.

So, my question is, what about linen? I see some places will rent hammocks, but what about bedding?
If we opt to bring our own, what should we bring? An ultra liteweight cotton/poly mix (travel shhet), or something warmer like a 16 to 21 oz fleece mummybag liner?
Sure this adds a coupla lbs to our packs, but it gives us some options ina pinch. And could save us a few bucks.
I guess my thoughts now are that, if its warm, we could sleep on top of the fleece and therefore create a mosquito barrier through the bottom. And if its colder, we could get inside the fleece, and there would be less chance of mosquitos because of the cold.

any thoughts would be greatly appreciated ....buena suerte...

Sometimes for us, sleeping in the truck camper is so hot we can hardly sleep under a sheet at all, then sometimes its cool enough for a blanket. We've been places in CR (top of the volcano near Cartago) where we had to leave in the middle of the night to keep from freezing.

Lafuma makes a series of ultra lightweight thinsulate sleeping bags, startng under one pound. I haven't used mine yet but I have high hopes. It is a mummy that can be opened up joined with another or spread as a bed cover. It stuffs into a bag the size of a large shoe. I'm hoping it is light enough for peten and warm enough for Xela, with my clothes on.

I don't know about the 'sciters in Guatemala, but for the ones in the Everglades and the Grand Teton area of Wyoming, there is no such thing as a mosquito barrier unless it was leather, rubber or super-fine netting held well-away from our skin. And they tried through leather and rubber! In Wyoming we wore our gators as an extra barrier so the buggers couldn't get inside our boots to skin.

I'm curious about other responses as my kids and I leave in a month for Peten/Lago de Peten Itza and then to Lago de Atlitlan. I was just planning on bringing sleep sacks, wool hats and lots of insect repellent.

Never been to Peten, but nowhere we've been in CA has mosquitos as bad as the Everglades or the Rockys. The worst I've ever seen was in the Canadian Boundry Waters. Next maybe the 'Glades. Then either Montana or the rare occasion in Colorado (at 10,000 ft!). CA is way down there on the list, in my experience.
We looked into some mosquito jackets for our kids and ended up buying some cheapies from Campmor. We've never even pulled them out. Glad we didn't buy the nice ones!

We take two flannel sheet blankets made into two sleep sacks. works well and is light to carry. You can sleep in it, under it or on top of it as the need drives you.

I like the lightweight mosquito nets that we bought in Merida to go with our hammocks, although I would only carry a hammock if you were camping, then a mosquito net is mandatory in my opinion.

If you are staying in (even cheap) hotels then most of them have adequate bedding. Although we have found an extra blanket (or the sleep sack) handy in the highlands of Guatemala. Never considered carrying linen.

Louis, I cant find the Lafuma bag you speak of. Do you have a link. YOur description sounds perfect. Lightweight or warm. whats it weigh, and cost?

Hemlockgal, your itenerary sounds like the beginning of ours. Maybe we'll see you somewhere. I hadn't thought of a wool hat. Infact my cold blooded wife said she wouldnt have used a tuk when we where at Atitlan last. That topless girl on the dock from Sweden didnt have one either.... at least I didnt see one. Maybe one of those liteweight polyprop types for cool evenings.

Geno,I know the mosquies aren't horrible, but they could carry malaria depending on where you are etc.

I just tried out an Amazona Moskito hammock from Byers. It weighs about 16 ozs, plus cord (with net). The dimentions are smaller than the others, but it measures to the inside connections to the cords instead of to the rings. So I think it actually could be bigger inside the netting.

Paxton, I guess my use of 'linen' wasnt clear. What I meant was linen , like what goes in the linen closet. Like your flannel sheets. I made one of those for a trip to Japan one time. I was suprised that it weighted one whole pound. These fleeces I 'm looking at are about the same, but thicker (loftier) .

Thanks for the input, D

Daiksan.....Glad you liked the story.I was ready to bolt if any errant flaming mosquito coils hit the hammock.My "sleeping bag" was a Cocoon Coolmax[polyester] sleepsack.It packs into a 6in.x4in.bag and weighs 7oz.I didn't have to use it,as my lightweight nylon pants and polyester sleeveless T shirt were enough.I didn't have any bites through the bottom of the hammock.One warning about the Byers Amazonia hammock.....My wife had one and tied the built in net snuggly at each end to the same anchor points as the hammock ropes were tied to.When she got in the hammock bottom sagged down with her weight[she's not very heavy] and the net didn't sag as much so it ripped open for about 3 to 4 feet,dumping my wife onto the ground before she could try to control the fall.Luckily nothing was permanently injured and a few hours of her skillful sewing with fine silk thread repaired the damage to the hammock.I would suggest leaving some slack in the netting to accomodate the stretch factor.My Hammock Bliss hammock had no such problems and is about 1/3 larger,so it might be better for tall or large people.It's 10 oz. heavier but it's also heavier duty,and more comfortable/Buena suerte....