Yan 

When you use oversized flies you start eating into the weight advantage of the hammock, no? You might be getting close to the weight of some shaped tarp systems: Tarptent, etc.

In the Hennessey hammock which I use, the fly is just large enough to cover the hammock. It is even asymmetrically shaped in keeping with the hammock. Not an inch more material, to keep the weight down.

roadfix

I've got back issues when sleeping on the ground so I have not looked back since I've converted to hammocks. I have a Warbonnet Ridgerunner. It gives me an awesome flat lay.
The only issue with hammocks is that most ground sleeping gear do not work too well with most hammocks. Sure, you can get by with whatever you've got but you'll eventually want hammock specific gear. Under quilts and top quilts for hammocks are quite pricey so I've resorted to DIY down top and under quilts which work quite well. Lots of those $20 down comforters from Costco are being purchased by hammockers for DIY projects....I've purchased several myself....lol

Here's my recent set up using a 10x10 tarp, plenty of head room and wide enough for a bridge hammock.

Leebo

Giant man need big tarp. On the diagonal, the 10' just covers the ends of the hammock. Then the side corners can come down low if needed. Like for rain. Sometime I do one high side and one low side. Sleeping dry beats sleeping wet. IMHO. It folds to like 6x6" and 2" thick.

Rob_E

That is how I started out: Hennessy with the stock fly. And you're correct, you can't do much with it other than keep the hammock dry.

I have since switched to a much larger tarp, 10 feet x 11 feet instead of 5 feet x 9 feet. If the numbers are correct, it only added about 5 ounces to my gear due to the new tarp being made of a more lightweight material. It's possible if you went with the lightest material available, you could go up in size and down in weight at the same time.

Although, to be fair, there's more than the material to consider with the weight. The Hennessy tarp ran the ridgeline from corner to corner, meaning that there were only two remaining corners to tie out. And because it was cut to perfectly match the hammock, you could use the same stakes that held out the hammock's sides. So two lines and possibly no stakes (although I always carried two extra stakes in case I wanted to pitch the tarp more or less open). Meanwhile, my new tarp has the ridgeline down the center, so all four corners need tie-outs and stakes. And the tarp has "doors" in the form of extra material at the ends which can be set up with an extra stake or two to completely seal off the hammock from the wind. So an extra stake or two at either end means I could potentially use up to 8 stakes on the tarp, so that weight can add up, although I think I'm currently using six stakes total and doing just fine.

But then I carry a hammock for comfort, not weight savings. I have no doubt that there are tarp tents or ultra light tents that weigh less than my set-up. But the hammock pays for its weight in comfort, as does the large tarp.

roadfix

+1.... I completely agree. Especially my winter hammock/tarp set up is significantly heavier.

Leebo

I like my 3 pieces of hammock setup for the range of possibilities. Regular hammock+bugnet and tarp. Twice this summer I had no place to hang, just used my sleeping pad and rigged a bug net over it, perfect for the hot nights here in New England. One could also rig up something with the 8x10 tarp and sleep on the ground with the pad and bug net. Options area good thing.

CliffordK

Unlike the OP, I've been riding with rear rack/panniers only.

I was stressing about how to attach the taillights... until it hit me.

TENT POLES.

TentPoles.jpg