Amen. I know it's not for everyone, but anyone who looks at the problems associated with using a hammock and says, "You might as well get a tent." is missing the point. Hammocks may save weight over some tent systems, but to me it's far, far more about comfort. The hammock vs. tent debate isn't worth having if it's just about people trying to win the others over to their point of view. For me, tent camping has always been a mixed bag, and by the time I had come up with a set up that would leave me comfortable and dry, it would no longer fit on a bike. I know there are options, but shelling out extra cash for lighter, more compact systems in hopes that they would be remotely comfortable seemed like a risk I couldn't justify. Then I started reading about hammock camping, and it renewed my interest in bike-camping. After the first night, I was sold. Tent camping for me has always been about trying to make myself comfortable enough to not lie awake wishing I was in my bed at home, while hammock camping quickly became something I made excuses to do. Bike touring is now just an extended excuse to sleep in my hammock.

I love the idea of the Handy Hammock, and I'm glad I found this thread. I've been trying to come up with a portable stand, and so far the best I had come up with was some aluminum poles that are/were used as some sort of portable, military antenna set-up. Each segment must be about four foot long and very bulky and heavy. I decided they weren't right for bike camping, but I might make a decent car-camping set up out of them. The expense, the weight, and the bulkiness of the Handy Hammock may not exactly be a welcome addition to my gear, but I would certainly consider all those negatives to be a reasonable trade off to sleeping on the ground. And, of course, if you could use your bike an one end of the stand, you would only need half of the Handy Hammock set up. That said, I've been in some hammock-challenged areas and have always managed to find a way to hang. So I would have to be pretty certain that I was going to have to go to ground before I would try and strap that thing on to my bike. But I can think of a couple of trips where my stops and camping sites have been decided by my desire to stay off the ground. For those trips, I could definitely see taking the Handy Hammock or something similar.