My evolution as Hammocker!

Hey guys,
I just wanted to quickly share my story with you and say thanks for all your contributions to the forum. I joined the forum a little over a year ago. This was probably due in part to me stumbling across Shug's videos on youtube, which I still watch as soon as a new one pops up. I'm sure my story is the same classic convert story just like all of yours. I loved hiking and camping but I could never get a good nights sleep on the ground. The first night was always terrible and that next night would be a little better but still not good. After watching youtube videos and lurking around the forum learning as much as I could I knew I wanted to give a hammock a try. My first purchases were actually the quilts. Hammock gear was having their big sale and I talked my parents into getting me a burrow for my Christmas gift and I got myselft an Incubator. Now I just needed a hammock and a tarp. I bought a tarp off the classifieds and ended up making my own hammock. I really didn't intend to do a diy hammock but I really didn't have the funds to buy the hammocks I wanted so I read the diy section and talked myself into making one. I was able to get two sewing machines from my Grandmothers house. One is a new Brother still in the box and the other one is a Made in Japan Kenmore from 1960. This one is a beast. I let my little girl pick out the color at our local fabric store and she was adamant about the bright blue so that's what I went with. Now I think I've had about 5 nights in the hammock on different trips to the Bankhead National Forest and it has been great. I was hoping it would work for me and it has. Now I can lay down and go right to sleep. I also have fun tying the knots and messing around with my tarp. For my next big purchase I would like to upgrade to a Cuben tarp. Right now I'm using a Kelty Noah 12 and it is a little heavy. Anyway I just wanted to say thanks to everybody for the threads and videos. I have enjoyed the forum and it has been very helpful. I'm definitely loving the hammock.

Glad you got clumsy and stumbled onto the vids. If they helped in the joy in the final result....then the time to make them seems valid. Whooooo Buddy))))
Shug the Stumbling Block

Your videos have definitely helped me alot. Plus your the only person I know who knows how to use a boomerang.:D Looking forward to your upcoming trips. Thanks for sharing em' with us.

Next step is to stop enjoying knots and embrace rope splicing. The only knots I tie anymore are a marlin spike hitch and a slippery half hitch. Splicing is more fun.

For me, the cuben fiber tarp was my best ever upgrade. I have 7 or 8 hammocks, and while I like some more than others, I'd sleep in any of them. I have a couple of underquilts, and I like them both.

I have 6 or 7 tarps, but only one ever gets to come out on the trail with Daddy: the HG Winter Palace. The rest are loaners. My cuben fiber tarp is my most prized possession. I had an HG 4S CF tarp before, but it just didn't have enough coverage for me. Now I have one tarp that can handle all seasons at only 8.5 ounces.