Another newbie saying hello

[Lynx]

Hi Guys,

I thought I’d introduce myself. My name is Florian, and I am a total hammock camping newbie. I am a 30-year old grad student who rediscovered camping about a year ago. Since then, I’ve tried to get in as many camping trips as possible. Up to now I’ve only done car camping, but that is about to change, with my first through-hike scheduled for later this month.

I first began to get interested in hammocks this spring after coming back from a three day trip to Pinnacles National Monument in which I probably slept for no more than three hours a night. I am an insomniac even when at home, and I also suffer from severe back pain on and off. As a result, no matter what I did I simply could not get a good night’s sleep while camping. Being a methodical fellow (or, as one of my professors once said, a “conscientious plodder”) I tried out the various parts of my camping setup (Tent, pad, sleeping bag) at home, and realized that I just couldn’t deal with sleeping on a pad, be it an inflatable Therm-o-rest or CCF.

After returning from a recent trip that was basically ruined due to my inability to sleep, I was pondering the $150 Expeds online when I decided I had had enough. I joined this forum, started reading, and ultimately placed an order with Warbonnetguy (whose name is really Brandon ) for the following:

Blackbird 1.1 double w/ adjustable webbing
Carabiners
3S Yeti
11x9 tarp (top secret-not on the website yet)

Since I started out with nothing but a sleeping bag a year ago, and have a limited budget to spend on stuff, I am still working on putting together all of my gear. As you can probably guess from the stuff I ordered from Brandon, my general approach has been to do as much research as possible, try everything on/out (REI is great for this, isn’t it), and go for quality rather than quantity. Hence my decision to go with the Blackbird.

At the moment, I am eagerly awaiting a PayPal request from Brandon. In the meantime, I am reading as much as possible, and constantly dreaming up new ways of spending money I don’t have (this site is addictive!)

Anyhow, it’s good to meet all of you, and thanks for taking the time to share your experience and expertise on these forums. If it hadn’t been for your posts I’d probably be condemned to sleep in the mud for the rest of my life

Cheers,

Florian

[klaatu]

Welcome to the forums, Lynx!

Be sure to practice your hammock skills before you go on your trip!

[gargoyle]

A BB and a top-secret "could tell ya but I'd have to kill ya'' tarp. What are they teaching at Berkeley? Mom told me to go to college, shoulda listened.
Welcome and enjoy your new toys.

[ikemouser]

I quit hiking as well because of sleeping on the ground, without hammocks i would'nt be in the woods. i cannot handle waking up and hiking another 10 miles without getting a good sleep, especially when its more than one night. Now i have no prob, sleep like a baby. I have a WBBB as well, ordered a yeti, and if you feel so inclined, maybe share some tarp details unless brandon does'nt want you to. i have a maccat spinn coming soon, deluxe, yay lightness. I figure with this i wont have to switch out my suspension to save weight, i love the straps the way they are, and i do not know how to do much well in way of knots, i know the basics like taut line, bowline, etc. But woudl rather not fool with my hammock as it is working perfect now the way it is.
One of the things i learned was i was hanging my hammock too high, i lowered it to about my nose level (im 5'9), better lay. Keep your hammock on the 2 oclock angle with NOONE in it, this means the angle should be at the 2 position when its empty.

Your ridge line should be taut when u lay in it but not guitar string tight. TIe your tieouts waist level on a tree or stick or pole for maximum roominess.

[ikemouser]

Also tip for saving time in tarp setup: 1. Tie bowline on end of tarp line

2. Put bowline loop behind dring in tarp tie out, put standing end through bowline loop securing it to the tarp.

3. run standing end through stake and back through dring if u like or not, doesnt matter, anyway tie a taut line hitch in it so you can adjust it up or down to tighten your tarp

SPEED SAVER:

When your done and ready to move out, spool your line from your stakes and ridge around your thumb and pinky, leave about 5-6inches if line from your dring on the tarp

Wrap the 5-6 inches around the spool to keep it together, and tuck the whole mess in your tarp dring. Now all you have to do is unroll it next time you set up your tarp, the bowline/larks head combo keeps it connnected to the dring, just go through stake, tie taut line, bam. I do the same with my ridge tie outs as well.

[Lynx]

Welcome to the forums, Lynx!

Be sure to practice your hammock skills before you go on your trip!

Thanks!

Unfortunately I don't think I'll be using the hammock on my next trip. I'm going with a friend who owns neither a tent nor a decent size pack. I've tried to get him to buy a pack so that he can take my REI Quarterdome wihle I take the BB, but no luck. Says it's "too expensive," even though his yearly income is five times as much as mine I'm starting to realize that good friends do not necessarily make good hiking partners...

[Lynx]

A BB and a top-secret "could tell ya but I'd have to kill ya'' tarp. What are they teaching at Berkeley? Mom told me to go to college, shoulda listened.
Welcome and enjoy your new toys.

I'm not sure the tarp is quite as top-secret as that Basically, I wanted a tarp that was slightly smaller than a Mambajamba, since I plan to do a lot of camping on steep slopes, and was worried about being able to pitch the uphill side of the tarp. I could have gone with an OES, of course, but Brandon happened to mention that he had some smaller tarps available....

[Lynx]

I quit hiking as well because of sleeping on the ground, without hammocks i would'nt be in the woods. i cannot handle waking up and hiking another 10 miles without getting a good sleep, especially when its more than one night.

I'm with you! One night with little sleep isn't that bad, but after the second night it starts getting really old! Aside from not being able to adequately recover from the previous day's hike, my biggest worry is that it become much more difficult for me to concentrate when I'm tired, which can get pretty dangerous depending on the trail I happen to be on.

...if you feel so inclined, maybe share some tarp details unless brandon does'nt want you to. i have a maccat spinn coming soon, deluxe, yay lightness.

As far as I am aware the shape is identical to the Mambajamba, though of course it's slightly smaller. It is also silnylon, so it won't be as light as spinn tarp....

[Dancer]

I'm starting to realize that good friends do not necessarily make good hiking partners...

You are exactly right. When I started doing more hiking and talking about it, all of a sudden everybody wants to go but they don't want to buy gear. I've started giving them a gear list and telling them that when they have the list covered to let me know and we will plan something... I've not heard back. I think they expect me to outfit them for some reason.

[plowhorse]

You are exactly right. When I started doing more hiking and talking about it, all of a sudden everybody wants to go but they don't want to buy gear. I've started giving them a gear list and telling them that when they have the list covered to let me know and we will plan something... I've not heard back. I think they expect me to outfit them for some reason.

was the list really out there? I have friends that are willing to go, but like me their gear is not super light weight. so long as they are ok carrying it, who cares.I am in the process of buying lighter gear, but that's because I want to.