Hello hangers,
This post is just an introduction here from a new convert, evolving from the ground to the trees. This past weekend I just did my 3rd and 4th nights in a HH UL Explorer and I’m hooked.

I have been camping all my life, first in Boy Scouts, then 25+ years of solo (or nearly solo) winter and canoe camping, and now back in Boy Scouts for 3 years. About 10 years ago I transitioned into almost exclusive tarp camping. What a freeing experience! Others see it as “roughing it”, but I see it as luxurious: open view, greater placement options, more space to spread out, light weight, able to cook where you sleep/hang out in bad weather, no musty tent, not claustrophobic, and most important, I feel more in touch with my surroundings.

This past summer I was acting Scoutmaster at summer camp and first heard about hammock camping from a senior (and rotund) camp commissioner. It got me thinking. Sure, I tried it on my own with a string hammock 20 years ago and it was a miserable failure: unstable and cold. I got an ENO 6 or 7 years ago and loved it for relaxation and spent a few sultry nights sleeping in it, but too cold when the thermometer dipped and not all that comfortable on my neck.

A few months ago I started researching the concept on the internet and found an overwhelming positive response that I took the plunge and got a Hennessy Hammock with under cover and underpad. Later I learned about Hammock Forums, and for the last few weeks trying to absorb as much as possible. (Thanks all!)

Well, gotta go now. Looking forward to trying some of the techniques learned here and seeing how far into the winter I can push it.

Later,
~bill (in south-central Wisconsin).
(sorry for the long post. I'm sure I'll have a of questions later!)