I guess I forgot how complicated it can be.....

[Dead Man]

Maybe I've been doing this long enough that it is just old hat or maybe I've forgotten how strange and amazing the hammock world we, at least the hammock world the majority of this forum lives in, really is.

I have a guy from my church. He is a casual friend. His son is best friends with my son. He tells me that he and another guy are going to Colorado in a few weeks and he wants to know if I can loan him some hammock stuff to use while there. He has no idea what he needs, but he does state that his friend has experience with hammocks and has for some time.

So I loan him my HH Exped, a hex tarp and all the suspension bits and bobs he needs. He comes to my home to pick it up. I give him a quick walk through of the suspension hook up (hammock anchors) and the tarp and have him lay in my sons hammock to see how to lay on the diagonal and how a hammock feels. I ask again about his friend having hammock experience. He's all good and takes the stuff. I recommend that he try setting it up a few times before they leave just to be sure he is familiar enough with the where and the how of it all before he gets to CO. That was Thursday last week. He calls me Sunday afternoon to ask again how it all goes together. I drive to his shop and walk him through again. He describe my set up to his friend and he tapped out in about three seconds saying it was more complicated than the set up he has. I still don't know what his friend is using but I suspect it to be of the ENO ilk or some variant thereof.

I honestly didn't have that much of a learning curve when I started all this hammock stuff. It just clicked for me. Doesn't make me better or more gifted. It just was what it was and I got it intuitively. I've sewed my own hammock, designed a hammock, modified an existing hammock three different times in three different ways and designed my own tarp. That is a small level of success but I have failed in another way. I forgot that sometimes, things just aren't that easy. I need to learn how to describe it more succinctly, more clearly, and get the terms we use so flippantly out of the way. I'm not a "pro" nor do I claim to be one. I'm just a little further down the road than some others. A little longer in the tooth as they say.

I want to apologize to all the new hammock folks out there. I need to up my game to help others enjoy and grow in this very blissful world of hammocks. Here's hoping I can do that in the very near future.

[Wanderlost]

Ironically, I'm going through the same thing with my best friend. He's going on an overnighter with me this weekend and borrowing everything. It's his first time backpacking and hammocking. I brought his stuff over to him yesterday and explained set up him. I did what I thought was a simple set up for him : WBBB with whoppie slings larksheaded onto strap and a basic hex tarp with wasps. I also gave him a set of colder weather UQs in case he sleeps colder than he thinks. (Better too much insulation than not enough). This guy is an engineer by trade. His mind was blown within 15 minutes.

I was a military instructor for the last 9 years of my service, so I pride myself on being a decent teacher. It was a good reminder how easy it is to forget what it was like we all knew nothing beyond stringing a hammock between two points and laying down. Needless to say, he's better set up now and the finer details "we'll work out on the trail."

[TrailSlug]

Ironically, I'm going through the same thing with my best friend. He's going on an overnighter with me this weekend and borrowing everything.

The good thing in your situation is he'll have you to assist him in setting up.

This is yet another reason ENO does so well. There's no "whoppie slings larksheaded onto strap and a basic hex tarp with wasps." just simple straps connected to a hammock.

[Wanderlost]

This is yet another reason ENO does so well. There's no "whoppie slings larksheaded onto strap and a basic hex tarp with wasps." just simple straps connected to a hammock.

Absolutely! ENO is a great way to get into hammocks. Some people absolutely swear by them. I akin them to a Dodge Neon. It'll get in the road, but there are nicer cars out there. I started with an ENO way back the same as most. It was simple, but not always the most comfortable for the weight and the price.

[silentorpheus]

The good thing in your situation is he'll have you to assist him in setting up.

This is yet another reason ENO does so well. There's no "whoppie slings larksheaded onto strap and a basic hex tarp with wasps." just simple straps connected to a hammock.

Ah, but that presents a whole different challenge. I had a conversation just this weekend with a friend who does a fair amount of camping (not backpacking, mind you) with her fiancé and his group of friends. She was telling me about the new 2 person tent setup she got and the air pads they use, etc. - I reminded her that I hammock, and have little desire to ever sleep on the ground again if possible. She responded with a story about how they tried hammocks, but just couldn't figure out how to make it comfortable enough for anything other than lounging around during the day. After some prodding and questions, I realized they had grabbed a ENO, strung it up using both the stock ropes and tried out bungies (eep!), and found it neither comfortable enough nor warm enough to consider sleeping in.

Even with brands like ENO, there's still a gap between "here's how to string this up between two posts/trees/etc." and being able to sleep comfortably in it overnight, and most casual users will never bother (or know where to start) to learn how to bridge that gap. For them a hammock will always be a place to chill in camp, before they head to bed in their tent. I'm okay with that ... more trees for us.

EDIT (for point): I can affirm that personally I forget that it's not as easy or clear to a new person how to make this all work as it is to those of us that have been doing it for years at this point. Good call to occasionally stop and remember how far we've come, and just how wide the learning gap might seem to someone just coming into this fresh.

[danah.]

So many of us enter through the ENO portal. What a marketing phenom they truly are.

Now most of us wrestle with but still enjoy sharing with others all we've learned

The "Ultimate Hang" book is reasonable enough here on the Forum store with free shipping, that I give it to family and friends who show interest.. Spread the spirit of hang.

[zukiguy]

I've got at least two friends who own nice hammocks but will only use them in hot weather here in FL. They've never taken the leap to bridge the gap to figure out the insulation aspect that makes hammocks a year-round sleep system. I think as times goes on the gear will get more intuitive to kind of "idiot proof" it more like tents. Somewhere down the road we're going to see a hammock with an integrated TQ/UQ and tarp setup. Just throw a strap around a tree on each end, connect the straps and stake out some corners (maybe) and you're ready to go. Several products are almost there but all that ease of use comes at a weight and monetary penalty.

The learning curve on tents isn't that steep beyond finding a flat spot and following the instructions printed on the box. Humans have been sleeping on the ground throughout history so there really aren't too many mysteries about the process by now. On occasion I've had to go back on the ground because of prearranged camping arrangements and the lack of hanging locations. Each time reminds me of why I hang (sore back, fatigue, muscle aches).

[Dead Man]

Ironically, I'm going through the same thing with my best friend. He's going on an overnighter with me this weekend and borrowing everything. It's his first time backpacking and hammocking. I brought his stuff over to him yesterday and explained set up him. I did what I thought was a simple set up for him : WBBB with whoppie slings larksheaded onto strap and a basic hex tarp with wasps. I also gave him a set of colder weather UQs in case he sleeps colder than he thinks. (Better too much insulation than not enough). This guy is an engineer by trade. His mind was blown within 15 minutes.

I was a military instructor for the last 9 years of my service, so I pride myself on being a decent teacher. It was a good reminder how easy it is to forget what it was like we all knew nothing beyond stringing a hammock between two points and laying down. Needless to say, he's better set up now and the finer details "we'll work out on the trail."

If I were going with him, I wouldn't give it a second thought. OJT is the ticket for many. I've been a trainer who trained the trainer for many years. He really seems interested in hammocks and I'm friends enough with him to care that he has a good experience in the process. It's a double edged sword to be sure. Initiate too many and the crowds build and things can get messy. Don't properly educate the initiate and they chuck it all as freak hippie voodoo weirdness or worse yet, adapt their own inept methods and destroy themselves or the hanging environment in the process.

I know that is far too hyperbolic but it is a bit of a quandary.

[BigE94]

Great of you to lend your gear out like that. I'll lend you my gear, but only if I know you have experience or if i'm with you to assist.

[Dead Man]

Great of you to lend your gear out like that. I'll lend you my gear, but only if I know you have experience or if i'm with you to assist.

I know where he lives....you break my stuff I send Guido with no neck and hair on his thumbs to get what is required.