Hammock complexity an observation

[Gumbi]

There was of course a great advertising photo on the net hammock package, of a guy lazing back happy go lucky and all comfy, not a care in the world. Well I get the idea that to hammockers the image of lazing back comfortably without a care in your simple hammock is still in your minds, while at the same time you have specially made hammocks, tarps, tarp doors quilts, under quilts, bug sleeves, whoopie cords, tree huggers, ridge lines etc.

Well Jim, every shelter system, whether tent, tarp, hammock, or other, has its flaws, and as you are finding out, hammocks are no different in this respect.

A hammock setup can be as simple, or as complex as YOU like. You can easily customize, change, and modify a hammock system as you see fit. That's the beauty of it. Yes, it can be complex. Tenting can be complex, if you want to make it that way. Or hammocking can be very simple.

There is also a one upmanship disdain for "tent" camping meaning sleeping on the ground, and yet many of the setups I have seen are nothing more than a hammock in a tent, the hammock basically becoming the "sleeping pad". I suspect that many hammockers switched because they were the ones who slept on 3/4 length single blue pads and found the ground to be rather hard.

When I talk about my hanging hammock tent, I get some obvious "we don't like tents and that won't work" attitudes, and yet look at the new tarp tents with doors that you guys are adapting, then look at over and under quilts. Remember when quilts were the new lighter simpler way to go? Your over and under quilts cost more and weigh more than my sleeping bag.

I still like to sleep on my 3" thick down filled air mattress on the ground inside a sleeping bag, and for winter, and rainy weather with wind driven rain, the tent is dryer, blows around less and is a snugger pace to dig into.

I suspect that most people here, like me, are tired of waking up in the morning sore, in pain, more tired than when I fell sleep, and in a bad mood because of the pain and lack of sleep.

I would gladly carry an extra couple of pounds for the guaranteed good night's sleep that a hammock gives me!

As for your tent hammock, people here are definitely open to new ideas - if they are any good, others will adopt them as well. Some won't. You can't let that hurt your feelings, though. Some don't like to be completely enclosed, they would rather be able to see the sun rise in the morning. I personally would rather have the hammock and rain protection seperate, so that if one fails, it is more easily replaced. Sometimes, I just want a tarp so that I can get out of the rain, but I want to feel like I'm outside.

[Bleemus]

Maybe make it to a group hang, (tent people even attend, and are treated nicely) .

Exactly! We marinate them for hours to really bring out the flavor!

[pgibson]

Exactly! We marinate them for hours to really bring out the flavor!

That's a good one!

[Cannibal]

Exactly! We marinate them for hours to really bring out the flavor!

I knew you and I would get along.

[mbiraman]

Hey thanks everybody, I'll be more gentle with the gear heads. You see I'm a former gear head. I have $10,000 worth of climbing, skiing, camping gear. Almost all of my time OUT was in the Sierras above tree line. No trees, cold, strong winds. I have mountaineering tents. Yet my winter ski camping pack base weight is about 25 pounds.

I want to use my hammock generously given to me by my Friend Bigfoot and I am awed by the amount of hammock gear AND my home was foreclosed on me in January so I don't have the money to buy NEW gear. Thus my attempt to create one new piece. And the reason I had hoped to sell my design.

I ordered an equinox 10x10 sil tarp. I will sew a mosquito net floor and ends to it, starting a few inches above the bottom line to prevent water from running down the net, and I will put doors on the ends and a slit that unzips on the bottom to get in and out of. Its a weather sleeve, not a hammock tent. I will share the design when I get it together, I'm waiting for materials in the mail.

It will tie down like a regular tarp, be completely bug proof, on piece, and go with he rest of my gear. I am a retired engineer by the way.
Jim S

Very sorry to hear about you losing your house. Stressful times for many including me. Sounds like you know what you want . Be interested to see what you come up with. I know you know this but don't expect the camping world to suddenly change , people generally are pretty rooted in what they do, and if it does hit some sweet spot then good for you.
Best
bill

[noontime]

I haven't really posted here much (been a lurker for a while) but Jim has a point in that there is SOOOO much information and SOOO many different options on this site it is literal sensory overload, WAY complicated.

That is how it was for me when I found the site. After reading a bit, I wanted to get it right the first time and there was too much info to make a quick decision....I just wanted to be on my motorcycle riding or in the woods hiking.
I will say though, after doing a lot of thinking and reading here it is about as simple as you make it and after sleeping in a Hennessy for the first time after a grueling 14 hour motorcycle ride I will never go back to the ground if I can help it!
Now I'm ready to get a BB, then who knows...it does kinda get ya
Happy Hanging

[canoebie]

Kinda reminds me of what my Dad used to say, "Doesn't matter if the water is ten feet deep or a thousand feet deep, you still gotta learn to swim."

So, just learn a few basic strokes and enjoy the water. Dive as deep as you choose and discover the new worlds that await, but the diving is up to you.
The times I have chosen to dive a little deeper, I have discovered ways to make my swimming a little easier and a little more enjoyable. Not to mention interesting. I love laying in my hammock and hearing the sounds and seeing the sights whereas before I was restricted to a nylon cave called a tent. I feel much better about my swim. That is due to two events. This site, and my willingness to go in as deep or as shallow as I choose.

[Hogg Tyed]

Hey thanks everybody, I'll be more gentle with the gear heads. You see I'm a former gear head. I have $10,000 worth of climbing, skiing, camping gear. Almost all of my time OUT was in the Sierras above tree line. No trees, cold, strong winds. I have mountaineering tents. Yet my winter ski camping pack base weight is about 25 pounds.

I want to use my hammock generously given to me by my Friend Bigfoot and I am awed by the amount of hammock gear AND my home was foreclosed on me in January so I don't have the money to buy NEW gear. Thus my attempt to create one new piece. And the reason I had hoped to sell my design.

I ordered an equinox 10x10 sil tarp. I will sew a mosquito net floor and ends to it, starting a few inches above the bottom line to prevent water from running down the net, and I will put doors on the ends and a slit that unzips on the bottom to get in and out of. Its a weather sleeve, not a hammock tent. I will share the design when I get it together, I'm waiting for materials in the mail.

It will tie down like a regular tarp, be completely bug proof, on piece, and go with he rest of my gear. I am a retired engineer by the way.
Jim S

That's pretty close to what I have in mind. Bug free sleeping and hanging out area!

[lori]

Exactly! We marinate them for hours to really bring out the flavor!

"here, try this hammock."

"But why is there red stuff in it?"

"It's a new design, waterproof hammock with a new space age insulation material - and in case you ingest some, it's perfectly safe, tastes a lot like Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, in fact...."

[Rat]

Interesting view point. I guess I have not noticed the complexity of hammocking, and mine is relatively complex compared to some; yet simple compared to others. I guess my hammock set up has grown at the same pace I have. When I started hammocking there were no Hammock Forums, the Yahoo Group was pretty new and just about the single source was Sgt. Rock really.

But like anyone else it has become more complex based on my intended comfort level.

Several people who I have introduced to hammocking over the years, my brother being one of them, was put off because of the perceived complexity of the set up. He said it was just too complicated, but this view was based on watching me with my hammock. Hammocking with me is a never ending tinker fest, so it does look complicated to someone who is used to pitching a tent or tarp and then not touching it the rest of the weekend; because I am ALWAYS trying something new, tweaking this or that, and just generally fussing with the set up.

In reality it is just a tarp and hammock, pretty simple.

Another point of interest is that we seemingly look down on (not literally, but figuratively) tenters. I think this is a bit of a stretch as well. Because we have chosen hammocks we feel they are superior, which they are . But I often hear from non-hammockers that we are starting to get closer to tenting in that we have hammock-tarp-tents. That is true in one respect, but hammockers do not decry tents because of the tent, but for sleeping on the uncomfortable ground (mainly).

So, in the mind of a die hard hammocker we are not non-tenters because we don't sleep in a tent, but because we don't sleep on the ground. Hence the moniker Ground Dweller.