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  1. #1
    Senior Member [o]TTeR's Avatar
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    Self induced DIY intervention

    I joined the Forums November 2009 after returning from my first overnight hang at Valens, a local conservation area (car camping). Introduced to the lifestyle by friend and fellow forum member Mick, I was immediately drawn to the Problem solving and DIY side of Hammocking. With the exception of two M.E.C tarps and a recently purchased Winter Incubator (which is awesome, thanks Stormcrow!) my Setup has been mostly handmade. Below is a “then & now” comparison of my first year between the trees:


    Nov 21, 2009: Kiri Camping Hammock with a ring buckle mod. Webbing suspension made from my retired climbing gear. UQ made from a Wally World junior sleeping bag, M.E.C Scout tarp. It went down to 0c that night and I was surprising comfortable (based on what I know now).


    Nov 21, 2010: WBBB clone with Amsteel ridgeline and whoopie sling suspension. Same Wal-Mart sleeping bag with a rip stop nylon shell and gathered end extensions (closed loops, mass to mass), M.E.C Silnylon Guide Tarp. Around 0c (32f) that night to, a lot more comfortable but it was time for some downy goodness from HammockGear.com.


    Over the past year and two months, my DIY projects have included Hammocks & chairs, under quilts, Stands, alcohol stoves (Fancy feast / soda can side and top jets), ridgeline organizers, stuff sacks and with anything you can do with Amsteel (slings, UCRs, drip ring extentions…), the list goes on.

    This morning I ran through the mental list of projects on the go and hit a realization:
    • Undercover for the Incubator (Going out in February so I might need that)
    • Tripod Hammock chair stand (trees are never close enough to the fire pit, kinda makes sense?)
    • Collapsible campfire tripod (car camping luxury and the sites have been picked clean for firewood so 3 long straight branches may be a problem)
    • Baby food jar Oil lamp, based off the DIY Candle Lantern thread (great thread by the way!) Wait oil…
    • Pulk (toboggan/pvc tubes), here’s the point of self induced intervention!

    I don’t actually need an oil lamp but I eat 2 jars of Gerber’s apple sauce to get the bottles anyway? I would definitely make one before buying one but I simply don’t need one right now. Pulk! I don’t own Snowshoes or skies? I’m going snowshoeing for the first time in February but I won’t need a Pulk to do it, I should make sure I will snowshoe more then once before I start accessorizing.

    Items I really don’t need are sneaking onto my mental list unchallenged! I will keep doing DIY projects, I enjoy it as much as hanging but there must be a reasonable limit. SO! here are the first 5 steps of a possible 12 step program:

    Step 1- Admission…Hi, my name is [o]TTeR and I have a DIY addiction!
    Side note (since I’ve never posted on the “Introduce yourself” thread) I was into whitewater kayaking and labled “Otter” due to a reputation for seal launching my boat off cliffs (over water, I’m not crazy).

    Step 2- Impulsive DIY’ng… Going into the dollar store without a DIY Project but coming out with one means you may not really need what you plan to make.

    Step 3- DIY Induced Hording… Stop saving odd plastic items from the recycle bin because you may have a use for them on your next project. I’m definitely saving the LDPE from the new TV but will I really use the plastic mini-tripods they use to protect the pizza from the box lid!

    Step 4- Question your DIY Motives… If it costs more to make the item then it does to buy it and the end result is roughly the same, is it really worth doing?

    Step 5- DIY Stockpiling… How many alcohol stoves does one Heineken Pot really need? How many Heineken pots does it take to make one cup of coffee?? I did enjoy empting the beer cans though!

    Its only 5 but it’s a start!
    "I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
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  2. #2
    Senior Member rjcress's Avatar
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    Oct 2010
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    Central NC
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    Quote Originally Posted by [o]TTeR View Post
    Over the past year and two months, my DIY projects have included Hammocks & chairs, under quilts, Stands, alcohol stoves (Fancy feast / soda can side and top jets), ridgeline organizers, stuff sacks and with anything you can do with Amsteel (slings, UCRs, drip ring extentions…), the list goes on.
    Nice story, but I fail to see the problem.
    Sounds like you had fun, learned a lot, and nobody got hurt in the process.
    Congrats on a great journey!
    "I keep telling myself that if I make perfect seams, nobody will believe that I made it... " -JohnSawyer

    My outdoor gear review site http://gear-report.com
    Gear reviews, DIY / MYOG projects, Outdoor gear discounts, sales and coupons updated daily

  3. #3
    Senior Member [o]TTeR's Avatar
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    Thanks! It has been a great journey. Didn’t realize it was a problem until my Wife walk into the Kitchen and said “Are you eating Baby food” and I said “Ya, I need to make a lamp”. It made perfect sence to me but she claims I’ve lost it!
    Last edited by [o]TTeR; 01-27-2011 at 21:40.
    "I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
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  4. #4
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    I hear you, brother. I probably spent $200 in food I wouldn't normally eat, tools, misc. supplies and accessories and a few months of nights and weekends perfecting the design for a woodgas stove when I could have just spent $80 on a bushbuddy et al and been done with it. Granted. I learned a lot--too much, in fact--but probably not a lot that I can reuse on any other project. There's just something so abhorrent about paying $80 for a tin can--but they are able to set that price point because, generally speaking, it would take more than $80 worth of R&D to make a one-off DIY version (unless you're making a perfect clone or have great instructions to follow).

    People are so much less self-reliant now than they were a 150 years ago. Once you get a taste of the empowerment that DIY provides--its hard to resist, even if it costs you more in the end (due to economies of scale, pay grade vs. R&D time etc.), but eventually it runs its course when you've made everything you can possibly make (usually more than you really need).

    I, for one, am not ready to give up my weekly walk around the dollar store... I did think that the candle lanterns were taking things a bit too far though!

  5. #5
    Senior Member lmoseley7's Avatar
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    Dec 2010
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    Montgomery, AL
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    I only have the ones I've made
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    Hello everyone, my name is Larry -- Hi Larry

    I don't know if this is a step or a sign that you might be an addict, but when you start making or offering to make things for uninterested parties (wife for example) you might have a problem.

  6. #6
    Senior Member JohnSawyer's Avatar
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    It's NOT an addiciton... I can stop anytime... really I can! I just don't WANT to.

    I sold my wife by making a hammock stand and hammock for her friend. Got a call the other day, she was feeling icky with a cold, but we had a heat wave. She was out in the hammock with a blanket and a book... The wife went out and bought me a Joann's gift card so I could stay busy making more...

    RE: Costing more money: It's all relative.... I COULD have paid for a WBBB, or spent the same $ over 6 months playing with stuff... oh... hmmm...
    Heck, I had fun doing it, and my b-day is coming up, so who knows!

    Whomever said DIY is cheaper, must be really good at making gear, because it really isn't if you consider the time investment. How Brandon makes a living at those prices, I'll never know...

    John
    "Do or do not, there is no try." -- Yoda


  7. #7
    Senior Member mbiraman's Avatar
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    I don't see a problem. If your making things for the same or bit more cost and getting good quality stuff then you are way ahead as you've gained skills you otherwise wouldn't have. Win/win i think. Concerning all the alky stoves someone else on the forum said it best,,,,something like,,,Mmmmm,,,,,you only wear underwear one at a time but that doesn't mean you get rid of all of your underwear in the drawer. Same applies to camping gear.

    bill
    " The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it."

    “The measure of your life will not be in what you accumulate, but in what you give away.” ~Wayne Dyer

    www.birchsidecustomwoodwork.com

  8. #8
    MacEntyre's Avatar
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    Hammock Forums - We Create Monsters


    I love the Then & Now comparison... what a difference!
    - MacEntyre
    "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Ben Franklin
    www.MollyMacGear.com

  9. #9
    Senior Member oldgringo's Avatar
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    John, you sold your wife? Dude. Tell me more!
    Dave

    "Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self."~~~May Sarton

  10. #10
    Senior Member myles to go's Avatar
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    New Brunswick ,CANADA
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    Great looking before and after shots. I want to know more about your DIY WBBB, do you have any pics of just the hammock because she's beautiful!

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