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  1. #1
    New Member
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    What do you wish you knew when you started?

    Hello all, I am an absolute newb to hammock camping, and as I eagerly await my hammock's arrival, I wonder what gems of wisdom might the old timers might have for someone just starting out? Any Dos and Don'ts that might seem obvious now, but aren't to the inexperienced?


    I've been watching videos and lurking on the forum, I'm pretty sure I am going to love hangin, and my new addiction

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Feb 2011
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    iowa
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    this goes for camping in general as well as for hammocking. know your gear, it's limitations and your own, and practice setting up and tearing down in a controlled enviro ie the back yard before heading out to camp.

  3. #3
    New Member im22sniper's Avatar
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    Nov 2011
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    Central Florida
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    Enos Double Nest
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    I wish I knew earlier...that an underquilt was the only way to go. After you get an UQ what a difference and what a good nights sleep. Thanks Hammockgear.

  4. #4
    Senior Member DivaB's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Newark, OH
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    DIY Extra Wide & Long Tablecloth
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    Funky & GG Tarps
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    DIY down UQ
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    continuous L. Amst
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    3,528
    For some of us (myself) we have to do things by experimentation....and that can be expensive in the end . Trust that nothing is as warm, light weight and compressible as a good down UQ.

    Get a good dehydrator; it'll pay for itself after just a few uses and you can make what you know you'll like.

    Embrace your inner stove addiction and cord addiction (which will happen soon enough).

    Make sure you have your hammock and not your bug net or UQ in hand before you go to sit on your hammock. It's a rude awakening to hit the ground when you miss judge that one! ...and it hurts

    You can do your best to set up the right way with your tarp against the weather, but plan on the weather changing and hitting you through the ends. It's a test, just go with it. Shut your tarp doors, or add your poncho to the end.

    Ponchos are handy for many things other than for your own body.

    The little things weigh you down. The many LED lights out there; the wonderful, colorful, different size caribiners; knives galore; and of course stoves and cord.

    Have a small baggy of extras in case something breaks or is lost. (cord can take care of almost any of that )

    Don't do a Sasquatch call from your hammock. Seems to unnerve your fellow hangers

    Leave the opened bottom bug net at home.....actually throw it away and use a closed bottom bug net. Some spiders jump, and it brings friends!!!!! (I'll never use that bug net again!) Would work as a loner though

    When a snake drops down on your tarp it'll just slide off. Don't freak out while watching it slowly slide off your semi porch mode tarp with your flash light shinning on it. That one unnerves your fellow hangers too.

    I could keep going...I really could, but those things jump out at me first.
    Last edited by DivaB; 04-05-2012 at 06:49.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Shnick's Avatar
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    Mar 2012
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    South Georgia (not by choice)
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    I'm relatively new to the hammocking scene, but when I was a rambunctious 10 year old we had an old canvas hammock eye-bolted to 2 ponderosa pine trees. When your cousin talks you into swinging him "all the way around" well, you get the picture...

    The hammock "disappeared" and was never seen again...

    Shnick
    ...Levitate me
    - Pixies

  6. #6
    Senior Member
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    Dec 2010
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    Somewhere near Parkville, MO
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    It does add dramatically to the price, and you can live without them, but from what I've learned NOTHING is better then a Down UnderQuilt. Just start saving money in your Paypal account till you have enough to buy one. A little money every payday all summer and you'll have an UQ before the temps go down. The ONLY downside to a Hammock is a cold back, which I use in my constantly to warm of a house to an advantage but when you're trying to stay warm at night in the outdoors it can get miserable with a 40 degree backside.

    You can make one out of an old sleeping bag. You can get buy with a pad and/or and SPE, lord know plenty of folks have/did and do. But a compressable, down underquilt is really the completion of the trinity of the hammock world.

    Hammock, Tarp and UnderQuilt.

    On a side note, has anyone recomended you get an Underquilt yet?

  7. #7
    New Member Stevicide's Avatar
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    Dec 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by im22sniper View Post
    I wish I knew earlier...that an underquilt was the only way to go.
    x2!! Underquilts are the way to confidently stay warm.

    I've gone down to -5C with my stock HH supershelter and my -17 C sleeping bag, but if you want to hang in the spring, fall or winter...don't hesitate to get a decent underquilt!!
    Stevicide
    _____________________________
    Photo: Stevezombie

  8. #8
    Senior Member millergear's Avatar
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    Nov 2006
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    Raleigh, NC
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    Quote Originally Posted by DivaB View Post
    Make sure you have your hammock and not your bug net or UQ in hand before you go to sit on your hammock. It's a rude awakening to the ground when you miss judge that one!
    That will happen only once!
    I THOUGHT GETTING OLDER WOULD TAKE MUCH LONGER.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Cali's Avatar
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    First, and I mean the first thing, go to a local hang and check out everyone's set-up and try out different hammocks to see what you really like. This will save you so much money in the long run. That is one thing I wish I had done. If you can go to a couple hangs first and don't be shy about asking to see everyone's gear. We love to show off our gear.
    That includes hammocks, UQ, TQ, suspension, and tarps and stoves and etc......
    "No whining in the woods"

  10. #10
    Senior Member MedicineMan's Avatar
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    ....that there was no cure and no turning back after lying in a hammock.

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