What do non-hammockers think?

[dammfast]

My family is about 50/50. I go on an annual BWCA trip with my brother, father and anyone else we can scrape up. My father is intrigued, last year I was forced out of our tent by a tree root and hung in my hammock instead. Dad thought it was cool. My brother and I have gone round and round about this and he thinks I am nuts. I have not been able to show him my new HH exped and tarp and all that, but he swears we just bring hammocks to read in and nap during the day. Hopefully I will convince him this summer when the deluge washes under his one man tent and gets his stuff wet while I am high and dry swinging in the breeze. My wife thinks that I am crazy for crawling out of a nice warm bed when I cant sleep to go lay in my hammock. I tell her its her snorring.

Dammfast

[wisenber]

doesn't matter if you are in a tent or a hammock. Most folks think your friggin crazy to go out in the woods and sleep much less to use the bathroom

+1
THAT has been pretty much my experience.
Once the backpackers have been separated from the rest, there are not really that many left.
An illustration of just how few would be that the Smokies has over 9 million visitors each year and only about 70,000 backcountry nights. That is less than 8 out of 1000 visitors who choose to backpack. If you are having the debate of hammocks versus ground within that group, that's a pretty small group.

[NickoftheWoods]

I posted on facebook once that I would be tied up for the night with whoopie slings and soft shackles...Next morning I had 26 comments.

[Cannibal]

They think it's perfectly normal.
Of course, I usually tell them about the hammocks right after I tell them about the mini-donkeys, so their minds are usually already busy trying to wrap themselves around the pet jackass thing. 'Hammock? Oh yeah, cool.'

[hammocksonlyplease]

For me, most of my family (minus my brother who is my hiking buddy) doesn't understand how or even why I would want to hike 10+ miles a day and sleep in places where a bear might eat me!!! When I was a kid though nobody in my family did anything outdoors unless it was sports related. After telling my friends, most find it comical till I pull out my setup, and then they all get in line to try it out. My brother and I even convinced one of our buddies to venture out with us to try backpacking by being so excited about what we got to see that most will not, just by walking a bit farther than most city slickers will even think is possible. Full disclosure, he only did it once and as soon as he got a blister he was done lol!!!!

[Shug]

Compared to other hobbies of mine....hammocks are sedate.
They are always curious....."do enjoy sleep that much"? ..... "but your all alone".........
Hey....they golf and fish.
Shug

[JohnSawyer]

Yep, the dad's in the scout troop didn't get it... until the morning when I was GREAT, and they were groaning....

[Banjo_Bro]

For the most part....that's why most of us are here. We got tired or felt guilty of all the weird looks, or lack of understanding/interest, so we came to HF.

Here, what we can't seem to make others understand, or bores our family and friends to tears, at HF there are people busting to let you know about the same things that happened to them and everything else you can't talk to people in real life about.

Welcome and Enjoy!

Ha, that's the truth, for people like me anyway. +1

Compared to other hobbies of mine....hammocks are sedate.
They are always curious....."do enjoy sleep that much"? ..... "but your all alone".........
Hey....they golf and fish.
Shug

Golf, I'll pass. But I still enjoy a good fishing trip.

[lorddan01]

I got this from a friend the other day when I told him I was going for an 8 day trek. He said "are you sleeping in B&B's?" I was like "No I'm camping, in my hammock" His reply was "oh right...but you're taking a tent as well to sleep in?"

He was very unconvinced when I told him my hammock was warm enough lol

[Phillipsart]

I get some very weird looks and stares, when I mention I'm camping in a hammock.
They think I'm crazy. I think there crazy for sleeping on the ground.