new member from brisbane, australia

[Teej]

another australian member here.. looks like there are a couple of us around!

almost impossible to buy any hammock gear down under, well not impossible - but overinflated prices make it not very desirable to do so!

looking to get a basic hammock set up - but with so many products out there, it's hard to decide what i want..

basic budget is around $200 or so for hammock, tarp, etc. etc.

i'm around 187cm (6' 2") tall and about 115kg (~250 lbs) at the moment, but dieting / working out with a goal to lose another 20kg, and maintain a weight of 95~kg (209 lbs).

[dragon360]

Hello and Welcome to the Forums from Canada!

[MAD777]

Welcome Teeg from Florida, USA.

You may want to consider making your own hammock. They are actually easier to make than stuff sacks. You can also make your own separate bugnet easily. As long as you can buy lightweight nylon, 35-65 g/m2 range, and some bugnet material, you can do it. There are lots of instructions here in the forums.

[gunner76]

welcome to the madness

[titanium_hiker]

if you're not a religious ultralighter, you can get ripstop from spotlight, and webbing from ratchet straps, amsteel- was there an aussie that found this somewhere?

Sil has been hardest to find, you could try terrarosa gear for tarps. (They're in Sydney)

I've imported a few pieces of hammock gear, with the aussie dollar at parity (or close to) it's a better deal. Shipping isn't too unreasonable either.

TH

[titanium_hiker]

Let's have a stab at the budget.

3 metres of spotlight ripstop- 8 bucks a metre (less if you catch a sale) 24$.
Polyester webbing, 500Kg breaking strength (a little more than 1000lbs which is what seems to be recommended) = I can find 5m for 8.50. let's say two of these for a webbing only rig (or you could cut it in half for two huggers) = 17$ (and I'm sure you could find it cheaper.
Bug net: I still haven't found a great solution for this. let's pad the budget by 25$.


tarp: personally I would go for something pro. I didn't trust my DIY tarp efforts. Terra Rosa gear is only selling what they have in stock at the moment, but I'd pick maybe the adventuring or exploring tarp and you could save some $ by going tyvek
90-150$. Let's pick the adventuring tarp in tyvek for a solid number: 125$

Warmth: a closed cell foam pad from Target, Kmart etc or the reject shop, cut and glued to make a T so your shoulders aren't cold roughly 10$

Sleeping bag you already have: free.

Tarp cord, thread, other misc stuff - let's say 20$ (to include a lot of padding)

Total cost: 221. Cut the budget padding a bit and go with a smaller tarp and you have decent set up for close to 200$, some assembly required. (a simple hem, some knots to tie.)
Disadvantage: has a pad as under insulation, which might not be a comfy as an UQ.

You could look at the garlington insulator as a cheaper UQ.

[DivaB]

Welcome, from the USA

[Mongo18]

welcome from georgia

[crackrbilly]

welcome from east Tenn.

[Rikall]

Welcome to the forum Teej. Titanium_hiker has provided some good information to get you started. This forum is a wealth of knowledge and the members are first class and always willing to lend a hand.