Long time lurker, finally took the plunge and got off the ground.
A little about me and the trip. I am a Cubmaster and Asst Scoutmaster for my two boys' Pack and Troop. I have been camping most of my life and after hitting 40, found the ground wasn't as comfortable. A fellow scouter told me about his Hennessy. I was skeptical at first but took advantage of a good buy from here on a used HH Exped. It took me a couple of nights test sleeps at home to get it mostly dialed in. I was really surprised at how comfortable it was. Our troop was going to summer camp at Chief Logan Reservation here in Ohio. I didn't want to spend 6 nights on the ground so the hammock was in for a real test. I did take my tent just in case there weren't adequate trees at our site or something happened. I am the only hammock camper in the troop....for now.
The site was hilly and all the tenters were complaining about no good sites. I quickly found two good trees not even considering the ground (envy #1 of the other scoutmasters). My hammock went up quickly about the same time as the other tents because I am still new to this. We had some nasty storms roll through the area the week of camp (4th of July week). I was nervous on keeping dry and getting a good nights sleep. The first night it stormed during the evening when we were out of camp and the hammock was dry when we returned to camp, unlike some of the tents (envy #2 of some of the scoutmasters). We didn't get any other rain but the temps were in the low 100 degree range during the day and high 70s at night. I slept wonderfully each night. I was cooler (envy #3) and for the first time in years, my back didn't hurt (envy #4). Breaking camp Saturday morning was fast and easy thanks to snake skins (envy #5).
Some of the troop are still skeptical on how I could be comfortable in it. I am won over though!!! I don't think I will ever sleep on the ground again!
Couple of issues I faced:
- Storage for a week at camp. I backpacked in and all my clothes (we were specific colored troop shirts for each day) were in plastic bags. I had a tarp under the hammock and nothing got wet but I need to pack lighter.
- Privacy. No power at camp meant no showers for the first couple of days. 56 boys and 8 adult leaders not showering in that heat leads to many odors and issues. I would have and did change at the shower house later in the week but I think a hex tarp will help with the privacy.
I was nervous taking to the hammock for the first time, kind of like sleeping in a new tent and it rains. You never know how good it will perform until you have it out in the elements. I was very pleased and will be taking the hammock on our August canoe trip.
We do camporees and sleep in some wide open fields so I will need a treeless system set up. I have looking at options on this forum. Any successful builds suggestions are welcome.
Thank you all for all the great posts and experience I was able to read while making the conversion.
Dave
PS: Sorry, no pics due to camera breaking during the week.
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