A couple of months ago, I tried to hammock camp for the first time. I was the only one in my small group who was above ground.

I made two huge errors:

1. I took my cheap, braided rope hammock because I wasn't sure about setting up my cheap all-in-one hammock/bug net Moskito. It's a bit intimidating to think that I can't get out of the hammock instantly if I choose to do so. The rope hammock cut into my skin and left me with red skin tattoos that lasted all day.

2. The nightly temp was in the 70s and I had nothing but a cotton sheet for thermal protection. I was chilly! I had a sleeping bag in the car, but since it was over 100 degrees during the day, I didn't think I would get cold at night. I was wrong...but by the time I was cold, it was too late to walk the 300 yards to my car to fetch my sleeping bag.

I'm ready to try again this next week. I plan to use a CCF Thermarest pad, my new ENO hammock pad sleeve with wings and a sleeping bag. And I plan to take my Moskito!

This next week's hang will surely be better!