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Thread: History of HF?

  1. #11
    Member FreeRange's Avatar
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    The HF has been a big help to me in coming off the ground. I found HF about 6 months ago and have enjoyed the wealth of information and the respect for all members regardless of their experience.

    Thanks for bring this great resource to the masses.

  2. #12
    Senior Member 2ply's Avatar
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    There wasn't many of us back in the day but look at HF now. Over 17,000 member world wide. Ya gotta like that. It's great to see trip reports from all over the world. I really think we are a unique community in that respect.
    Everyone ought to believe in something....I believe I'll go set up the hammock!

  3. #13
    Senior Member Cali's Avatar
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    Thanks Titanium Hiker, that spreadsheet was pretty interesting.
    "No whining in the woods"

  4. #14
    Senior Member Just Jeff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HamMike View Post
    So when did the forums go online. Was there any one person that actually set it up? Who is the brainchild behind it? Was it a spinoff of WB? Inquiring minds want to know. Anyone have answers?
    You got the basic answers already. Ed "Not to Worry" Speer had the Yahoo group for years. It was a great community, and lots of fun...Ed organized the original hammock hangs, usually in Hot Springs, NC, and Dave "Youngblood" Womble was one of the key drivers for hammock technology (SPE, PeaPod, SnugFut, etc). The only drawback was the text-only-email format that made some kinds of communication a little more difficult, we couldn't embed pics/videos in the messages, etc.

    At the same time, Whiteblaze had the Hammock Camping subforum. (That's where JRB introduced their first underquilt.) There was a lot of traffic on it, and a lot of ground dwellers getting irritated at all the hammock posts. So attroll and I setup HF in Oct 2006...not with the intent to reduce the traffic on either of those sites, but to give hammockers a place to talk without making WB's ground dwellers mad, and without having to put up with their comments about how hammocks don't work, in a more user-friendly format than email, etc.

    So we went live in Oct 2006 and grew from there. Our original membership came mostly from whiteblaze, but we continued growing. In the beginning, the DIY influence on HF was huge and we were definitely drivers of hammock camping technology. That attracted more members from all over the internet, and we started adding moderators: Slowhike, angrysparrow, headchange4u, NCPatrick, Cannibal, and now JohnSawyer. It's great that folks are willing to do so much work for free...purely volunteer.

    We've had some growing pains along the way, but a great community has sprung up on HF. We're willing to meet perfect strangers in the woods for hangs b/c we feel like we know them. We're willing to send folks PIF gear b/c we value what it means for our community. We're willing to send free gear to members who lost theirs by fire, theft, etc. All based on how this little corner of the internet has become a family.

    Frankly, although we try hard to keep commercial influences out of our community, HF's role in driving technology is limited compared to what it used to be...largely because some of the key minds in developing new ideas got frustrated with new "vendors" appropriating their ideas in the name of the free market, so they stopped posting. Thankfully, though, the community as a whole still posts about how integrity in business practices is still important.

    We still get some bumps now and then with moderating the site, mainly when there's tension between the community's norms here and how other sites are run "more freely" and "less draconian." It's usually a new member trying to figure out if they're willing to follow our rules or if they'd like to go somewhere else. Sometimes it's more established members, though...sometimes even in person (more or less). Such is life, and such are the changes in the community...can't please everybody. We don't force anyone to read HF.

    Overall, HF is still one of the most respectful, content-rich and noise-free forums on the internet. And largely still focused on our original topic of hammocks. We consider that a success.
    “Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” ~Judge Joseph Story

    - My site: http://www.tothewoods.net/
    - Designer, Jeff's Gear Hammock / Pack Cover by JRB

    IMPOSSIBLE JUST TAKES LONGER

  5. #15
    Senior Member UncleMJM's Avatar
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    Bumps or not, it's been a great ride. Glad to have the resource, the ideas and information, and the courteous community.

    So Happy Anniversary HF and many more.
    Texas Fall Group Hang 2019

    Looking back to last year to reminisce and forward to post Covid-19 hangs in 2021


    Texas Hammock Hangers Facebook Group

  6. #16
    Senior Member DuctTape's Avatar
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    Now that the "history mystery" has been brought to light, anyone care to remember their "favorite moments in history" on HF?

    I think mine was the patent contest. When members made versions of the hammock stuff as was found on google patents. Some awesome results; the photos/videos were great!

    Contest thread: http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...patent+contest
    entries: http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...patent+contest


    So what were your favorite HF moments in history?
    Last edited by DuctTape; 10-30-2012 at 09:02. Reason: found link to old thread

  7. #17
    Senior Member dragon360's Avatar
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    Love reading about the history. I bounced around before I found this but once I did, I haven't looked back!

    This part saddens me some since it was a major part of forum for me at the time:

    Quote Originally Posted by Just Jeff View Post

    Frankly, although we try hard to keep commercial influences out of our community, HF's role in driving technology is limited compared to what it used to be...largely because some of the key minds in developing new ideas got frustrated with new "vendors" appropriating their ideas in the name of the free market, so they stopped posting. Thankfully, though, the community as a whole still posts about how integrity in business practices is still important.
    But I do love the community here!
    The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering. - St. Augustine

    Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.
    - Bob Marley

  8. #18
    Senior Member HamMike's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Just Jeff View Post
    You got the basic answers already. Ed "Not to Worry" Speer had the Yahoo group for years. It was a great community, and lots of fun...Ed organized the original hammock hangs, usually in Hot Springs, NC, and Dave "Youngblood" Womble was one of the key drivers for hammock technology (SPE, PeaPod, SnugFut, etc). The only drawback was the text-only-email format that made some kinds of communication a little more difficult, we couldn't embed pics/videos in the messages, etc.

    At the same time, Whiteblaze had the Hammock Camping subforum. (That's where JRB introduced their first underquilt.) There was a lot of traffic on it, and a lot of ground dwellers getting irritated at all the hammock posts. So attroll and I setup HF in Oct 2006...not with the intent to reduce the traffic on either of those sites, but to give hammockers a place to talk without making WB's ground dwellers mad, and without having to put up with their comments about how hammocks don't work, in a more user-friendly format than email, etc.

    So we went live in Oct 2006 and grew from there. Our original membership came mostly from whiteblaze, but we continued growing. In the beginning, the DIY influence on HF was huge and we were definitely drivers of hammock camping technology. That attracted more members from all over the internet, and we started adding moderators: Slowhike, angrysparrow, headchange4u, NCPatrick, Cannibal, and now JohnSawyer. It's great that folks are willing to do so much work for free...purely volunteer.

    We've had some growing pains along the way, but a great community has sprung up on HF. We're willing to meet perfect strangers in the woods for hangs b/c we feel like we know them. We're willing to send folks PIF gear b/c we value what it means for our community. We're willing to send free gear to members who lost theirs by fire, theft, etc. All based on how this little corner of the internet has become a family.

    Frankly, although we try hard to keep commercial influences out of our community, HF's role in driving technology is limited compared to what it used to be...largely because some of the key minds in developing new ideas got frustrated with new "vendors" appropriating their ideas in the name of the free market, so they stopped posting. Thankfully, though, the community as a whole still posts about how integrity in business practices is still important.

    We still get some bumps now and then with moderating the site, mainly when there's tension between the community's norms here and how other sites are run "more freely" and "less draconian." It's usually a new member trying to figure out if they're willing to follow our rules or if they'd like to go somewhere else. Sometimes it's more established members, though...sometimes even in person (more or less). Such is life, and such are the changes in the community...can't please everybody. We don't force anyone to read HF.

    Overall, HF is still one of the most respectful, content-rich and noise-free forums on the internet. And largely still focused on our original topic of hammocks. We consider that a success.
    Wow thanks Jeff!! That's exactly the kind of insight I was looking for! A big thank you to all the pioneers of our passion!
    "He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man." Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

    Please check out the link below to show your love for hammocks!www.zazzle.com/hammocklife

  9. #19
    gunner76's Avatar
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    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...jQk0ydEE#gid=0

    Please feel free to update.

    I started the spreadsheet earlier this year as I was looking into when different hammock products where introduced. A few vendors/forum members have added information and a couple of vendors provided me with some product intro dates wich I then added.

    There is still a lot of hammock history that could be added (first known group hang, coldest hang, gear introductions ext)

    Interesteing to see when different products were introduced
    I am still 18 but with 52 years of experience !

  10. #20
    Senior Member Just Jeff's Avatar
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    Got a "document does not exist" with that link, gunner.

    The first group hang was probably in 1300 or so. For our purposes, it would probably be in the late 90s or early 2000s at Hot Springs, with "our purposes" defined as when the internet hammock community planned online (Yahoo group) and met up somewhere.
    “Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” ~Judge Joseph Story

    - My site: http://www.tothewoods.net/
    - Designer, Jeff's Gear Hammock / Pack Cover by JRB

    IMPOSSIBLE JUST TAKES LONGER

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