What made you a "hanger"?

[laghang]

I wanted to get out and explore without the expense of a hotel. My husband and I had never been camping before. Neither of us slept well on the ground but he hardly slept at all. I explored hammock camping, watched Shug's videos, and got excited to try camping again with a hammock. My husband warmed up to the idea after taking a relaxing break in an ENO doublenest.

I can't wait to get our Blackbirds so we can finally hammock camp!

[ChipC]

I've been hammock camping since around 2006. I picked up a hammock because I was never comfortable on the ground, and did not want to carry the weight of cot or blow up mattress. (hate those things anyways). Learned the very first night in a hammock (the hard way) that I needed a tarp, so I bought an ENO profly and used it for years. I didnt even know about insulation, I just always had a little fleece sleeping bag that I'd curl up in. When I started to want a new hammock I found this site and started looking at the higher end, non box store manufacturers and ended up ordering a Dream Hammock DangerBird, an AHE underquilt, and a WB superfly. So now i'm all decked out with good quality gear, and i get out as often as I can manage.

[jmanprods]

Dirt.
Without stakes and a ground cloth, nothing has to touch the ground, which means less dirt grinding into the high tech (or low tech) fibers and eventually ruining a good thing.

Comfort.
So long as the back is kept warm and the top protected from the elements, it's hard to beat being cradled and swaddled.

Efficiency.
Some setups can get pretty elaborate, but generally, the process of hanging camp is quicker to put up and tear down compared to being on the ground.

Opportunity.
Ever try to sleep in a tent on rocks? Over water? On roots and rough terrain? Probably not- because we're all hangers here, and we hang where we want
No trees, no posts, no cars- no problem. Like the fish that has learned to fly, some hangers are experimenting with ways to overcome those barren environments previously thought inhospitable to our kind. Proof that life (and crazy diligents) will find a way...

A different kind of creativity.
Somebody made the statement, "everyone believes they have 'the best' setup, and I agree with them."
Hammockers of any vintage are as unique as ocean pearls in their equipment, setup, and preferences. Acknowledging that fact is a tribe of entrepreneurs producing a 100 different products to achieve each of the simplest needs and desires. That kind of innovation I can get behind and support.

[sanglin]

My swarray into hanging came in the form of a backpacking goldrush last Fall.
I had been talking with a friend of mine about going on a backpacking trip for many years before we finally put some rubber to the road and set a date for April 2016. We'd gone camping plenty of times but I always benefited from my buddies extra supplies. I had nothing.
So with 6 months before our trip I started frantically researching everything I would need to survive a 5 day, 60 mile hike on the AT in Virginia. Surprisingly, and thankfully, I found an infatuation with hammocks pretty early on. I loved the customization and the personal relationship folks seemed to form with their hammocks, not to mention the weight savings potential, the campsite flexibility, the ease of setup, and most of all comfort. It started to seem to me that a tent was a tent and would always have its place but a hammock was a world of possibilities while always providing 110% more comfort. I wound up finding a steal on ebay for a HH Explorer Deluxe with Large Hexfly tarp and snake skins for 200 bucks.
I have since, not just survived, but thrived on the trip that took us over the Priest and through the Three Ridges along the AT. I'm currently in the process of constructing my own down top-quilt and looking into a 2nd hammock purchase.
I can't wait to tinker a little bit more and get back out there.

Also, thanks to everyone who's been so helpful in answering a few random questions I've thrown up. This community is pretty amazing.

[dmurtin]

My wife. She say she wanted to go hammocking. I said, " Is that even a thing." Many happy hangs later.

[Hunter16]

what first made me a Hammock guy,,,a long time ago on a jamboree in the snow,,,i had a really good -0- f Bag,,,but through the night i was so
cold,,,,when i woke in the morning,,i could not feel my legs for ten minutes,,,then i learned when you sleep in a down bag on the ground even
with a good pad,,,,you are compressing the loft and not getting the benefit of down warmth,,,then a scout master told me,,,i half to get off
the ground when asleep,,,,and the rest was history,,,down on top of me and underneath without laying directly on it and smashing the down,,,,
makes sense,,, so summer camping,,,winter camping,,,i am a hammock guy !! Happy Trails !!

[Jetjay]

Was tired of waking up with a sore back. Till I found this for forum use a 0° sleeping bag camping mat eno double nest hammock and A Walmart heavy-duty tarp. The Frist day I woke up and felt great. I have not slept in a tent sense. I now have an eleven foot diy and 12x10 SIL nylon diy tarp now and diy sleeping bag uq . Next thing is RSBTR top quilt.


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[marksman1122]

I've wanted to try hammock camping for years mostly for the comfort of not having to sleep on the ground, but just hadn't bitten the preverbal bullet. Was at Costco a couple weeks back and saw they had some double hammocks for a decent price so I got a couple and have loved reading and napping in my hammock in the back yard almost nightly for the few weeks since. Now I just have to make time to go camp with it. I'm still learning the ropes and need to get/make a tarp. I'm an a mature avid DIYer so stumbled onto this wonderful forum while I was brainstorming and looking for ideas.

[tacdrivrnc]

My first hammock was a $20 Traveler from Sportsman's Guide, and it appears to be an early version of Grand Trunk. Never used it since it was fairly small and I didn't know about structural ridgelines. It eventually got lost in a gear box but has since been found and will get passed down to my Cubscout son, with a proper suspension. My next hammock is an ENO Doublenest with Kammok tree straps. I made up a structural ridgeline from doubled 600 Technora that actually goes between the two trees and attaches to the Kammok straps as close as possible to the trees. I then hang the hammock from Metolius mini biners and use the ends of the Kammok straps to set the hang angle. The hammock weight is suspended from the ridgeline, not the end of the straps. I use a ENO Profly with that setup. My most recent hammock is a Warbonnett Blackbird. I use the same Kammok and Technora suspended ridgeline setup with a WB Superfly and separate ridgeline. It just works. Currently researching underquilts and a Superfly pole mod.
I've been an avid backpacker and camper for 25 years but have embraced hammocks as an option to sleeping on the ground. This forum has been informative and has steered me to my current WBBB and WBSF setup. However, I suspect like many here, ENO was the cause of growing interest in hammock camping.

[Skylara]

I hate tents. I always have and always will. They're annoying to set up, they get dirty, they get spiders ALL OVER THEM, and they get so hot almost as soon as the sun is up. As I've gotten older and these things annoyed me more and more, I camped less and less.

Then, a few weeks ago, I saw an ad for a hammock and an offer to get it cheap in exchange for an honest review on Amazon. I figured I'd give it a go, since I wouldn't be out much money if I hated it.

I didn't hate it.

I hung that thing up in my basement during cooler, wetter weather to swing and read and it sat there until my first camping trip last weekend. One night in it and I was hooked. I was comfy, like being in a little cocoon. Side Note: I didn't know about diagonal sleeping then, but I don't know if I'd switch. I kind of love that enveloping feeling. I'm going to give diagonal sleeping a try next time, though, so I have a method of comparison.

Anyhow, you could hardly get me out of my hammock that next day. I think the best part was waking up and watching the wind move through the tree branches.

Also, the logistics of hammocks are appealing. So much less time to set up and take down compared to tents. The hammock stays clean. No spiders (I did have a lot of ants at first - big ones climbing down the straps from the trees, but I sprayed the straps with bug spray and no more ants).

I'm definitely new to this (I have a hammock and straps - no tarp, no bug net, nothing. Even used a regular blanket and pillow), but I'm excited to learn more and add to my setup over time!