I got old. That's what got me off the ground.....
I got old. That's what got me off the ground.....
Buy the Clark Vertex, it is GREAT.
I was rambling through a French hiking forum and incidentally discovered the whole secret community through a post mentioning the hammock forums. Then Shug's videos, then bought a XLC and a Yeti, then a dozen of hammocks and 19 quilts in one year. Pretty scary.
Got back into camping after a long time and slept in a tent for a weekend, promptly went and purchased a hammock the next week! My back has thanked me since.
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I always hated tents. Ended up wet no matter what I did to prevent it. After a couple years of tents, I noticed my friends had bought some hammocks and were using them. I bought one too, and never used it for camping. After a year or so, I realized that I could use them instead of tents, after getting quilts, bug net, tarp etc. I thought, wow you don't get as wet, its super comfortable, and you dont have to worry about sliding around into your buddies in the tent. I have just recently started using a hammock full time after using a cheap jungle hammock for a year.
Stumbled across Shug’s videos and this forum about the same time as I was looking up information on the Foothills Trail here in SC. Decided that I needed to check out the hammock scene and ordered a Grand Trunk Ultra-Light as my first hammock and enjoyed the greatest night of outdoor sleep in my life. Have not looked back.
I didn't realize Hammock Camping was something people did until a couple years ago. I had done car camping for years with my kids and bought a $15 Kalisto hammock at Wal-Mart about 10 years ago to take on camping trips. I had fallen asleep in it so many times and woke up in the middle of the night because I was cold then moved back into the tent.
For years, I had dreamed of going backpacking. I decided for my 50th birthday that I was going to cross it off my bucket list. I went solo to Black Elk Wilderness in western SD. (I figured that would be a safe place for an old woman newbie on her own.) I wanted to take a hammock for relaxation but wanted to keep my pack weight low so left mine home. Every night I would think "I wish I had brought a hammock!" I decided I never wanted to go camping without a hammock!!
When I got home, I started researching hammock camping. Now I am hoping to go to my first Frozen Butt Hang in January.
I have a great UL set up for ground camping when I'm trying to bag 14er summits as fast and light as possible. Was going to use this set up mainly even for winter camping. But then I remember last year on my first winter backpacking trip where I hiked up Pikes Peak and camped at around 11,000 feet, didn't really make it to tree line. I just remember how long it took me to break camp and set it up and I just had a bivy with my sleep system inside. Finding flat ground under all that snow took forever, though.
I decided this year I wanted to winter camp again, but I didn't want to deal with clearing a bunch of snow just to find some big roots or the ground wasn't really flat there anymore. And now I might switch over to hammocking for good except when I'm specifically mountaineering. My UQ came last week, and I have a nice tarp, a nice hammock, a nice TQ. I'm ready for when winter finally hits for good around here. Tested my HG Phoneix 10 degree quilt into the low 20s and I was toasty and warm under my tarp, had to sleep with my top quilt opened up a bit to vent of heat.
I got sick and tired of uncomfortable uneven ground, inflatable mattresses going down, really heavy camping fear when the weight is better served on food and booze.
Almost 2 years hanging now and ill never go back.
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