What made you a "hanger"?

[SanAntoneTY]

Well it all started around halloween 2010 when I was surfing youtube and clicked a link I was hooked right away. i always kinda liked hammocks never had one beside the old rope kind and always had a passion for the outdoors. then I kept on with the videos and said hey why not me im tired of tent set ups and bulky gear and dirt gettin tracked in and out and realized that was pretty much my only hastle when i went out,did some shoppin and i have been happily swingin ever since now i cant stop always lookin for new crafts, add ons, and new trips then i found the forum I'm still a newb but i am always eager to learn new things.

[Yakfoot]

My story goes into my family's history about 100 years. That long ago my great grandfather purchased a piece of land in Texas with the foresight of making it into a long time family summer retreat. In the 1930's cabins were built using local juniper and stone because there was little money. But my grandfather was a military man and the family camped in Army tents at first and he acquired some navy hammocks such as were used on board the tall ships. They were made of cotton sail cloth. It is incredibly tough and durable. They were well cared for and we used them as kids. We always had three hanging from the juniper trees. That was my introduction. But afterwards it only used one infrequently. Then I was on a kayak fishing forum where a person was a hanger. Someone on the forum thought it was hilarious that there even was such a thing as a hammock forum, so I decided to check it out. Now I have a Hennessy which I hung from a juniper tree in the woods behind my house. I haven't taken it down in about a year and sleep there at least once a week. Coffee from the hammock boiled on my Svea 123 in the morning, listening to frustrated mosquitoes at night, rain on the tarp and thunder storms, watching deer, coons and porcupines, the calls of the chuck-wills-widow and the grey foxes at night, keeping the moon out of my eyes, important things.

[static4841]

I have loved the outdoors and have many places that i love to visit. I try to spend as much time in the outdoors as I can. My favorite place to go is canoeing in the boundary waters. As my family has grow and the prices for everything has goon up I have needed to find other ways closer to home to get my outdoor fix. I started to go hiking and backpacking. I was trying to find ways to lighten up my gear and that is what turned me in to a newbie hanger. I am still new and accumulating the gear to make this type of hiking fun and piratical in all weather.

[sunny]

I was fortunate that my partner gifted me with a hammock last summer (2010). We do (or were doing) quite a bit of trail riding last summer and last fall. At the main place we were riding there is a point part of the way along one of the trails that is a bit of rest area. To me it looks like a camp site along the trail and there is another several miles up the trail. It got us both thinking about trail riding and camping together. Not that a horse lacks the strength to carry us and camping gear, but it sure will be alot easier to camp on the trail in a hammock. So much more comfortable. Our gear and food could easily fit in several saddlebags and behind the saddle. That experience will have to wait for a while as we are selling our horses while I am in nursing school. We will get back into it in a few years. In the mean time will stick to hammock camping and hiking when we can fit it in. I know I've seen several people with motorcycles and hammocks, we were just planning on doing it with our horses. Oh, and I plan on filling my time by converting as many folks as I can to life in the trees. It sure is sweet!

Sunny

[ross]

Living in Southern Ontario, and camping all my life my favourite aspects of camping are solitude, observing animal life and self reliance. My least favourite aspects of camping have been bugs, crowded and expensive campsites, and traffic noise. I love bushwacking off to a totally isolated spot away from any sign of human impact, observing such things as a blue huron fishing from a beaver pond, and it being so quiet I could here the movement of birds wings flying through the air. I'm getting older, and despite keeping in good shape, comfort matters more and more. Just bought a Hennesy Deep Jungle hammock to try out and already love the comfort. Know I need to learn a lot about keeping warm as my favourite time to camp is late fall, winter and early spring when the bugs are dormant. I'll need to learn where to store my gear, site selection etc. and am always open to learning from the experience of others, hence why i joined this site.

[Beanie]

I was turned during a working trip to South Haven MI, I had a well planned weekend with no work and a desire to see some of the area, I went hiking with a buddy of mine who had two Hammocks. I was just a little bit amused by them at first but wow a night of comfort watching wildlife so near by. I raved about them when i got back to the UK.
Then at the Scout Jamboree in sweden this year there were some to try out which I got my wife to do and she then saw what I was talking about.
Suddenly a Hammock appeared at a birthday celebration for me and I now Hang in the UK, my daughter who is my usual hiking companion now wants one of her own so we can hang together.

[Spyder man]

I did a section of the AT from Springer to Hot Springs a couple of years ago. I carried an MSR Hubba at the time. I was a couple of weeks into the trip, at the end of a long day (for me). It was nearing dark when I arrived at the shelter that I planned to overnight in. It was trashed. Someone had dumped (and smeared peanut butter) food garbage all over and around the shelter. There was no way I was sleeping anywhere near there... bear country and all. So, I kept on walking, in the dark. I walked for about two hours before I found a spot big/flat enough to pitch my little tent. I was exhausted. As I lay in my bag that night I realized that if I had a Hammock I would have been asleep hours ago.

When I got to Newfound Gap I went to the NOC store in Gatlinburg and bought a hammock. It was an uniformed purchase, and I have since upgraded, but I fell in love with the versatility and comfort of hanging. I won't go back.

[MrClockWork]

I guess my story is a little backwards from the usual story. I didn't grow up backpacking so my first exposure to hammocks as an outdoor heaven was in college. There was a guy on my hall that had a hammock (ENO) and he would take it out on one the hills on campus, string it up and study until he fell asleep. Being the kind of guy that will give almost anything (read: anything legal) a try just because it is different I HAD to get one.

I fell in love with my ENO in college and started backpacking with my now brother in law. I splurged one Christmas and got a HH for myself and I loved it... in the summer time I hadn't yet figured out the under insulation thing so I froze my tail off a few times in the process.

Few years later I was engaged, was bitten by the UL bug and was planning a move with my soon-to-be-wife from VA to CO. I didn't think you could hang in the Rockies so I sold my HH so that I could start working on a tarp setup (read: on a college budget trying to fund an insanely addictive hobby). I never really liked the tarp. Yea, it is really light and compact but I didn't sleep worth a crap when I went out. For me, a successful trip consists mainly of a good night sleep and good food so a little extra weight is worth it for me.

Then we moved and I realized that you can, in fact, hang in the Rockies. So I sold my tarp, whipped the ends of my old ENO, ordered some Amsteel, made some whoopie slings, bought a sewing machine and am now in the process of rounding out my full gearlist.

Back above ground where a big boy ought to be

[grantizzle]

My story might differ from most.

I bought a hammock because i like napping. I like camping. I like napping while camping.

One afternoon, while camping, after my nap, I had a few (o.k. more than a few) after dinner beers. I had heard about sleeping in a hammock from ADVrider.com. I read it was a great way to snooze after a long day on a motorcycle. Well, I hadn't had a long day on a motorcycle, but it was fairly rough fishing, napping, and eating. I like to camp in style. So, i strung up my spare 10 x 12 tarp and pulled my BA sleeping bag and pad outta my tent and threw it in the hammock. After a few more beers by the fire, i called it a night, climbed into my tent, was momentarily confused why my bag wasn't in there, then remembered it was in my hammock, got in the hammock and promptly fell asleep. I haven't looked back since.

[Kodiak_62]

I first tried a hammock after my brother got a Hennesy Hammock for Christmas. He opened the box then threw the hammock bag to me saying, " figure this out for me then show me". It wasn't too long before I had to have my own hammock. My daughter stole my first Hennessy so I bought a larger Hammock this time. Enjoy hanging over tent camping. I've sent my hammock off to 2Q and ZQ to have the MOD4 installed. Can't wait to get it back!