What made you a "hanger"?

**Wogs** · 06-16-2011, 00:53

I've always been drawn to the outdoors. I've camped since I was little and love it. In highschool I fractured my L5 vert playing football, and have had trouble sleeping on the ground ever since....It didnt stop me from going though. I started working at an outdoor store and we got eno's in and I thought it was cool, took it home and set it up. About 5 minutes after laying in it I was out...slept there all night haha. From then on its been hammock campin' for ole wogs

**Simon** · 06-16-2011, 02:51

Originally Posted by musuron

...
I have a question for everyone. Do you usually camp solo? My boyfriend wants to go with me on my next backpacking trip. I'm dreading going back to the ground. Do you set up two hammocks when the significant other comes along? Or do you bear the ground for a few nights? Sleeping in separate hammocks doesn't seem the most romantic.

I'm no expert but I've seen setups where two hammocks are strung from three trees - the two foot ends of the hammocks are strung from one tree and the other ends hung from two separate trees about 5 feet apart. Cover both hammocks with one big tarp and that's probably as good as you are going to get without getting one big hammock to share. HTH.

**TheWild** · 06-16-2011, 04:39

Originally Posted by Simon

I'm no expert but I've seen setups where two hammocks are strung from three trees - the two foot ends of the hammocks are strung from one tree and the other ends hung from two separate trees about 5 feet apart. Cover both hammocks with one big tarp and that's probably as good as you are going to get without getting one big hammock to share. HTH.

+1 one on that setup. I use it whenever my son comes with on my trips and it works surprisingly well, although I'd recommend not using a diamond shaped tarp

**kamakache** · 06-16-2011, 19:12

I took a 25 year break from backpacking until a couple years ago (with a tent). I thought "what's up with all these hammocks?" I got a Hennesy a year ago and have put it to good use. Now I see custom made hammoks and how it is a burgeoning technology. I can see making my own someday, but now am thinking about converting an old down bag into bottom insulation. I also have an Eno and would like to see what I can do to accessorize without spending a fortune. I want to be convinced a hammock is better than a tent for below freezing camping.

**Hang'inScout** · 06-17-2011, 13:16

Originally Posted by Darby

What he said

what he said also

**te-wa** · 06-17-2011, 15:00

Originally Posted by Simon

I've seen setups where two hammocks are strung from three trees - the two foot ends of the hammocks are strung from one tree and the other ends hung from two separate trees about 5 feet apart..

here's a glimpse: you can see the head end about 3-4' apart, photo taken from foot end and covered with Zpacks cuben tarp. In cases of worse weather, porch mode can be dropped to bring tarp to ground but this requires 4 trees, usually (hammock head trees seperate, with a tree in between them for tarp ridgeline, all 3 items tied to single foot tree)

**LazyMan** · 06-21-2011, 12:16

I first got into hammocking on a whitewater canoe trip in northern Canada a few years ago. On a few nasty rainstorms I was still completely dry while my buddies were sleeping in puddles. After having critters eat through the bottom of my bugnet and constantly being cold sleeping on a 20 inch wide thermarest, I thought hammock were just alright. I always brought it with my on backpacking/canoeing trips, but not instead of a tent. It was only after finding this forum that I found how to really be comfy in a hammock. A few whoopie slings later, and on my way to a UQ. I'm completely hooked.

**Broomstickize** · 06-22-2011, 18:21

Originally Posted by TheWild

+1 one on that setup. I use it whenever my son comes with on my trips and it works surprisingly well, although I'd recommend not using a diamond shaped tarp

...and isn't there a Clark hammock called the Vertex. If you are cash rich or you make a convert of your partner this'd work.

**DemostiX** · 06-23-2011, 21:14

I'll do this all with irony. The reader will insert the smileys in the right places.

I doubt I'm alone in having misled myself by not thinking this through. I wanted sleeping comfort for bicycle touring and I wanted a small kit.

Never having found comfort for any touring on the ground --rocks, roots, crawlers, damp -- and finding $100+ solutions in compact mattresses / ahem "pads" + groundcloth offensively expensive, the promise of a 2-3 lb 2 qt /liter compact kit as described by Hennessy and others put me on the slippery slope. Hammock + fly + bugnet. A fly overhead spares me wonderfully engineered, architecturally inventive, high $ marvels that are modern tents which however cool to own, I I still wouldn't get comfortable and comforting rest in, after pedalling 100+ miles. Or even 50 miles.

In truth, the only gotcha in this, the slippery slope, is about underquilts, and the challenge of CBS that may vary with temps. I just didn't know about CBS.

But no way would I pack pad and tent or all-weather bivy instead. I'm into looking at every possible pair of trees differently than before.

**Matt65** · 06-26-2011, 11:48

A friend of mine had an ENO on a trip a couple of years back. I layed in it for about an hour. As bed time came I crawled into my tent to sleep on the ground for the last time.

From that point I spent some time on Youtube and watched just about every video SHUG had. I didn't even know this forum existed prior to watching his videos. So I eventually ended up here by way of Sector Seven.