First off, My name is Josh and I'm a gear-junkie...
*waves at group*
I can't even remember how I came across it, but I was just searching around for camping gear (not hammocks in particular) and came across some photos of some people hammock camping. I was very intrigued by the idea... I like the idea that your 'hang' is virtually always the same no matter where you are. It always seems like every time you pitch a tent its always different due to roots, hills, depressions, leaves, sticks, sand, etc... but with a hammock none of that stuff really matters as you're off the ground. Also I'm just a 'like my own space' kinda person, so the ability to pitch my own personal 'nest' away from the group [if I feel the need] away from snorers, tent-space hogger's, etc is pretty appealing to me. Also the pretty huge weight savings when compared to tents is pretty impressive as I'm hoping to continually go more lightweight with my gear.
Admittedly I was/am pretty nervous about the idea of sleeping in a hammock. I'm a pretty finicky sleeper, always sleeping on my stomach or side. I can probably count the times I've slept on my back on one hand... I just don't find sleeping on my back comfortable at all. I can't sleep in cars or on airplanes, I can [usually] only sleep on a flat surface, on my side or stomach... So that was issue #1, issue #2 is that I'm 6'4" and 200lbs and most gear in generally isn't made to accommodate people of my Paul Bunyan stature... (unless explicitly made in Large or Long sizes) I've done *a lot* of reading and *a lot* of research over the past couple weeks and have found people of my size that have reported sleeping comfortably in all the different hammocks I've looked at (HH, WB, JRB, Speer) so I do have hope. But I read a comment on here saying that "hammocks are like shoes, what works for one person might not for another..." so I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was still a bit nervous...
I looked a lot of hammocks (HH, WB, JRB, Speer) but in the end, I placed my order for a Jacks 'R' Better Bear Mountain Bridge hammock yesterday! I really like the idea of a bridge hammock, I think it will give me the best shot at a true lay-flat hammock. I'm sure others might be able to do the same, but this seems to be my safest bet to start with. I hope to try a couple of other hammocks and see how they feel but I've already have a couple great ideas to improve the JRB BMB hammock to give me the features that it lacks (just creature comfort, ease of use stuff) that I desire from the other big name hammocks. (I'm a big DIY guy). I'm just hoping [praying] that I'll fit comfortably (height/length wise). Again, I've got lots of hope...
Anyways, I should have my JRB BMB hammock early next week (great customer service by the way, answered a lot of questions I had via e-mail, thanks again guys!), I'll make sure to inspect it and do a couple of trials setting it up and laying in it so I can get comfortable with the setup/tear down of it. Then I leave next week, the 18th of June to the BWCA for a short 4 day trip where I hope to hang for the first time and make my camp-mates very jealous. I'll make sure to take lots of pics and post a trip report
p.s. I should note that I also picked up an ID 8'x10' Silnylon tarp to go with my JRB BMB hammock, I'll more than likely be upgrading that in the future if this hammock thing works out for me, but in the mean time I think it'll do plus it will double at a tarp tent if I need to setup a bivy on the ground if it doesn't
Thank you hammockforums.net for your wealth of knowledge which I feel I've only started to scratch the surface of...
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