View Full Version : Delurking and saying Hi!
Kattelyn
01-24-2010, 11:01
My hubby and I have been reading the forum over a year now, and got our hammocks with the tax return last year. We've taken them on a few excursions to state parks and canoeing the Brazos River. I couldn't be more in love! :boggle:
I'm an avid camper, canoer (or is that canoeist), hiking, fishing, etc. Just about anything outdoors. And I've hated tents. You track in anything and everything... mud, leaves, sand, you name it. If anyone has gone camping in BAD skeeter country (deep south east Texas comes to mind, or Goose Island) you know there's no way to keep the darn skeeters out when you're coming in and out of the tent.
There's the problem of setting it up on a level place, there's roots and rocks, and you're down on the level of every snake, raccoon, skunk, and god knows what other wildlife. Not to mention how HEAVY it all is. And everybody wakes up aching from sleeping on the ground.
Well, sometime last winter we heard about the Hennessey Hammock and after a great deal of research (thank you Sgt Rock!!!), decided to get two. One for my hubby, and one for me.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I love these hammocks, or how much they are worth every single penny. :boggle:
Last year, we took them on various camping trips, including a trip down the Brazos River. In Sept. they were a little cool in overnight temperatures, because we only had very thin sleeping bags and weren't expecting to get cold. That problem was resolved with the super shelter. 40 degrees with a stiff wind and rain, and I slept like a baby in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Just sat up the hammock with the super shelter and one of those mylar space blankets between the underpad and the bottom of the hammock, and then used the 20 degree sleeping bag as a quilt over me.
Camping with no mud getting in the tent. NO bugs. No creepy crawlies. No sand! Not waking up aching and sore! Thank you guys so much. We couldn't love our hammocks any more.
Welcome Kattelyn! I completely agree. I grew up camping and always hated bedtime because I hated the tent and sleeping on the ground.
I am waiting to get my next paycheck so I can buy my first hammock.
Awesome, Kattelyn -- welcome aboard! :D
Kattelyn
01-24-2010, 11:16
Sevens, I'll warn you right now. The hammocks are guilty for a few involuntary naps. After a long day, then setting up camp, then you get in it to just test to make sure its hung right... and fall asleep!
I'm not getting into the argument of Hennessey vs WBBB vs others, but I like the velcro opening on the bottom. Zippers fail at the worst possible times. Skeeters love soft plump juicy flesh and will find any possible opening to get to it. I love listening to the swarm outside the mesh and going "Neener neener!"
Scottybdiving
01-24-2010, 11:20
Nice 1st post. Sounds like y'all get out a lot. I bet you add more stuff to your hammock, if you hang around here. Photos are always welcomed.
Check out the Big Bend (http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10678) topic. There is at least a 1 day canoe trip planned.
HappyCamper
01-24-2010, 11:24
Oh baby! They are here to stay! Glad you said hello.
Welcome aboard!!
I've found myself taking naps at lunch while hiking. It makes the afternoon a little longer, but I feel so much better.
Peter_pan
01-24-2010, 11:37
Welcome to the forum and the hanging gang...I make a couple trips to the Dallas, Plano, Allen area a year...perhaps we will meet in some future area hang.
Pan
SoundWitness
01-24-2010, 11:44
Delurking..........I like that word. Welcome to the Forum!:)
Cannibal
01-24-2010, 12:08
Welcome to the Forum!
Kattelyn
01-24-2010, 12:19
Nice 1st post. Sounds like y'all get out a lot. I bet you add more stuff to your hammock, if you hang around here. Photos are always welcomed.
Check out the Big Bend (http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10678) topic. There is at least a 1 day canoe trip planned.
While we've been in the Big Bend area once, its a long way from Dallas.... especially when you have to be back to work sometime in the near future! We've been thinking about making it to the upcoming one out in East Texas in March. It'll be fun being around other folks who don't think you're crazy for being in a hammock vs a tent! :)
babelfish5
01-24-2010, 12:42
While we've been in the Big Bend area once, its a long way from Dallas.... especially when you have to be back to work sometime in the near future! We've been thinking about making it to the upcoming one out in East Texas in March. It'll be fun being around other folks who don't think you're crazy for being in a hammock vs a tent! :)
Welcome to the forum! It's good to have another couple of Texans onboard. :rolleyes:
It's beginning to look like we will have a good turnout for our East Texas Hang in March. It will be good meet everyone.
I know what you mean about the looks. I have even had someone come up with a very worried look and ask, "But where is your tent? Are you actually going to sleep in that?".
If sleeping in a hammock is crazy, I don't want to be sane.
Kattelyn's hubby here -- figured I might as well introduce myself too.
I grew up in San Antonio, finding whatever local wilderness I could, being in the city and all. I used to camp all the time in the woods by Ladybird Johnson Park, mostly with nothing more than a blanket and a cheap mess kit and firelighter. I'd sleep on the limestone floor in one of the caves (really just big dents in the limestone). Once in a while, I used one of the old $5 net hammocks from Kmart (Walmarts weren't yet everywhere) to lounge around during the day, when I wasn't hiking, climbing, swimming, or whatever.
Years later, I tried the sleeping pads to go camping -- wasn't impressed, and upgraded to an air mattress. These worked fine, except when you'd discover that at some point, a sticker or thorn or something put a hole in one -- naturally, you didn't find out until about 20 minutes after you went to bed, and woke up to feel the ground against your back again. Even aside from that, I wasn't a teenager anymore, and I always woke up sore.
Then, sometime later, we were camping out at Meridian, and I saw someone else with one of those bright backyard Brazilian hammocks hanging at their camp (of course, for the night, they were still in a tent). I remembered my old green net hammock that was the size of a softball, and thought that would be nice to have again.
Google "hammock," and you get all those giant, bulky backyard hammocks, so I tried typing "camp hammock," figuring I'd see some smaller ones. Third or so link down was Sgt. Rock's page -- Hammock Camping 101, and I spent the next several hours learning all about the Hennessy Hammock.
As Kattelyn said earlier, we then bought a couple with the tax money, and so far, the only tweak we've added is the supershelter.
Someone asked for pictures -- as it happens, I'm an amateur photographer....I'm planning to put together enough nice photos to print my own calendar for 2011. So far, here are a couple of favorites.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4301270978_95755fb771_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/throkda/4301270978) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3527/3907374259_a8c6826149_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/throkda/3907374259/)
SoundWitness
01-24-2010, 13:57
Throkda;
Welcome as well to the Forum. Very nice pics. Looking forward to the rest.
mbiraman
01-24-2010, 14:18
Welcome to the forum Kattelyn and Throdka. Nice first posts. You've had good experiences , bravo. Very nice pics, i like the night time fire glow shot best.
miisterwright
01-24-2010, 15:14
You guys are from my old neck of the woods. I grew up in the panhandle though. I try to make it back down that way now and again to see the folks in Abilene. Welcome to the forums.
It'll be fun being around other folks who don't think you're crazy for being in a hammock vs a tent! :)
Actually, that's something I enjoy. The best part is "the turn"; the part where they go from teasing to awestruck in a moment. They realize that you've got less weight, more comfort, better site selection, etc. ,and their face just changes. Then come the questions.
Again, welcome.
Welcome to the forum Kattelyn and Throdka. Nice first posts. You've had good experiences , bravo. Very nice pics, i like the night time fire glow shot best.
Me too, although that wasn't fire glow -- we were at Cedar Hill State Park, which is at the southern-middle edge of the DFW metroplex -- since I took a 15-second exposure -- that's actually light pollution from the city reflecting off the clouds.
Looks cool, though :)
Welcome you two. Glad to hear you're doing so well hammocking. I wish I had had a hammock in the mid-80s when I was going to Hobie Cat regattas all around East Texas and usually camping. Some folks would sleep on the trampoline of the Hobie to get a better nights sleep than a tent. At any rate, I certainly know what you mean about the skeeters!
Barefoot Child
01-24-2010, 17:12
Welcome to the forum.
Make sure to strap in this time. Delurking, is that like decloaking a bird of prey. Great pictures...definetely calendar stuff...let me know when you have enough to do the calendar thingee cause I want one...really. All you have to do is PM the guy with the hobbit feet avatar.
Actually, that's something I enjoy. The best part is "the turn"; the part where they go from teasing to awestruck in a moment. They realize that you've got less weight, more comfort, better site selection, etc. ,and their face just changes. Then come the questions.
I know what you mean about the questions. On New Year's Day, I went to a party thrown by a friend and a bunch of fellow boardgamers (I have a lot of hobbies) :shades: The host occasionally goes hunting, so I couldn't resist telling him about our hammocks. At the time, I was waiting on my order for the supershelter (with which I got a free Expedition cause they'd run out of Scouts), and he just asked question after question. Since I was going there for the party, and he has trees in his backyard, I just went ahead and brought along the setup with the brand new, freshly-arrived supershelter. I hung it up, and I must have spent the next 2 hours answering questions while he, his wife, his father, his mother, a half-dozen kids, and several party guests all had to try it out. Best quote was his wife (who he'd said probably wouldn't like it cause she's mildly claustrophobic), lying in there, tarp and all up, and saying, "Hm....I'm done with all the cooking and setting stuff out for guests for now, right??" It was a while before she decided to go head, get up, and go back to being the hostess.
Yup, looking forward to people asking questions when we go camping!
And hobbit-foot-guy -- I'll make sure to post a link with Snapfish, Cafepress, or wherever I put up the hammock calendar when it's ready, so anyone can get one. Glad you like the pictures! There's a few more with the hammocks in them in the rest of my Flickr stream, but so far, only those two seem calendar-worthy.
MacEntyre
01-24-2010, 20:13
Welcome! Great way to delurk! (There's no going back, you know...)
Nothing like adding new folks to HF who take excellent pictures, and have already hung two hammocks under one tarp using three trees!
- MacEntyre
Welcome to the group Kattelyn and Throdka
I have an HH and am very interested in the SS..
Good tweaking you did
Tom
A Whoooooo Buddy Welcome to ya'll Texas Style ....
Shug
Kattelyn
01-26-2010, 10:11
Well, Howdy Shug! Thank you very much for the welcome! We're avid watchers of your videos. Thank you so much for putting out so much wonderful info!
Well, Howdy Shug! Thank you very much for the welcome! We're avid watchers of your videos. Thank you so much for putting out so much wonderful info!
Howdy to ya'll and that is too cool.
Glad your hammock folk now.
Sector 7 secure,
Shug
Welcome fellow Metroplex hangers! Glad you decided to join us. I hope we can all meet someday.
Well, the easiest way to do that would be to try and organize a north Texas hang -- I keep seeing them for east Texas.
Kattelyn
01-27-2010, 15:53
There's tons of places around. Anywhere from the big, beautiful city parks (Loyd park, and I can't remember the one where the Christmas Lights were on Joe Pool) to the many state parks within easy driving distance ... Cedar Hill, Meridian, Cleburne, Tyler, just off the top of my head.
We'd be more than happy to go just about any time its relatively nice out ... and we don't have other plans going on :)
questtrek
01-27-2010, 16:15
Welcome .... Lots of great info here... I just got started myself.