View Full Version : One thing you wish you would have known when you first started hammock camping?
RyanLowdermilk
02-04-2021, 13:33
I'm expecting my first, ever hammock. It is a WB Ridgerunner.
When you look back, what is one thing you wish you would have known when you first started hammock camping?
That buying a hammock is only the beginning of the drain of the bank account!!!
Seriously, although I knew UQs existed and that some swore they were essential, I didn't quite "get it" at first.
Same here, about the UQ. I'm convinced that an UQ is the most important thing I have and what I've spent the most coins on.
Clisbyclark
02-04-2021, 14:13
Buy quality gear USED here and other online outlets-especially when just starting out as you're not really sure what you're going to like. That way, you don't have a huge investment when you invariably decide a certain item is not for you. For instance, if you want to try an underquilt (I agree with others on this being a game changer for me), you still don't know if you would like a full size or 3/4 length. Then, find a good used quilt made by a cottage vendor and if it works for you, great, but if not, since you bought a quality quilt you should be able to sell at only a very small loss. Don't expect everything to work right for you just because it works well for Shug, or Sintax, or any other hammocker. Give it time and you'll settle into what works for you.
FLTurtle
02-04-2021, 14:20
Knowing about these forums.
It would've helped me avoid the seemingly cheaper route of buying Walmart/Amazon/etc hammocks and insulation instead of just going straight to the cottage vendors. I could've put that money towards the gear I ended up with. Of course, I didn't know what I didn't know...and it wasn't until I joined the forums did I get more info that led me to where I'm at now.
Also, if I had joined the forums before I started buying gear, I definitely would've had an easier learning process. I started with ratchet straps (for cargo), a Walmart hammock, a camo poly tarp and a Coleman sleeping bag. It compressed down to the size of a 10 lb bag of charcoal. Seemed to weigh about the same too. But, I was hooked. Slept way better than I ever did on the ground.
That I prefer netless hammocks
blackmagic
02-04-2021, 17:22
The existence of Shug (https://www.youtube.com/user/shugemery)
Latherdome
02-04-2021, 18:39
Again on the underquilt. There is no substitute. Underquilts are not expensive hammock accessories; hammocks are cheap underquilt accessories.
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RyanLowdermilk
02-04-2021, 18:53
When I ordered my new hammock, I got a full length 20F Lynx for the WB Ridgerunner. Is 20F that right temp rating for most situations?
Depends on where you live and what time of year you hang. I have a 20° & a 40°, being in the SW I expect to use the 40° the most.
When I ordered my new hammock, I got a full length 20F Lynx for the WB Ridgerunner. Is 20F that right temp rating for most situations?
You can always vent a UQ.....
Shug
https://youtu.be/FMhYRJ9dxtA
RyanLowdermilk
02-04-2021, 19:24
Wow! This is brilliant. Thx, Shug!
tennistime99
02-04-2021, 20:57
600' of amsteel makes waaaay too many whoopie slings, dog bones, and continuous loops for one hammock. Now I have 3 hammocks. Trying not to buy more hammocks so the amsteel doesn't go to waste. Did I mention bling? Gotta have bling for all the hammocks... But now my amsteel isn't necessary, better buy another hammock.
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Semiuseless
02-04-2021, 21:53
When you look back, what is one thing you wish you would have known when you first started hammock camping?
First, it the power of the structural ridge line to get consistency in your hang. Every setup use to take 15 minutes of fiddling to get things dialed in.
Second is the awesomeness of the underquilt. I started with a standard ground pad under a sleeping bag in the hammock. It "worked" -- I didn't freeze to death. The UQ is a completely different experience.
While I can second most if not all of what was already posted, I want to add this:
How much time you can and will sink into this :)
It's a lot of fun though, so it's actually a good thing I suppose!
chromedome
02-05-2021, 08:48
1. what a waste of time it was trying to make a sleeping bag and pad work well in a hammock. Bite the bullet and get a good set of quilts
2. Using a pillow or something of the likes under your knees, for me, makes sleeping in a hammock much more comfortable. especially if you are fighting calf ridge, or if you don't have the perfect hang.
3. Buy once, cry once.
cmoulder
02-05-2021, 09:03
That it is possible to hang a hammock with 2 straps and nothing else.
sideshowraheem
02-05-2021, 09:26
Just that you wont get it perfect the first time. Spend some time fiddling around, practicing your hangs.
BillyBob58
02-05-2021, 10:12
Well, since(on my first night ever in a hammock) I was many miles into the wilderness and at over 10,000 feet of elevation, and ended up freezing, I wish I had started with more knowledge of how difficult it can be to use a mummy bag in a hammock. Along with the simple knowledge that all I had to do was put something on the ground(ground cloth, pack, whatever) to stand on, right underneath the bottom entry of my Hennessy Hammock with Super Shelter, get in the bag while standing up, pull the hood over my head and then sit/lay down in the hammock. Or, failing to figure that out, if I had just figured out to use my bag as a TQ at least if not too cold.
Either of the above would have made all the dif in the world for my first night in a hammock. But I didn't and could not get zipped up in my bag adequately and ended up abandoning the hammock ( woke up shivering) about 0200 or so, at 22ºF, and sleeping(warmly) on the ground. Thank goodness I had brought my pads as back up. I was so disgusted with hammocks that it is a wonder that I ever gave them another try.
That was first week of Sept 2006. That first night we got to camp about sunset, which along with my altitude sickness did not help me to figure out various hammock mysteries. But, after an all day hike, next day we got to camp a few hours before dark, and my other hammock hanging buddy and I worked on figuring things out. (I had also learned the night before to hang the foot higher, because I had also been sliding down into the foot end of the hammock, so there was another important lesson learned). I can not remember if I figured the above way to get into my bag(before I get into the hammock), but I know I figured something out because I remember being in my bag on the 2nd night, and warm and comfy for the next week. Which even included the last night of the trip where all my tenting buddies and my 1 other hammock bud were cold, and I was hanging right next to a lake with the wind blasting into the foot end of my small asym HH tarp, bouncing my hammock around all night. I later found out every one knew that I was going to freeze again. But I slept toasty warm and got a profoundly deep and restful sleep. I did not wake up until the bright sunshine hit about 0900, and my buds had to wake me up. They were already up and packed and ready to get out of that cold place, but I was happily sleeping in. What a far cry from my first hammock night! And most of the dif came down to simply figuring out how to get inside my bag, pull the hood over my head, and zip up, while using a hammock. A lot trickier than when on the ground!
And during the next year of learning, I was not always successful in using my mummy bag as a TQ. I always seemed to be losing a lot of heat around the head and shoulders or other drafts. More than once I turned a not warm enough night into a pleasantly warm night by giving up on TQ mode and getting into the bag/hood, and zipping up. But I became more skilled at using the bag as quilt, and once I actually got a TQ I found it worked better than mummy bag as quilt. And I just use TQs now, with no problems. With a separate hood. But I wish I had known then what I know now, whether for bag or TQ use.
Watertooner
02-05-2021, 16:51
I did not know at the time - 4 years ago - that I would participate in rambling forum discussions about nighttime urination. But here I am...
Don’t be so nervous about smaller tarps, no bug net, and no floor.
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kentmatt
02-06-2021, 10:24
I'm expecting my first, ever hammock. It is a WB Ridgerunner.
When you look back, what is one thing you wish you would have known when you first started hammock camping?
To have bought a Ridgerunner in the first place that's what I wish!
Biker Bob
02-06-2021, 14:53
If I knew then what I know now, I would have done different. If I had not done what I did, I would not know what to do different. Does this make sense to anybody else? Just the rainy Saturday musings of an old man.
RyanLowdermilk
02-06-2021, 14:56
If I knew then what I know now, I would have done different. If I had not done what I did, I would not know what to do different. Does this make sense to anybody else? Just the rainy Saturday musings of an old man.It does. What would you have done different?
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cmoulder
02-06-2021, 15:14
If I knew then what I know now, I would have done different. If I had not done what I did, I would not know what to do different. Does this make sense to anybody else? Just the rainy Saturday musings of an old man.
I fully understand it. If you hadn't gone through all that went before you wouldn't be where you are now, with the wisdom gained from trying things that didn't work for you.
My wife sometimes muses about some unhappy years in the past. I tell her "If you're happy today you had to go through all that to get to where you are now."
Like that Snickers commercial with the tattoo... "No Regerts" :laugh:
I'm expecting my first, ever hammock. It is a WB Ridgerunner.
When you look back, what is one thing you wish you would have known when you first started hammock camping?
ANYTHING more than the nothing I knew the first time I tried using a hammock. I just wanted something softer to sleep on (M901 ITV suck if your 6'2" - I slept where you see the red line in on the model), and mosquitos at Ft Hood, Tx are relentless....
It would be decades later at a lake house before I tried another hammock, liked it and started thinking about giving it another go.
oldbiker
02-07-2021, 18:20
I may be the odd duck. Then again, maybe not. I would not have changed a thing. Started with a HH Explorer Delux with Hex fly because I could get started immediately. Within a couple trips I got a 20° HG UQ. Been hanging for over 10 years. I outfitted the whole family. Got over 20 hammocks of different sizes & manufactures as well as 7-8 sets of quilts. Lost my bladder to cancer & had to go to RR so my night bag could drain easier. It's been fun. Rode the motorcycle & hung Wednesday night @ 25°.
The way I look @ it is, I don't play golf, I don't chase the young wimen @ the bars, I hate foot ball & don't care for any sports except motorcycles & hanging. All good money spent & a he'll of a lot of fun & experience @ a great price.
Even with 2 top quilts I still prefer my 0° goose down rectangle LL Bean sleeping bag. I do not hike.
cougarmeat
02-09-2021, 14:15
184307
This is what I thought a hammock was. A couple of bucks at the Dollar Store and I LIKED IT!
Photo was taken on North shore of Vargas Island (north of Tofino). Yes, I had sunscreen on. Maybe someday I’ll adjust the photo and take some of the red out.
I actually slept in that at night. Then I found out about this company, Hennessy. Then I found out about WarBonnet, and WildernessLogics, and Butt in a Sling, and DutchWare, and Hammeck, and SLD, AND the HF For Sale sub-forum.
FuzzyJew
02-11-2021, 11:32
The origin of, and solution to cold butt syndrome. My first hang ever was in October of 2017 and it was misery. Then I found Shug's content and was sorted out.
Karla "with a k"
02-11-2021, 13:01
When you look back, what is one thing you wish you would have known when you first started hammock camping?
1. When I started, I got really lucky and stumbled into a group of fellow hammock campers who hang almost every month. Attending hammock hangs early and often is the best advice I can give to anyone. You'll see many other set-ups, have knowledgeable campers to ask questions to, make friends to adventure with, and have resources for trading & buying gear.
2. The second best piece of advice I was given early in my hanging was from a fellow hammocker who said after five years of hammock camping he still didn't know all of his knots and most of the time just made it up on the fly. Knowing there wasn't a perfect way to do things and you didn't have to figure it all out allowed me to relax and not stress about remembering all my knots, hitches, and angles.
3. Being the frugal German Lutheran that I am, I taught myself to sew and splice and make all my gear (most of it). I wish I would have known how easy sewing and splicing can be and I could have made all my gear from the very start. Making my own gear has been so rewarding.
I replaced my old headlamp with a Nitecore NU25. Whoa! It was like getting new glasses. That thing can get super bright and I really like that it is rechargeable from a cord I usually carry for my phone anyhow. No batteries to worry about!
brutalguyracing
02-11-2021, 17:01
I replaced my old headlamp with a Nitecore NU25. Whoa! It was like getting new glasses. That thing can get super bright and I really like that it is rechargeable from a cord I usually carry for my phone anyhow. No batteries to worry about!It's a great light
Love mine
I just swapped out the band for shock cord
The red light is actually usable
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GilligansWorld
02-11-2021, 17:06
My .02¢;
That this is a process. Because there are so many variables and so many personal preferences, there truly is no right or wrong way.
This is about you becoming comfortable with a different way of sleeping outdoors. as with anything the more things you try the more informed you become.
Take people's advice with a grain of salt and remember your experience is your standard from then on out.
Listen but be prepared to charge your own path.
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Semiuseless
02-12-2021, 16:05
184307
This is what I thought a hammock was. A couple of bucks at the Dollar Store and I LIKED IT!
I started in that same kind of net hammock. I used a blue foam mat with the corners cut off to line the hammock, and then wormed my way into my sleeping bag. All under a crinkly blue tarp. The tarp was so noisy, they made me sleep at least 100 yards away. EVERYONE was thrilled when I could afford a nylon tarp, because the noise went WAY down at night, and I was closer to the group.
flask_ehrlenmeyer
02-13-2021, 21:16
i'm going to echo the thing about underquilts. i tried to make a pad work for a whole year.
i'm up to two hammocks and two sets of quilts and i think i want more quilts.
i have a 40 degree topquilt and a zero degree topquilt
i have a twenty degree underquilt and a zero degree underquilt.
see the problem here?
i need a forty degree UQ and a twenty degree TQ!
I lurked these forums so hard before actually going hammock camping that my only regret is not finding out about HF earlier in life before I invested in a tent setup :lol:
I'm extremely thankful for all the information on HF about quality cottage vendors and underquilts. I run extremely cold, so finding the right underquilt was a really big deal for me. If you sleep cold, don't mess around with pads. Get a good underquilt!
You can get a really inexpensive lightweight hammock and be happy with it for a long time as long as the insulation is good :)
Car Camper
04-19-2021, 20:50
I wish I would have thought that if you are 6'3" don't expect to just grab an 8 or 9ft hammock and be comfortable.
I also would have not bought a matt and instead would have started saving for the supplies to make my UQ.
docbrown
04-20-2021, 22:08
It takes multiple nights of tweaking how you hang your hammock, position underquilts, and lay in the hammock to get it to be truly comfortable. The most comfortable hammock in the world will likely take some getting used to if you're new to hammocking. Give it time.
I'm expecting my first, ever hammock. It is a WB Ridgerunner.
When you look back, what is one thing you wish you would have known when you first started hammock camping?
I'm also new on HF, about a week in. I ordered a DW Chameleon this past weekend, my first "big boy" hammock. I also have a gifted bearbutt hammock that was enough to make me want to try out a better setup. I did quite a bit of research, have what I think is a decent very general knowledge but at grasshopper-level about the many details.
Already, I was given great advice on here to consider a tarp with some amount of closed ends instead of the hex that I'd planned to get at time of hammock order. I'll hold off on that now until I can make sure that hammocking works for me and pick up a cheap harbor freight tarp for backyard use until then.
I have a quilt that I can use as a TQ maybe down to 30, another that I think I can somehow rig as a temporary UQ to maybe 40, at least at home. If testing works out, I'll at least have to get a better UQ ordered pretty quickly, due to long lead times, for some possible time in the Rockies this summer.
There is so much more I need to learn from here, the Ultimate Hang book, Shug's and others YT videos, etc. With the hammock, I ordered a set of Dutch straps with beetle buckles, maybe there are better options but figured that would get me started. I realize now better than before a week or so ago that I'll need to do a lot of adjusting to find that good lie, then tear down and set back up to get back to that sweet spot. Because there is too much noise in my neighborhood and I'm a light sleeper, I may build a turtledog or similar system to use in the house for a bit to make sure I can sleep well throughout the night. I need to (re)master various knots and hardware so that I can do them quickly without overly thinking when the weather is rubbish, I'm tired and sore from hiking, etc. These are just some of the known unknowns for me, hoping to learn here on these as well as the unknown unknowns.
I’ll play. I wish I would’ve known that I’d discovered it sooner...and that I’d never sleep in a bed again (if I can help it).
Set up isn't a race. For some reason when I did my first hammock set up I would brag to my friends how fast I set up, but now I take my time and really dial it in for the perfect hang.
Also how much difference a ground tarp makes, such a simple thing but not tracking in all that dirt was a game changer.
jb_outdoors
04-23-2021, 21:21
I wish I had known getting hooked on hammocks and not having anywhere to hang at my house would be immensely frustrating, but I guess it's more motivation for me to get out in the woods.
One thing I'm glad I did know is that it's perfectly acceptable to start out with a $25 amazon special and a $10 blue poly tarp. Was it ideal? No, but even so it was such an improvement over crawling in and out of my tent that I was an immediate convert.
I wish I had known getting hooked on hammocks and not having anywhere to hang at my house would be immensely frustrating, but I guess it's more motivation for me to get out in the woods.
One thing I'm glad I did know is that it's perfectly acceptable to start out with a $25 amazon special and a $10 blue poly tarp. Was it ideal? No, but even so it was such an improvement over crawling in and out of my tent that I was an immediate convert.
Had I not made a $30 impulse buy on Amazon for a cheap hammock and tarp combo, I might have never discovered the joys of hammocks. I might even still be sleeping on the (gasp) ground! :scared:
I wish Someone would have pulled me aside and explained that learning a small number of knots (really just a prussic*, an Ashley stopper knot, how to steal a loop from a line (the beginning step of a truckers hitch), and almost no others, can save me hundreds of dollars in testing to find my eventual no fiddle, no hardware, tarp rigging system.
That said, I probably had different needs than the average person. I needed to find a system that I could replicate for each one in my family, that would be easy and quick for them to grasp, so each kid (and my partner) could set up their own hammock and tarp, and I wouldn’t have to spend hours doing the set up for all of us.
But wow, a few knots, an order of a few feet of amsteel, and a weekend of trying knots could have saved me SO MUCH money.
*there may be a better knot for this job, I’m newly learning, but the prussic is easy to learn and I’m done outfitting my 5x tarps, so I’m not going to change the system now.
dkurfiss
04-24-2021, 11:06
I wish someone had told me how addictive the hobby is. I stopped counting years ago on how many set ups I have and how much $ I have sunk into it.
jb_outdoors
04-25-2021, 13:00
my eventual no fiddle, no hardware, tarp rigging system.
I'd be interested to hear more about your setup. I'm trying to avoid using hardware in my setup too for the added challenge, weight savings, and absence of little things to lose in the woods.
oxtopheryames
08-24-2021, 14:47
I still don't like an underquilt. Just a blanket inside the hammock with me.
oxtopheryames
08-24-2021, 14:54
Don’t be so nervous about smaller tarps, no bug net, and no floor.
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Defiantly saves weight.
Sean McC
08-25-2021, 23:32
How to properly tie a becket hitch.
I have read a lot about knots since joining the hammock crowd and really, when it comes to getting the tarp up, I pull it tight and give a few wraps around the anchor point and put in a hitch with a loop. I learned the more complicated knots to make this adjustable (klemheist and friends). But I have yet to use it as it is just faster to keep it simple. So I would not say I am a knot enthusiast.
But yeah. Learn the becket hitch. Really easy but also easy to mess up and make into a slippery hitch. Like the difference is obvious when you understand it but it is easy to get wrong. At least for me. I gave up on my becket straps and got an ENO daisy chain until I decided that the weight was not worth me not learning to tie a proper knot. And now I love my becket straps and do not understand why I had a problem in the first place.
An exceptionally easy knot.
My first hammock was a WWII-era jungle hammock bought from an army surplus store. It was made of canvas with a tiny nylon "roof". Whatta joke! Did soldiers actually sleep in these things? Mosquitoes have no problem biting through the weave on the bottom of the canvas.
Anyway, fast forward a few decades and I found this site. I do a lot of canoe camping and figured a hammock would be the way to go. I studied a lot of threads here and settled on a Warbonnet Ridge Runner, based upon a lot of opinions here. Being in South Florida, I have no need of an underquilt.
However, I did discover a need for a tarp, whether or not it rains on our beautiful wintertime Florida nights. Without a tarp, the nighttime dew settles on me and I wake up soaked in the morning.
Now, I never sleep outside without a tarp overhead, no matter how tempting it is to look up at the stars and moon.