Originally Posted by
Mic
I tried out my new hammock last night. My original reason for my interest in hammocks was I like to sleep outside and as you can see I have the perfect backyard for it. I was in the hammock around 11pm and just getting settled 45 minutes later when my Jack Russell,Molly, came sniffing around. My wife had let her out to use the bathroom before bed and she'd found me. I had a small blanket over my legs so I leaned over and picked her up and set her between my legs. I don't know which one of us had the most enjoyable night. She got between my legs and the edge of the hammock was chin level so she could lay her head on the edge and her nose was working overtime everytime I looked down. I have all types of wildlife in my area from raccoons,coyotes to black bears and I slept with the knowledge nothing was going to walk up on me. The only downside to sleeping with my dog was several times during the night I was rudely awakened when the hammock went on" FULL ALERT". Nothing moves in a hammock without you knowing it. It's kind of like an umbilical cord. We both were the proverbial bug in a rug most of the night as I'd put a nice thick pad between my DL hammock. I also came to realize how hard of hearing I am in my left ear from 38 years of working in a factory. I could hear the crickets and frogs singing loud but when I turned my head on the pillow covering my right ear the noise level dropped about 70%. I didn't know my left ear was that bad. I slept great and I think all you hangers may be on to something. I'd have never slept on the ground and got up feeling this rested. I'm thinking hammock camping will slowly catch on like kayaks over canoes. Americans bought 78,600 new canoes in 2012 as opposed to 239,500 kayaks. This is the sixth straight year kayaks have outsold canoes. Canoes like tents have their place in the outdoors yet I see the same trend in hammock camping,build a better mouse trap. To highlight my first night I awoke around 6 am to a steady light rain. When the thunder started Molly abandoned me and headed for the house and I was joined by my old Lab,Yeller, who is scared of thunder like Molly. I had to hang my hand off the side and make contact with her for 10 - 15 minutes before getting her to lay down so I could go back to sleep. I awoke around 9:30 and would have stayed in the hammock a while longer but I thought I needed to get up and feed my two old horses. You'll probably find me out there tonight.