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a few nights camping in the swamps of south Alabama..the skeeters ate me alive...i was about to chuck this whole camping idea out the window when a family friend brought out a old army issue jungle hammock..it had lots of flaws by todays standards..but it set me on the path to tree hanging
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I'm still on a high following my first night in a Hammock out in the wild!
I think what drew me to them was that basically I don't really like tents, apart from anything else I just find them too enclosed and shut out from the elements which for me at least defeats the object of camping. Also there's the issue of finding ground that's flat enough and free of sticks and stones, and even then some inevitabley find their way there. I'd experimented with Bivy Bags but there was still the comfort issue, I would be warm but just didn't feel rested enough sleeping on that hard stoney ground.
Anyway, I became interested in Hammocks after hearing about a friend who did the whole Appalatian Trail and camped in one every night, it occured to me that that must be a really comfortable way of camping so I joined this forum and asked for recommendations. A week ago my Warbonnet and Tarp arrived, I am now a very happy man!
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I discovered hammocks when we took a vacation to Cancun and spent many lazy summer afternoons relaxing in the tropical heat. We found an "Eagles Nets" double hammock at a home show, and it became my favorite backyard hangout spot. I was actually looking for a way to supplement it when I came across Ed Speer's "Camping Hammocks" book.
After a bit of research on the web, I discovered several different camping hammocks. I've bought, over the years, three Byers Traveling hammocks, a Mosquito hammock, two traditional Mayan string hammocks, and most recently a Hennessee Asym. I've also made several DYI hammocks, some Speer style, others more like the Eagles Nest hammock, with a "drawstring pocket" on each end.
In warm weather, I sleep in my hammock fairly often. Since I do a lot of camping with the family, I don't actually sleep in the hammock most nights camping; my wife prefers that I sleep next to her. We've tried side-by-side hammocks, but she can't get over the idea of sleeping in a tent (completely sealed and screened) at night. When she's not along, however, it's usually in a hammock.
Now that both of my boys have crossed over into Boy Scouts (ending my six years as a Cub Scout den leader,) I will have more of a chance to "hang about" in camp. On my first official Camp-out with the Boy Scouts, I discovered that two other Assistant Scoutmasters have HH's. They both tried to use them two weeks ago at our Spring Camporee, but did not have adequate insulation and were cold before morning. It looks like I'm going to have good company in the group.
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Decided to look for something different. After so many nights sliding around in my tent and ending up in the corners, or having rocks, pinecones or roots stabing me through the night. I thought there should be a better way. A couple of friends in Scouting have the Clarks so I decided it was time to change. I just ordered my Clark and can't wait to start hanging.
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I saw my first hammock in the 1970's it was an issue military jungle hammock. It looked like a good idea but was incredibly heavy.
Mnay years later I wound up homeless after a series of unfortunate incidents. While camping out I found it impossible to keep a secure camp. As soon as I had some funds available I looked up jungle hammock on the internet. I choase a Clark tropical model as my first hammock.
The hammock provided not only great comfort but the ability to carry my whole camp on my back and set up wherever there were two trees. I actualy camped out foru season including the coldes night of the year in that tropical model. That became a very uncomfortable night when the zipper on my sleeping bag gave out in the middle of the night.
Now I'm no longer homeless and my hammock is a Clark NA and I wouldn't go back to sleeping on the ground for anything.
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I do alot of backpacking, canoeing, kayaking and its alot easier to find a place to hang rather than pitch a tent. On the side of a hill, over rocks and even over swampy ground. Plus, while camping under a tarp and getting bit by a spider which I still have a small hole in my side,,, it was time to change... Oh,,, and comfy also.
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In 2006 started backpacking again after 15 years away. Son started Boy Scouts and I wanted to join in on their backpacking adventures. Put on gear from 70's & 80's and said whoa! My back couldn't take the weight. Started researching lightweight gear and met Perkolady on hiking forum. She told me to try a hammock for REAL camping comfort and guided me in gear choices. And she told me about Hammock Forums. I had no idea that there were hiking hammocks and had never seen one, but took the jump anyway. When someone says comfort I'm there!
I'm so appreciative! It totally changed the backpacking experience for me. It makes hiking so much more fun and restful. Then I went to my first hang -- MAHHA and have met a great group of people and have not been in a tent since 2007.
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I recently came back to backpacking after twenty years of doing other things and had to gear up again. I used a lightweight MSR Hubba Hubba tent that could cover me (no pun intended) for both hiking and longer bicycle touring trips and liked it except that my now older bones creaked with every toss and turn. I never really had a comfortable night's sleep on the ground. I started reading posts on this and other (heresy!) forums and ordered Speer's book.
Now I've got a section hike planed on the AT in VA in June and my fellow hiker has a one person tent that he loves. That left me having to find something suitable for one person. Voila! The excuse I'd been waiting for to invest in a hammock...I mean I had to but SOMETHING! :D
Timing coincided with my tax refund so I went all out Warbonnet BB, OES SpinnUL tarp. Yahoo!
I like the idea of being able to hang in the places in the woods that draw me in anyway: rocky places, especially near overlooks, sloping hillsides, hidden in thick woods.
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I found hammocking back in the early 00's. I bought a HH out of curiousity and an interest in lightening up. It always seemed my camping buddies couldn't go when I could so, I would go solo and carry a 2 man tent. A hammock would fix that problem.
I actually gave up that HH hammock after a few tries full a whole list of reasons...went back to a tarp tent for about 5 yrs. Then decided there to be a better way to suspend a hammock. My internet search lead here and voila...gear addiction!
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I was a tent camper and thought that was the way to go. But, I was miserable every morning after trying to get up off the ground. I would read a lot about camping and backpacking and similar problems others were having. Then i read about tarp tenting for more exposure to the outdoors. Tried that a few times, and while the freedom of the tarp shelter was nice, there was still the problem of my back. I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, "Southeastern Backpackers", and they were talking about this guy "Shug" ( Hi, Shug!). They talked about his hammock camping and it all suddenly made sense. No more hard ground. No more crawling on the ground to get in and out of the tent. Light weight and small.
Well, I got an ENO Single Nest for Christmas, so I decided to take it out and give it a try. Only took one night to convince me. I actually slept through the night without waking up, and my back felt great. And let's not forget about not having to worry about small critters curling up with you at night.
Took my hammock out to Raven Rock State Park in NC on a trip with a hiking buddy. After two days of seeing me refreshed in the mornings, while he tried to sleep in his tent, he went out and bought a hammock, too.
All my tents are now resigned to gather dust in the attic.
Spread the love! Hammock hangers FTW!!!