Originally Posted by
BillyBob58
Well, in a lot of cases it is people who have been hard core ground sleeping back packers for most of their lives, but have found as the miseries of age and/or injury have over come them, and the back country fun is less worth the pain every day. And that they are getting out less all of the time, due to how uncomfortable it is for them to sleep on the ground. And the hammock has allowed quite a few of those to get back out there and still enjoy it. So in those cases, I don't agree with your view point in your last sentence above. ( EDIT: but as I think about it more: if they are " buying into the hype just to have a hobby to follow ", that's all right too isn't it? )
You make some very good points that apply to every interest group I have ever been a part of. People do love their hobbies and are forever scheming how to improve their pursuit of those hobbies. And the fantasy or the chase is often better than what you accomplish from that chase. Which is why I am often found here pointing out that while all of the different suspension gee haws I have tried here are great and faster and more convenient, on the other hand there is nothing wrong with what I started with, the HH huggers and figure 8 lashing. I am usually not in a stop watch timed race to see how fast I can get set up once I get to camp. ( Note the word "usually" ;) ) But on the other other hand, if people are having fun coming up with these tweaks and even if they just think it is improving their hammock and backpacking experience, then who the heck cares? Do you really care, does it bother you? Kind of seems to.
OK, now "thread injector" seems to bother you. And you are welcome to be bothered. But I don't think it is going to do you any good other than maybe enjoying being bothered. Because I think people here have a good time and get some laughs out of the long running joke of saying "thread injector", often followed with some Tim Allen style Gorilla macho grunts. Or referring to sleeping on the ground as blasphemy. I don't think they are going to take your advice to "man up", they will just continue to say "thread injector". But, you are free to say "sewing machine", I don't think any one will be offended. ( BTW, I use neither a sewing machine nor a thread injector, guess I'm not man enough. They scare me!)
Yep, we knew that. We all knew that.
Well Kestrel, I have done it both ways ( biner only, no Dutch Clips yet, but maybe someday if I feel like it), and I am liable to do it any number of ways next time out. But I can tell you one thing, IMO: using a biner on say a cinch buckle webbing suspension is a lot faster and more convenient than just using the loop. If you want to cut a few minutes off of set up time after an all day hike, and you can stand another couple of ozs of hardware(personal choice) or already have some biners with you for other uses--- this is one good way to do it. Getting the webbing around a fat tree with low branches poking you in the face while threading through the loop and then back through the cinch buckle, on both ends, then undoing it all and repeating the next day, is just no where near as convenient. Not to say I might not choose to do it that way next time out, because I usually have some time to spare. But when I just choose to use my WBBB cinch buckle suspension with biners, it's not so much because I want to be one of the cool kids and in the "in" crowd, even though I really, really do want that so bad. It's more because it is easier and more convenient, and sometimes I am willing to carry a couple of extra oz for that, or even less with a Dutch Clip. Especially since I am down from 50+ lbs to 15-30, I often feel I can have an extra oz or 4 when I feel like it. Or even an extra pound or two for increased comfort and convenience of set up in a hammock.
Oh I bet your account will survive the need to openly say such things, as long as things remain civil and clean. But I do wonder what is with the need to arrive here and start in with such things in the first place? I apologize in advance if I am reading you wrong, but you seem to have arrived here with a critical and negative attitude. You seem to have a need to correct us of our excesses and our love of hammock camping. Am I reading you wrong? If not, what is the point of even joining the group?
Waiter, 1 qt. of Kool-aid, please, I just can't get enough! You know, I would expect to find climbing fanatics at a climbing site, gun fanatics at a site dedicated to firearms, sex fanatics at most porn sites. No surprise that you find lots of ex-tent/ground dwelling folks ( sometimes 20 or 30 years of ground dwelling) who are really Gung Ho on the concept of hammock camping. And how to do that as light as possible without giving up too much comfort and convenience. I don't know what to tell you. I don't think you are going to change their minds.