Ready to hang in Michigan!
Hello hangers! Wanted to use my first post as an introduction. A few weeks ago my brother and I did two night loop in Northern Michigan where the temperatures dropped down to low thirties. First night we slept in my trusty old North Face Tadpole tent. We set it up in the dark and I 'slept' on a root and a large twig all night. I was cold and maybe got about 45 mins of actual sleep in. Also I drove my brother nuts because of all the tossing and turning. I made the mistake of not buying a new sleeping pad and just brought along a fleece blanket and military surplus tarp to sleep on.
My Brother brought along two Grand Trunk hammocks that he got for his wedding for us to use during lunch or just lounging around camp. I was in charge of breakfasts and he was in charge of lunches and dinners. So when we broke for lunch I slung that hammock up kicked off my boots and felt like I was in heaven. After a few miles down the trail I recommended we sleep in the tents that evening and it was a wonderful choice. Neither one of us had any experience with hammocks but we found a triangular cluster of trees put up the hammocks. We built a fire between us which was so cozy. I slept in my 20 degree mummy bag and laid the fleece blanket under me. I woke up a few times for some minor adjustments but man did I sleep well that night! Best part was when I woke up to pee and there was no zippers! We didn't have a bug net nor any quilts, nor tarps over us but both agreed it was better than the tent.
After a few weeks of research and annoying my wife about hammocks she bought me an early birthday present last night! Now I am anxiously waiting my Dutchware 11' netless Charcoal Gray Hexon 1.0 hammock including a fixed ridgeline with whoopie suspension and 5' huggers. I am thinking the charcoal will look pretty stealth right? From here out I think this will be my go to backpacking set up which is a fraction of the weight of my tent. The Tadpole 2 tent is 4 lbs 7 oz. My hammock set up will be about .75 lbs, granted I will probably still need to pack a tarp and bugnet. As for a sleeping pad or underquilt, I think I may try and get an army surplus wool blanket for now and adjust from there.
Super excited to field test that bad boy later this month! Any suggestions on how to restrain your purchases before going broke would be helpful! Any tips or suggestions are welcome.
'Keep your stick on the ice.'
-Lumberjackrob
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