Tarp, check, hammock, check, straps....D'oh!

[Randonneur]

I just realized when I unpacked my camping hammock to string it up in the back yard that the straps are probably still hangin on a pair of trees from when I went camping a couple of weeks ago at a state park. Luckily I have another set that is actually better than the set I left behind but I was kind of attached to those.

I understand that the straps are probably the most forgotten item with hammocks, I'm sure this won't be the last set I lose. How many have you left behind?

[pgibson]

I have yet to leave a set hanging but it is a common problem. When I was a kid I would often go to work with my dad on the weekends and most of the summer. He worked construction and it was often just him and I in a house. He had a lot of tools that it was easy to put down in a closet or bathroom and so every night we would do a walk through....walking in and out of every room, every corner....we covered every single inch of the house to clean up tools every night. Got in the habit of checking for every single thing that went in the front door in the morning went out in the evening. I do the same when I break camp, all that comes out of the pack goes back in. Not an easy habit for form...my kids are prime examples of that but we are working on it when we backpack.

[rick417]

I'd say it's a tossup between straps and stakes. I've not left a strap behind (knock on wood) but have lost a stake even though I knew it was missing and searched for it. I've only been hanging for 8 months now, so I'm sure my time will come. I try to do the same things in the same order, but if I get distracted during a task that's when it will happen.

[BuckeyeFan]

I was out on the AT 2 weeks ago and met Straps...leaving his tree straps behind and realizing after hiking 5 miles is how he earned his trail name.


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[Nick]

Haven't left anything yet. Like pgibson I double check when breaking down camp to make sure everything is accounted for. It's probably only a matter of time before I get home after a trip to find a guy line or strap missing.

[skater]

I left one strap on a tree, about 200 yards offtrail once. Camped out on the same trail a year later, found a good spot. Seemed familiar, actually. Then I spotted my strap, still hanging there.

[Grumpy Squatch]

Never straps, but I once lost my entire stake organizer with 10 aluminum Y-stakes, 12 guylines, and a set of Dutch Stingerz. That was about a $60 lesson. I think it happened hanging in a friend's yard helping him with a setup but to this day a year later neither he nor I have never found them.

That was the final straw and now i buy everything I can in orange, yellow, or some other bright color. My stake bag is now blaze orange :-).

[SkyPainter]

Never straps, but I once lost my entire stake organizer with 10 aluminum Y-stakes, 12 guylines, and a set of Dutch Stingerz. That was about a $60 lesson. I think it happened hanging in a friend's yard helping him with a setup but to this day a year later neither he nor I have never found them.

That was the final straw and now i buy everything I can in orange, yellow, or some other bright color. My stake bag is now blaze orange :-).

I paint all my stakes bright blue, as that is one color not normaly found in nature. The reds, oranges, yellows are all natural here in the New England forests, but blue stands out. Straps, i still use black or csmo as I stealth camo for real often.

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[sagamore]

After almost losing straps one time, I'm quite OCD about this now. When I unhook the hammock from a strap, I immediately take that strap off the tree and hang onto it -- keeping it in my hand, around my neck, or in my teeth -- until its packed. Then when I put the hammock's bishop bag into the pack, I feel each end for the strap to make sure they're both inside.

Similarly, when I hand my credit card to a store clerk or waiter, I keep my wallet in my hand until that card is back in it.

[Phantom Grappler]

Lost straps--not a problem for Phantom Grappler. All the off the wall suspensions I've used--Stay stuck together to hammock and are never removed (while camping). I never thread strap through its own loop around tree--I use Grapplers Hitch to close strap around tree. You could use a carabiner or Dutch Clip, sewn in is best. Grapplers Hitch is made with amsteel--I like 1/8--you make a round turn with amsteel in strap end loop and tie a stopper knot with both ends three or four inches from round turn. You can get away with using one length of amsteel and use a stopper knot like a double overhand knot or single diamond knot--unlike my videos that use two lengths amsteel and a double diamond knot.
If you pack suspension separately from hammock DONT detach suspension--just leave entire suspension hanging outside of hammock stuff sack and stuff it into a separate stuff sack or a sock for each end.
Now for not losing stakes-- I pack stakes separately and can lose them while breaking camp. I use a knot, I've shown in videos--multiple wrap pile hitch--using a bight in line tie a 5 wrap pile hitch--make sure you wrap from top to bottom and tighten with a pull and ratchet motion. Once on smooth round stake it will not pull off top of stake and you can release stake by pushing pile hitch off bottom of stake and whole hitch collapses and disappears.
Even if you don't set up like me--your choice--you can get a larger stuff sack for your hammock. Some of these stuff sacks are so small--by the time you stuff hammock in tiny sack--you are so relieved that you forget your straps--cause your done!
You can see my videos on YouTube to see this in detail.


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