How come...

[Cannibal]

The first few I didn't account for enough sag once I put my weight in it.

Good directions will shorten the learning curve and reduce the number of people who give up and leave before they really start.

Those two thoughts summarize exactly what led me to posting this thread. I know that hammocks aren't for everyone (crazy), but I wonder how many people that "just didn't like it" had it hung correctly? Or for that matter, knew anything at all about sag.

I can say this as a person that has the proverbial T-shirt. The Traveler UL was my first flirt with a hammock and the first night I had that thing strung so tight I'm still surprised it didn't just shoot me out like a catapult when I first got in. Needless to say, I did not have a positive experience my first night. BTW, this is AFTER finding this site. I know, dumb!

I did come back to HF the next day and figured out what I had done wrong, but the point remains: what if I didn't know about HF?

I'm really glad to hear that you folks at TrekLight are considering including something. I can honestly say that you make a great product and I just can't stand the thought of someone deciding to not hang just because nobody told them the basics. The rest of it is up to the hangers, but a good start would be great.

[slowhike]

good discussion cannibal. and seth, i appreciate your desire to educate potential hammockers.
i can guarantee you that a fair amount of 1st time hammock buyers become interested enough to make the purchase before they understand the basics... like choosing two trees that are in an acceptable range from each other & with out brush underneath them.
or securing it to the tree
or keeping it off the ground while hanging it
how to adjust
how to sag
how to lay
etc, etc...

[Cannibal]

Or, they could use turk's thread: The Commandments of Hammocking

[Nightwalker]

HH comes with directions on the stuff sack. Not very good directions though.

Seemed decent to me. And I'm a DoDo, so there!

[ZDP-189]

The HH directions are pants and the weakest part of a good system.

[warbonnetguy]

if i ever get my website up, it's got directions and diagrams.
being well informed is the key to using a hammock properly, and there's alot a novice might never figure out otherwise.

i also will definately have a link here as well.

[NCPatrick]

The HH directions are pants

Not sure I understand this one. Did you mean parts?

[Cannibal]

warbonnetguy- In all fairness, I didn't expect you or TrekLight to send me directions considering I acquired both thru this website. I guess it would be a fairly safe assumption I knew what I was doing.

See what assumptions get ya?

[Rat]

I never really thought about it much until I started working directly with the military in '03. However, since then I have often wondered why manufacturers don't print the directions RIGHT ON THE FABRIC? Take a tent for instance (or a hammock). I have proly six tents in my house that never get used by me (except for El Grande when Roz goes with me). They do get used tho by people who go camping with me, mostly kids (teenagers) from church and such (and a few adults). By and large they are people who have little experience with camping, which is why they go with me, to learn about it. However, I hafta oversee every tent erection because the little piece of scrap paper that had directions on it has long been used for fire starter; even tents with color co-ordinated poles and sleeves are daunting for a noobie with no directions. It would be a lot easier if it were printed right on the fabric by the door, or on the rain fly or something.

The military does this on EVERYTHING, plus they have TMs (manuals) to help. But for the most part a person can set up a military tent with the instructions that are printed on the fabric. And, each piece has it printed on there, the main tent, the fly, the vestibule, the hot weather roof, the inside black-out walls, everything is printed on the piece to show you how it goes up.

Would it be so hard for the civilian market to take up this practice as well?

So I say just print clear, concise, pictoral graphics right on the tent/tarp/fly/hammock itself and be done with it. I am sure it would cost more, but it would last the life of the gear and be with the gear no matter where it went. And I would pay more for that. Although I would loose a great source of fire starter

[Jazilla]

The "real" answer is yes. HOWEVER! When I was buying my real, own, very first, I paid for it myself car... It was a manual... it was years since drivers ed, and I had no idea how to drive it. I had a car-kinda-guy test drive it for me, he drove it home after the sale, and I proceeded to drive up and down the block, stalling all the way, until I finally got the hang of it. I drove that car to work the next morning (yes, stalled it several times enroute.)

So, sometimes directions are needed...

My third vehicle was a Jeep Wrangler and my wife had to drive it home for me so I know where you are coming from with that.

To be honest Jazilla, we see it all the time when we have our booth setup at a show. It's amazing how many people have never really thought twice about a hammock because all they've seen are the traditional rope or woven hammocks. We talk to people who haven't sat in a hammock in 20 years or even never at all, but they find themselves walking out of our booth excited about a hammock for possibly the first time ever.

But seeing a Hammock in a new light isn't like buying one cause you saw it one day when you where bored at work and playing on goggle. I bought my Hennessey before this site was set up and I can tell you, if it weren't for Sgt. Rock and Just Jeff I would never have even gotten one. I got the Hennessey only after seeing that a hammock could be used for hiking and camping and then I tried to make my own. I think if we can get the name out (Hammockfroums.net) more people will become interested. As for instructions, its hard to solve this problem. I think someone buys a certain type of Hammock because they say it somewhere and like the idea.