@ myles--both your indoor and outdoor hang locations put me in a downward spiral of depression and envy! I keep trying to think of a believable sour-grapes scenario, but just can't ("Sure, it's beautiful and all, but it's probably right smack in the middle of a flight path, and some plane will probably fall out of the sky and... awww forget it! Who am I kidding?")
In spite of going through 'what's-the-point-anyway' syndrome after looking at everybody's backyard setups, I still rushed home after work to set up my embarrassingly cheap DIY rig (didn't even change out of my costume (it was dress-up-for-Halloween day where I teach)).
Once the kids figured out that the skeleton man in the back yard was daddy, they stopped curling up into the fetal position long enough to have a little fun in the hammock.
Good times, but the best news of all--it's supposed to rain over the weekend. Maybe I'll get to see if my set up will withstand a little bit of abuse from nature instead of the abuse dished out by my children.
You're gonna need a bigger hammock
I dunno. Do think I need to make a hammock for the dog?
If all else fails, have fun!
Here is mine, but I just lost the tree in a storm this week
Great post. I'm actually hanging in my backyard for the first time tonight. I own a bi-level with a porch coming off the top level so I'm going to be hanging under the porch. It's ashame because I own an acre and half of land but don't had 1 tree on the lot. The well tap is about the tallest item in the yard. l
This is where I hang in the backyard the veiw isn't that great
Well, last night went well and I learned a bit more about my gear setup. When I came in at 4am (the time I normally get up) the house thermostat said it was 41* outside. The wind was whipping fairly well and it felt a little colder than that...but that's to be expected 12 miles from Lake Michigan.
Things I learned.
1. I should have rigged a tarp under the porch to block the wind. The wind actually blew my UD off of my body 3 times. It was still attached to the hammock but it blew it over to one side leaving my back completely exposed. I had some S-Clips with shock cord on them in the garage so I connected 2 of the 4 corners to my ridge line and I rigged another S-Clip with my head lamp strap to tie it off. There were no more issues with quilt slippage throughout the night.
2. I should have purchased a new sleeping bag back when I said I was going too. I'm using an old 30* Army issue sleeping bag and it had some cold spots. I could actually run the back side of my hand across the inside and feel a difference in temperature as I went from one side to the other. I added my Mountain Hardware Monkey Man jacket to my layering and warmed right up. It's not a perfect solution but it will get me through next weekend at Forest Glen in Illinois. Unfortunately the MM had been my pillow up to that point.
3. "Breakfast from the hammock" only works if you put the stove and food close enough to the hammock to get to it.....once you're up, you might as well go inside and raid the kitchen.
4. For the first time I did not get chilled from moisture. In the past I had tried some boneheaded layering with wind jackets and pants in cool weather and cause myself long nights of misery. It was no issue over the summer, but I had wanted to address this issue again. I went with the "less is more" approach and just used my baselayer for the beginning of the nigh and did well until about 1am when I added the Monkey Man.
Here' s couple pics of the hang setup. These were taken yesterday before I put the UQ on.
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