Love it! Thanks for checking us out with an open mind!Okay - we could all make hammocks at home and never buy any hammock gear at all...but where would we be then? No product development, no innovation, nothing new - just everyone hanging around in a bedsheet suspended by some washing line. Sounds rather dull & drab to me.
I once had a drive in a Rolls Royce & the salesman said to me "it's only ten times more expensive than an average family car". ONLY TEN TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE!!!! Yes - but it's had ten times the R&D, ten times the quality, probably takes ten times longer to build too - and look at what came out of it, a brand held high WORLDWIDE for 100 years or so as the byword for the highest quality achievable.
I see nothing wrong in over-engineering anything, that's how things develop & improve and don't we all want real high quality gear in the final analysis? Price is surely secondary to other things like functionality, quality even fashionability?
If you want cheap stuff then DIY it and that's fine, I think most of us have probably done this at some point during our personal hammock journey. However, did we still feel satisfied with our perfectly servicable & cheap bedsheet hammock when the HH or WBBB came along - all sexy & lightweight & interesting?? Probably not.
Hammocks have been around for centuries so nothing new there - or is there?? I think there is. Hammocks have come out of the dark ages & have become SEXY & INTERESTING to a whole new generation who have run excitedly into the wilderness with a renewed, refreshed & revitalised enthusiasm for camping in whole new areas that were previously thought of as uncampable.
The hammock market may be relatively small at the moment, but I reckon it's gonna explode real soon. The constant drive for lighter smaller gear has driven us all inevitably to hammocks. I mean, would any of us really want to carry the gear our ancestors carried 100 years ago & use it today? Would any of us fancy a go at Everest with tweed jackets and wool socks as our only protection from the elements. Probably not.
Now imagine going back to those days in a time machine with a goretex jacket & all the technical stuff we use today and showing those old timers what we use. Then imagine telling them what it cost. They'd probably die laughing & probably paid a lot less for their house back then than most of us did for sexy shiny technical gear today.
Good on Kammock for going for it. I see a lot of posts from big guys & girls who question what weight this or that hammock will support & if it's safe for them. Well maybe Kammock helps solve this issue for some folks & opens up more & more people to hammocking.
I think it looks great, the price may be an issue for some but it all depends on what you need, what you want & what you're gonna use it for.
Any company that looks that deep into where their stuff is gonna be made, who is gonna make it & sets out to trade fairly & responsibly from the get-go has to be applauded & supported as much as possible. Good for them & let's hope more companies follow that ethos.
I aim to get one real soon for just chilling for an afternoon with my GF / friends / family, but since I've just spent $309 on a Cuben Fibre Tarp, $264 on a Winter Incubator & more on added on bits & pieces - I need a spell to replenish the funds.
$309 on a tarp - now that's a bigger deal on price as I could achieve the same thing with a polythene sheet - right?? Keeps the rain off & I could still see through it AND it's easy & cheap to replace. But CF is lighter & packs smaller...right??
$264 on a UQ - I coulda just hacked up an old sleeping bag right?? Would still have kept CBS away & it's cheaper to replace once again. But an UQ fits better & is engineered with diff baffles etc...right?
I'm not a rich man by any means, I'm a single Dad who works hard 6 days a week & I have to save for everything. Price is an issue to me for most things but hammock gear is my only indulgence, and it's expensive...but hey, I'm worth it.
Aren't you?
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