Hi there!
I'm in the Sierra hills about 40 miles west of Carson Pass. I've been a lurker here for quite awhile. And have learned so much!
I used to backpack and car camp quite a lot but have not for the past several years and am fired up to get back into it. My first backpacking trip was about 10 years ago and I went to REI, bought the heaviest stuff that I could find and headed out knowing nothing. I quickly figured out that I hated feeling trapped inside a tent and bought a 8 by 10 silnylon tarp and started using that. Which was much better! I never slept good on the ground but figured it was just the way it was. I studied "lightweight backpacking" websites and changed out almost all my gear. On a whim one time while going car camping I bought a 20 buck "bliss" hammock and strung it up with some kind of huge diameter boat rope with whatever cobbled up "knot" that seemed like it might work and gingerly climbed in...ahhhhh..instant love.
I started taking my hammock with a blue foam pad and car reflector when I backpacked. I was cold a lot, a couple of times to the point of hiking out...but oh when it was good, it was AWESOME! Then I did a test on a "Crazy Creek" hammock for backpackgeartest.org. Then I got a Hennessey Hammock....ahhh..the "lashing" was so nice compared to the cobbled up knots I had been using. I was still cold sometimes but not so bad, still using the foam pads. It was nice but I kind of started to feel claustrophobic in the Hennessey and once time I somehow woke up laying on the netting with the exit slot above me...it was HARD to get out even if hilarious. At some point, it must have been six or seven years ago, I got a Nest. But after that my backpacking activities fell off.
Last year I started lurking on these forums and boy have I learned a lot! I got a Warbonnet Traveller and I love it so much! I love being able to reach out and grab things. I'm determined to get properly kitted out so as to not be COLD next spring when I intend to start backpacking again. My previous problems were all about not ever knowing what the temperatures really were etc. And not really having proper backpacking clothes too. At my residence now I can set my hammock up on the deck and sleep in it and I have a min/max thermometer so I can see what works before finding out the hard way. I've got whoopie slings and I cannot believe how awesome they are. I've learned all kinds of knots and my tarp is now all pimped out with cute little mason line guylines with prussiks instead of the cobbled up mess of paracord that used to be hanging all over the place lol. Its so much easier to set up and adjust everything now that I have learned some proper knots! I have slept out on my deck in the hammock three times last week and it got down to 35 using my Nest and a Big Agnes Horsethief and was toasty warm. But I want to be good down to 20 degrees and just ordered a 20 degree Phoenix on Tuesday! Can't wait! Of course I could have saved 50 dollars if I had waited until today. But I think its a great value at its normal price so all is ok! I'm trying to keep my base pack weight at less than 15 lbs which is proving to be a bit of a challenge...it used to be less than that but there are some things I want to take that I never did before. A gps, a SPOT (i'm always alone when I backpack), a small pepper spray, and a knife. Ok, I'm really rambling here, I just wanted to introduce myself and say how much all the information in these forums has educated and entertained me.
my hammock history pics
ssdivot
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Originally Posted by FLRider
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