These all sound like great suggestions! I don't know what I would have done without my toque when I went camping in algonquin last october... and that was in a tent!
These all sound like great suggestions! I don't know what I would have done without my toque when I went camping in algonquin last october... and that was in a tent!
This is a great ???
The one thing I really missed on my first hang that I really wished I had would be more practice setting up my rig and simply being more familiar with my gear. I had practiced a few times setting up in my back yard but never actually slept in my Hammock. When I showed up to my first group hang (Jersey Winter Hang a few years back), also being the first night I ever slept in my hammock, also being the first time I ever set up my rig in the dark and also getting down into the low teens the first night I slept in my hammock (I know not smart newbs don't try this in the woods or at all) I was pretty chilly that first night. I was even using a zero degree burrow and zero degree phoenix but I froze my but off because of my error and well yes I admit it stupidity. Simply put I just did not cinch up my UQ tight enough (actually I don't think I cinched it up at all allowing it to sag way low providing little insulation underneath me). Thankfully I had wool blankets (that I folded and placed underneath me and lots of other extra blankets as well that I placed under me and plenty of clothing to wear to get me through the night safely. The next morning I sheepishly admitted my coldness to the group. Some kind souls went over to my rig with me and quickly figured out that my UQ was hanging way low below my hammock. They showed and taught me how to cinch it up and that shock cord stretch's in the cold so you have to pull it way tight and how to hang an UQ correctly. Second night it got into the single digits and I was toasty warm. It was a really unintelligent (and that me putting it nicely) mistake on my part which could of proved to be a much much worse situation if I would of been on the trail and if I did not have the kind souls of other hangers to help me out and show me the ropes. So regardless of how good your gear is, it wont work if you don't know how to use it. So I hope some one learns from my stupidity and not their own.
Hang Safe
LRR
Sometimes I like to hike and think, And sometimes I just like to hike.
Hiking is'ent about waiting for the storm to pass its about learning to hike in the rain.
Headlamp. A flashlight works and was great for the first 40 years in the woods, but now when I forget the headlamp and have to use one, it is like someone cut off one of my arms.
We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. - Ben Franklin
(known as a win-win on this forum)
Headlamp is a good one. It was one of the things I bought after my first trip.Originally Posted by Alamosa
"Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities." - Mark Twain
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” - John Burroughs
I'll add another thing that I wish I had on my first night out, someone else there. I enjoy my solitude in the woods, but having a second set of eyes and hands can be very helpful when setting up on unfamiliar trees for the first time.
*Heaven best have trees, because I plan to lounge for eternity.
Good judgement is the result of experience and experience the result of bad judgement. - Mark Twain
Trail name: Radar
2014 Smoked Butt Hang Planning Thread | Sign up Sheet
Protection from the wind, a hat, and a book. I woke up @ 2AM cold and couldn't get back to sleep for three hours.
TP.............
Haha! That's #4 on the list behind bourbon, whiskey, and bourbon...
Plus one on what Lazy River Road said, being more familiar with my gear. After being out on the trail the first few times I learned to backyard test at temps below what I would be sleeping in out on the trail. So important to be comfy and warm at night.
That being said, the thing I wished I had and learned to put on outside of my pack is a small sit pad. It's good to put on a log or rock or ground when stopping for breaks or lunch. Stops backside from getting wet and keeps down the chill factor. Can use it by campfire in evening. Then I use it inside my top quilt foot box at night because I use a shorter underquilt. Multipurpose is a good thing.
Exercise, eat right, die anyway -- Country Roads bumper sticker
Fall seven times, standup eight. -- Japanese Proverb
1 - Bugnet
My first hang I whipped a hardware store tarp into a hammock. I had a bug headnet, but it was the dead of summer and I had to throw my sleeping bag off it was so hot. The mosquitoes were relentless.
2 - UQ
I slid around on pads for a while until I saved up enough for a UQ. I couldn't imagine having to go back.
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