Hammock conversion at all time high?

[Zig]

I don't post often on the forums here. I mostly do a lot of reading, but I've noticed a trend lately and I was wondering if anyone else has seen it...

In my limited exposure, I've noticed that over the last several months there are more people converting to hammock camping than ever before. I've seen more hammock campers of all ages in the past 2 months than I've seen over my entire camping life of 12 years. I've seen well in excess of 20 hammocks not in my hiking group after having seen 1 besides myself last summer, and never seeing a hammock on a camping trip before that.

I'm partially attributing that to better quality hammocks being available at EMS and REI type stores this year. Hennessys are available at EMS now in addition to the ENOs available at EMS and REI as well.

Do you guys think that the big stores are the main game changer here, or do you think the demand brought the big stores to heel? I'm 50/50.

My biggest concern is for the big stores not to mess with the awesome cottage industry going on in our community.

[kayak karl]

seems to be more in the summer then any other time. the internet may be the reason also.

[olddog]

Could it be a case of Monkey see, Monkey do?

[Bradley]

Could it be a case of Monkey see, Monkey do?

Or could be

Monkey See Fronkey Hang . . . opps

It could be people are just waking up to a better sleep . . . har har

Truely,
>>> I can't sleep on the ground and there must be a better way <<<
and hit google search . . . bingo . . . hammock

[XTrekker]

Could it be a case of Monkey see, Monkey do?

Yeah I think that is mainly what it is. I didnt get into hammock camping because of REI or any other company. I got into it because of guys like Just Jeff and his website along with many other people raving about how they love their hammocks and all the pictures of hammocks hung along the waters edge.
Word of mouth got me into hammock camping.

[dakotaross]

I for one don't think that's it(big stores). I remember a guy at rei tried to sell me a HH in 2005, a year before I started hanging... Not much has changed at rei since then. ENO distribution I do think has made a difference. They are all over the place in my region. Kind of a "gateway" hammock. And while rei sells GTrunk and Exped hammocks now,too, it does so as almost an afterthought. The big stores are not pushing hammocks enough to make much difference. I think they are responding to greater consumer demand for hammocks, but it doesn't seem to me that they really get it, or realize how much more demand for the product they could create. And I'm ok with that.

[kayak karl]

i got into it because of Hog on Ice posts, but that was at Hiker Headquarters.
with all the books, blogs and u-tube stuff it's out there more.
it has got a lot more technical. i would think that would drive people away.

[Yakfoot]

I got introduced to it via the internet only. I was on a kayak forum which had a camping subforum. Someone was talking about their hammock and recommended Hammock Forums. The result was that someone on the thread thought that it was simply hilarious that there was such a thing as a forum about hammocks. Since as a kid, I had quite a few summers experience with some old bullet proof Navy ship's hammocks, I didn't find it odd at all. I came right over. Then there was Shug.

[dragon360]

Perfect - time to finaally take over the world!

[FLRider]

Perfect - time to finaally take over the world!

I think so, Brain, but how are we going to get that bear into the hammock?


More seriously, hammocks are more popular during the summer months; most folks don't know that you can hang in the winter with "normal" gear, let alone that there's specifically designed hammock insulation out there.

For me, I was looking for a lighter, more compressable shelter than my ~7 lb pup tent. And being off of the ground (so that I didn't have to deal with washing away in the rain) was a plus. I ran across Sgt. Rock's site, and the rest is history...