I must say, in response to Rat's excellent commentary, that I have seen Gage in action - the kid's got camp skills!
Also, Detail Man has 3 little girls that we affectionally refer to as D1, D2, and D3 - they are all hammock pros!
Flackfizer's young son, Bearfinder, is more at home in the woods than he is in his house!
I'm certain there are many,many more "junior" members here equally adapted to the outdoors, that I haven't had the immense pleasure of camping with. But the point is, don't hesitate to share the wonderful enjoyment of the outdoors with your children!
I bet the port-a-jon was heavy to carry out with you? Probably made for a peaceful download.
Lol. Actually what you saw was my scout troops personal camping area. We have fixed it up with a stone oven a shed and that port a potty. On the John we cut out the bottom of it and dug a 4'+ deep hole and sat it over the hole. One of our parents works for waste management and I work for a landscaping company with "Toys" so I used a auger to dig the hole and the forks to move the John. Easy peasy.
Husband, Father, and Friend.
Scout Master and Cub Master for Troop/Pack 705 of
Chesterfield
Great responses so far. Rat summed it up wonderfully. Don't know that I can add much to what he said.
My girls love to be out in the woods. Once I discovered hammocks, the kids had to have what Dad had. They've been hanging for 2 yrs/3 summers. Mostly we do group hangs which are essentially car camping. We have hiked in a mile to the John Rock hang is NC the past two summers. That's an accomplishment with 11,8,and 4 YOs plus gear for all. My oldest, D1, has experssed interest in backpacking, so that's an area she and I are beginning to explore.
It sounds like you've got the camping aspect down pretty well. For hammocks, we use spreader bars to keep the number of setups to a minimum and to help with the two youngest kids. It keeps them close for their comfort (like when the coyotes start yipping), and to make sure they are staying warm in cool weather (like the FL hang in January at 23*). I would also recommend full-size hammocks. It makes it easier to use spreader bars, and they also grow really fast.
I'm a fan of the TED style bugnet vs. full zip so the kids don't feel trapped, especially a 4 YO.
LD Cakes took a video of our setup earlier this year. It shows how we do things. There are certainly other ways to hang two hammocks under one tarp, but this is what works best for us. It's big fun.
Currently D1 and I are working on making down TQs for the D-crew. Their synthetic sleeping bags aren't good enough anymore, or so they tell me. They want the downy goodness.
I will add that UQs work better than pads for wiggly sleepers in our experience. Also, forget trying to sleep with a child in your own hammock. No one will sleep well.
I will add that UQs work better than pads for wiggly sleepers in our experience. Also, forget trying to sleep with a child in your own hammock. No one will sleep well.
This is one tip I already had down. I can't imagine sleeping with another person in a hammock - I'm already picky enough as it is. BIG props to anyone who can make it work.
Great responses so far. Rat summed it up wonderfully. Don't know that I can add much to what he said.
My girls love to be out in the woods. Once I discovered hammocks, the kids had to have what Dad had. They've been hanging for 2 yrs/3 summers. Mostly we do group hangs which are essentially car camping. We have hiked in a mile to the John Rock hang is NC the past two summers. That's an accomplishment with 11,8,and 4 YOs plus gear for all. My oldest, D1, has experssed interest in backpacking, so that's an area she and I are beginning to explore.
It sounds like you've got the camping aspect down pretty well. For hammocks, we use spreader bars to keep the number of setups to a minimum and to help with the two youngest kids. It keeps them close for their comfort (like when the coyotes start yipping), and to make sure they are staying warm in cool weather (like the FL hang in January at 23*). I would also recommend full-size hammocks. It makes it easier to use spreader bars, and they also grow really fast.
I'm a fan of the TED style bugnet vs. full zip so the kids don't feel trapped, especially a 4 YO.
LD Cakes took a video of our setup earlier this year. It shows how we do things. There are certainly other ways to hang two hammocks under one tarp, but this is what works best for us. It's big fun.
Currently D1 and I are working on making down TQs for the D-crew. Their synthetic sleeping bags aren't good enough anymore, or so they tell me. They want the downy goodness.
Another FANTASTIC set of tips. Thanks for adding to the already solid set. The video especially helped clear up some points, including the spreader bar. Very creative solution there.
Also, I think my favorite part of the video and maybe my favorite tip overall (other than lots of practice in the backyard) was the stuffed bunny hammock. My girls will eat that up. Thank D1 for me!
I have 6 but only 3 that are still interested in doing things with me. I started with day hikes; called them "real life adventures". Usually made a fire, cooked hot dogs, etc. Eventually I got them each their own little hydration pack. They loved having their own water and could collect things. Next I added digital cameras; kid's love taking pictures.
Then car camping; an annual outing to a trout park became one of our big traditions.
By the time they got to hammocks it was easy. I did go on a few day hikes with my new hammocks to set them up and try them out and they came along and we did it together.
At the end of the day the challenges/goals are:
-Going #2 in the woods was always a big deal for my girls, still is; believe it or not there is a little bit of training necessary there.
-Next; get them as good of gear as you have; a lot of folks have great gear and then skimp on the kids gear and wonder why they don't like it. I can't afford 4-5 sets of everything so for overnight hammock trips I've bought a second setup that's as good as mine, including underquilt
-Finally; staying warm and dry; kids seem to be able to sleep on a hard floor and be comfortable so we assume they can be uncomfortable more than we can; that's not necessarily true. If you don't like pads, don't expect them too. If you want expensive lightweight goretex rain gear because of how comfortable it is, they'll want/appreciate it too.
And as many have said, when they're really young, have a bail out plan and always know where the nearest Walmart is. After those early shorter, over planned trips, the longer ones will come.
I once read an article at the back of a Field and Stream magazine; it was a monthly series called "Parting Shots". The guy wrote about how to take your kid fishing. He said to remember it's about them, not you. I never forgot that article. when I started to take my little kids fishing, if they wanted to stop fishing and throw rocks or catch crayfish, that's what we did. I never shooshed them or tried to get in my own serious fishing; I made it about them. Best advice I ever got, will ever give. Do it this way and when they're older they'll want to take you and make it about you!
Enjoy them, as many have told you it'll be over far too soon.
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Originally Posted by miyanc
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