FUCR! That could have been bad!

[Risk]

I was out on a day hike yesterday with my winter pack. I stopped for a few minutes of rest and got out my full hammock with winter sock. I clipped the UCR/Mule Tape suspension to handy trees and then set up the hammock to them. After a short rest, I unclipped the hammock from the UCRs and stuffed the hammock into my pack.

It was not until after dark that I realized that I did not have the hammock suspension in my pack. I guessed that the Mule Tape and UCRs were still attached to the trees in the public park! This Forgotten Utility Compression Rope (FUCR) syndrome was new and somewhat worrying. With polyester straps, I had never needed to worry about leaving the hammock suspension in the woods. The straps were firmly attached to the hammock body.

I started thinking what it would have been like to have walked away from my hammock suspension on the AT and realized that night that I had no suspension and that I needed to consider walking 20 miles back down the trail to retrieve the gear.

Needless to say, there is a lesson I will take from this. There is one more spot I need to check carefully when leaving an overnight spot, or even an afternoon rest. The trees!

As it was, it was bad enough to persuade my pretty EllieD to drop me off at the park before church this morning and wait while I retrieved the hammock suspension before breakfast.

Woods 1, Risk 0.

Another lesson learned.

[mbcruzin]

Bummer man. I haven't forgotten mine " yet" <===== key word there. But I'm sure I will have that same sinking feeling.

[^shane^]

Almost left two sets of tree straps in the LBJ Grasslands Saturday morning... First time for everything.

[oldgringo]

Risk, you just won the World Series of Acronyms.

[Beast 71]

Hey look at the bright side, Your rope is lighter than your webbing and no rope is lighter than rope . While I'm using a critical eye on the weight of all my gear , my poly straps, with dutch buckles, I know are heavier than whoopie slings, but I'd leave the whoopies in the trees. Using the Dutch buckles I never have to separate the suspension from the rest of the hammock. The extra weight is worth it to me, for the peace of mind.

[Roadrunnr72]

Almost left two sets of tree straps in the LBJ Grasslands Saturday morning... First time for everything.

The key word here is the "almost". That is not actually leaving them.

So far I haven't even been close to leaving them. I think part of it is the fact that most of the time I am with the scouts, and we always LNT, so I check the campsite for anything, down to the smallest of trash. I also have a habit of packing up my gear, taking a few steps away and turn around and give it one last "look over" for anything that I may have left. So far, nothing has been found

Risk, glad you were able to go back and get your straps. And I must say, that acronym, well lets just leave that one for someone else.......RR

[BillyBob58]

I developed the habit early on with my HH and stock suspension of, when undoing the figure 8 hitch, I left the rope through one of the hugger end loops, never even pulling it out of there. Then holding it in place with a slippery 1/2 hitch. Never had any mishaps with that so far. But I will need an extra step with WSs, I have to remember each time I undo the MS hitch to immediately, before I move an inch, run those whoopie ropes through the hugger loop. If I don't maintain that habit, sooner or later.................

[sodakgrrl]

A second--or third--check of your campsite is always a good idea!

[nothermark]

Senioritis is what keeps prompting me to KISS everything. ;-)

[OCDave]

This is why I love this forum. From here forward I will "Remember Risk" as I stuff my hammock as a reminder to remember to pack my own suspension. Thanks for sharing your experience.