What made you a "hanger"?

[cwayman1]

well... i was walking across campus a few semesters ago and I saw this guy hanging in a cotton hammock playing his guitar... jack johnson i DO beleive... and I thought "man that would be awesome!" I originally wanted a cool multicolored cotton "hippie" hammock, but when I realized I could use it for backpacking and save a billion pounds pack weight... thank you ever so much justjeff and tothewoods.net... it only seemed meant to be from there... and logical to boot!

So I've had my TTH Ultra-light for about a year and it still hangs like a champ! Replaced the s-hooks with wire-gate biners and the ropes with ENO SlapStrapPros that I got for $free.99 and I had myself a nifty little set-up for campus that's about the size of a softball!

Cheers!

ps-- good post idea!

[Matt]

First camped in hammocks while living in Cambodia 2001. Loved it. Returned to New Zealand, tramped, returned to Cambodia, came back to New Zealand and began DIYing my gear. While looking for inspiration beyond Ray Jardine came across first Risk's site then Just Jeff's. Ordered fabric from Ed Speer and OWF. Made a ZHammock but was unimpressed by the quantity of foam insulation required. Since then have made a down hammock as per JJ only with four baffled chambers and integrated insect mesh. The main advantage for someone who spends his time off track in Fiordland (temperate rain forest) is that more often than not the dry ground isn't flat and the flat ground cannot be guaranteed to stay dry. When pack space is at a premium I still go to ground but its never as comfortable or convenient as hanging.

[Fig]

New guy here. Hope this isn't too much of a ramble.

I guess I am a hammock camper from way back. Although I am not full of tips or tricks like some on here. I just have spent a lot of time in hammocks. Started out when I was around 10 and saw one of the nylon hammocks at the general store. I picked it up and spent a few nights outside. My younger brother got jealous and insisted he get one too. We must have spent a couple months sleeping outside in the back yard. We had a couple acres so it was almost like camping. We slept in the hammocks in the summer and winter. I am sure my parents have some old pictures of me and my brother "camping out" way back then. Fast forward to my teenage years, I did a lot of camping in a hammock as well. I owned a 4x4 truck, and we used it to get to some pretty remote places. My bed of choice was the same old nylon hammock. Friends thought I was nuts, but it didn't matter to me. I stayed off the hard ground or out of the hard bed of the truck. Those little ridges don't look that tall until you spend the night in a truck bed.

A couple of years ago I went on a snow camping expedition with my son's Boy Scout troop. It was below freezing during the day, and I would say somewhere in the 10's at night if not colder. February at Mt. Pinos (8000') with fresh snow. Everyone was making camp, and I pulled out my brand new tent. I unrolled it and was getting ready to pitch it when I discovered that someone had taken it off the store shelf, removed the poles and pegs, and put it back on the shelf. So there I was with no viable tent. But as a former Boy Scout myself, I happened to have a jungle style hammock packed in with my gear. Now don't ask me why I didn't just ditch the tent from the start. I am not sure, maybe it was just the allure of a new tent. Now that little bubble was shattered, and while no one was laughing at my misfortune, they weren't offering up tent space either. I guess spooning with me isn't as appealing as it sounds. My son had a buddy in his tent otherwise I might have taken over his abode.

So I turned this into a "be prepared" lesson, and had everyone watching me hang my hammock. They were all amazed for some reason. I guess for me it was just natural. So I spent the next two nights in close to 0 temps hanging away in my hammock. It did get cold at times, especially when the wind would whip just right and remove all of the cold air from my cocoon, but it was definitely survivable and I did get some good sleep.

Recently, I was taking a few days off work, and called my Dad in Tx and gave him an ultimatum. I told him I was going to fly out, we were going to get on his sport touring motorcycle and get away for a couple of days. I was getting ready for the trip, and came across a couple of hammocks in Wallyworld that would support my weight, so I picked up two. It was an excellent choice, and actually made the weekend. I put them in my pack and flew out to his place. We picked up a nice sleeping bag for him (actually the same exact bag I had just lugged out there) and we fit it all in the luggage on his motorcycle.

We used to have a cabin on a lake, and I remember spending countless nights out under the stars. This was pretty much as close to that as we could get. Dad had a little problem with sleeping on his back the first night, but managed to manouever around a little better the second night, and had a much better time. Me, I slept like a baby both nights. We are pretty sure it was in the low 50's, maybe 40's both nights. But we were both completely warm.

Like I said, I don't have any whizbang tricks or gadgets, I just love sleeping out under the stars in my hammock. I have spent a lot of time in tents and just laying the sleeping bag out on the ground, but my preference is swinging lightly in a nice breeze.

[BaloO]

I have to throw my stone at Ray Mears, I have allways been into watching survival vids as Ray Mears and Les Stroud... Never gonna watch Bear "the suicide instructor" Grylls again..

But Ray often uses a hammock + tarp and it looks awesome... lately I've been taking it all up again, getting my naturlife back. I grew up in the country and allways was out in the woods and played, now I live in the concrete jungle.

My soon to be 10 year old daughter is also interested and she is into it all and loves going to the woods with me, she loves learning about how to survive with minimal resources and lighting fire without matches and a lighter.

Soon both she and I have a hammock and a tarp each and will perform our first overnight hang..

[Mark]

I came up with the idea of a camping hammock, then i realized that a bunch of people beat me to it.
I bought a safari deluxe and have not looked back.
also it really has helped my back and hips on outings to not sleep on the ground.

[TinaLouise]

fig: loved your scouting story, anytime you can turn a disaster into a learning experience for your scouts, it's a good thing. And you never know, some day one of those scouts might grow up and find himself in a situation that requires some of this learning.

[Fig]

TinaLouise, Thanks. I guess the subliminal other Be Prepared message to the scouts was that you should check your equipment (even if it's brand new) before you get to the top of the snow covered mountain. I was just so glad to have my hammock with me. The alternative was turning into something like hike back to the trucks and sleep in mine. Of course, that was plan C if I couldn't keep warm enough swinging between the huge pine trees.

[tsquared]

We were going on a church trip camping just the guys, one of my friends was talking about his eaglesnestoutfitters hammock and how much better it was. I didn't have enough time to buy one so i bought a $10 string hammock at walmart. He pitched his hammock above mine, and after staying in a hammock after one night i knew it was something i was interested in even though it was very uncomfortable for my first time hanging. I know have a eno hammock myself and it's my second bed. I looked around on the internet for hammock help and found hammock forums.

[wisenber]

I went backpacking with a 48 pound pack which included a 6 pound two man tent, a 7 pound Deuter pack ,a 5 pound synthetic bag and 25" CCF pad. (That 4 pound surplus German military entrenching tool may have also been a bit much.) That first day killed me, but I though that at least the sleep would be welcome. Well a back that had been wrenched with a 48 pound pack all day did not agree too well with the ground. I knew I had to do something.

Trip two was 32 pounds. The sleeping bag was now 2.5 pounds, the tent was a GoLite that weighed 3 pounds and the German entrenching tool is now saved for whenever I need to dig a trench...in Germany. My back was not as bad as the 48 pound trip, but the sleep was not much better.

I did a bit of research, and I read about hammocks. I found a Travel Hammock Skeeter Beeter for $24 and never looked back. Now I have more hammocks than I care to admit, and I sleep great with no stiff back in the morning even after toting a ten day winter pack.

[Billyhorse11]

I got my first hammock after reading a story by Pat McManus in one of his older books.
I got the hammock from a local outdoor junk shop. It fell apart and I bought a Hennessy soon after.