What made you a "hanger"?

**Billy Goat** · 02-15-2016, 22:39

The wife and I started backpacking in 2014. It had been nearly 20 years since I had been backpacking with boy scouts as a youngin. We got some decent discount gear, going as light as possible on a budget... not exactly light as a feather... my pack was 58 lbs for a 4 day weekend. While our tent was only 4.5 lbs, we had some excess gear and it was mostly good stuff, but we woke up stiff and achy in the morning. After many outings and just figuring aches and pains come with the territory, we met some hangers at a trail build. We had considered, before then, buying hammocks but they seemed so expensive. They convinced us of the hammocks superiority. We got a couple cheapies from amazon and were immediately hooked. No more aches and pains. I sleep better in the back country than I do in my own bed at home. We have actually given somewhat serious consideration to replacing our bed with hammocks hung in our bedroom. Additionally, I am a tinkerer and a gear junkie. I love making stuff and hammocking gives me LOTS OF opportunity to do so. Presently in the process of making hammocks and tarps for our entire family and all the little accouterments to go with them. Once I get my sewing skills on point I will be fully immersed in the MYOG area... as if I weren't already...

**MSHunter** · 02-18-2016, 05:35

Well lets see, this is a while back now. Our trusty REI dome 4p tent collapsed bent and broke in the windy UK weather. Then I got a Vango 3p tent and went one one trip with my wife and 2 kids. When the rain started It really became crowded trying to fit our gear under the rainfly too. So I needed a cheap 1p tent for gear and cruzing youtube found Syntax77 and his wonderful reviews, which in turn started my Amazon.co.uk search for camping hammocks. There I found DD Hammocks one of very few EU based stores. Now we take the Vango and my DD Hammock when we go camping.

Since then I have been doing tones of research on Hammocks and ultra light equipment (thanks Shug among others). Got some HG quilts, Zpacks Backpack and rain kilt.

Had an amazing solo trip this past new years, in God's country as it's called here in Northern Ireland. After hiking up Blood bridge path I stayed at a local camping ground. Now we had a yellow storm warning. I slept warm and dry and only woke up at 6am at a 90 degree angle to the ground due to the strong wind!

BIG THANK YOU! to DD Hammocks and Hammock Gear for keeping me safe and dry far beyond what one should expect from gear!

it was a great trip and Zpacks rain kilt kept me dry down to my knees in poring rain. (I am a tall guy and for got to mention my height when ordering, not smart I know)

**Kenser321** · 02-18-2016, 09:15

I'm Tom from NEPA. I've been lurking for about a month now. Interested in hanging for about 5 years now. A friend of mine told me he hiked the AT with a Hennessey years ago and I've been interested even since. I have a Hennessey myself, but I've only had it hung in the yard once. I currently work swing shifts and have a two year old, a wife, and a bunch of animals so hiking is getting harder to come by. Overnights are even harder.

Grew up every summer in an RV camping in Virginia and Delaware mostly. I got a little older and turned into a car camper. My favorite hike currently is Ricketts Glen, but the last two times I was there it was extremely over crowded.

I found this forum because of YouTube thanks to Outdoor Adventures, Sintax77, and of course Shug.

**KiwiWolf** · 02-21-2016, 00:58

I've always camped in tents, but I've never liked the ground. I do hard physical work, and hard bedding (even regular bedding) can exacerbate the pain of damaged joints. Facebook, being the ultimate stalker that it is chucked a hennessy hammocks demo on my newsfeed somehow. I watched it and was in awe.I spent a lot of time on youtube, this forum, and anywhere I could reading about hammocks. I've purchased a Hammock bliss No-Seeum hammock. I'm a big guy, and admittedly I found my hammock uncomfortable at first. I'm 6'3 and 240 lbs. A few honest reviewers have informed their viewers that most commercial gathered end hammocks they have reviewed all feel pretty much the same, being that they rarely exceed the 60 inch width, so no matter how long they are, you can't really exceed the diagonal lay by any other method that cutting a foot off your height. With some practice with a pillow to prevent knee hyper extension and using a rolled jacket as a pillow, I quickly became addicted. I've spent most of this summer in a hammock. I find I wake up feeling better than I do in a regular bed. The hammock supports me fully. In just a sleeping bag, a cooler back seems to be soothing. My usual morning aches and pains just aren't there now. I think my poor wife wonders if I will ever leave the hammock. I am not sure I will. This is more than a hiking solution for me currently. I'm sleeping better than I have in a long time. I've invested so much time already into this, and I even have a long term gear acquisition list.

Call me selfish, but I don't want a lot of people to catch on to hammocks. The beauty of the wilderness is the ability to be alone

**xtrm611** · 02-21-2016, 01:04

Hammock camping will be a very nice compliment to mountain stream fishing. pick a couple trees anywhere along the stream and your set. Has opened up more possibilities as most of the areas I fish are not tent friendly terrain. Plus it has filled my DIY needs.

**Hot Roj** · 02-21-2016, 21:34

Not really a hanger yet but I do have a Dream Thunderbird on order.

I'm a heavy guy and the amount of gear to be comfortable on the ground made it hard to get far from a vehicle. So I'm hoping a quality hammock will get me back in the woods.

**Pyrogen** · 03-05-2016, 12:41

Last year my crummy tent flooded and I swore off tents. The wife thought that meant no more camping without an RV... fat chance, I'm taking to the skies!

**MoBugs** · 03-07-2016, 23:15

Greetings everyone! Thank you for letting join the group. I became a "hanger" mostly because I'm getting old. No messing around the the truth, when I slept on the ground it's starting to become difficult getting up off the ground! A friend got me started on hammocks, showed me how to set up one, some of the accessories and I fell in love with the concept. I went out on a fly fishing trip, took my starter hammock gear with me and I was in heaven, I have never slept so soundly while camping in my life. Plus, living in the PNW, it rains a lot, the ground is very wet like a sponge and you keep the slugs away. Anyway, it's been great I hang my hammock in my forest for private time while at home and I'm in heaven. Again, thank you!

**Sphinx** · 03-09-2016, 18:33

So many stories here that i can relate to. Idk how people sleep on the ground. It's hard not to be condescending to the tenters.

**tsunamihazardzone** · 03-10-2016, 00:19

I stumbled into hammocks buying a Grand Trunk to hang out by the Oregon rivers in the summer. The ease and comfort amazed me.
I've slowly been getting more and more into spending my free time out of doors (lots of canoeing, hiking). As I go I find I enjoy more inclement weather. Living in Oregon the hammock seemed like the perfect answer to camping in the rain and on the inclines of nearby Mt. Hood. In recent history I went on my first hammock based camping trip (canoe camping on the Nehalem River to an otherwise difficult to reach corner of the Clastop State Forest). As hoped for it was windy and rainy. I slept so well in the hammock under a tarp in the rain, I couldn't help but get obsessed; wanting to it all the time and do it better. My tarp silnylon tarp went slack overnight. Investigating that I found Shug's videos and landed here.
I've happily updgraded my tarp and manufactured some self-tensioning guy lines which I off to try this weekend -- yay it is still raining