What made you a "hanger"?

[DutchConch]

As I got older it hurt more and more to sleep on the ground. I always thought that hammocks kept you curved like a banana and that would be bad for my back. When someone gave my scouting son a HH hammock I started to learn more about how the camping hammocks let you sleep flat. Tried one out and away I went. Now my son, daughter, and I have hammocks. My wife is resisting a bit because she is a stomach sleeper. I have suggested the AMOK to her but I think she still likes the simplicity of a tent. I don't think it helps the simplicty case as she watches me learn about tarps, underquilts, topquilts, getting the pitch right, etc. But I love fiddling with stuff like that so for me its a plus. Almost done with my hammock stand. Its a bit different and I'll post it when I finish.

[poor_jalopy]

Starting camping with my son when he was a cub scout. When he became a boy scout there were one or two scouts in his troop that used hammocks. He was curious, tried one out on a campout, and then convinced his mom to buy him a cheap hammock setup. A few more months of me camping (we go somewhere every month, no matter what, one more thing I love about my son's troop) on the ground and always finding a rock in my back (or under my foot) at 2 am in my tent, and I notice that now almost all of the scouts, and at least half of the adults in the troop are sleeping in hammocks. The final straw for me was when my tent started leaking on our last campout. I then decided to start seriously researching, and figuring out how to make a cheap, yet fully functional hammock setup for our trips. I am here to learn whatever I can without having to go through the pains of making giant mistakes that only a noob like me could possibly make.

[rockkicker67]

I always wanted to go camping, just never did, was not too keen on the idea of sleeping on the ground. But then a group of friends invited me, and introduce me into hammock backpacking, and that was it, I has hooked. I love it. Spent countless amount of cash, and go every chance I can. Just love hanging around (LOL), and enjoy nature.

[reedmantra]

Acquired an ENO double nest just for hanging around for a fishing trip I was taking at Lake of the Woods, Ontario. Got the crazy idea that I might want to try to sleep outside (instead of inside the cabin) so googled sleeping in a hammock outdoors...the rabbit hole was entered and I still haven't found my way out. Before that first trip, after digging around the forums, settled on an XLC and a superfly and because of initial budget (and the weather forecast...who knew it would get to the 40s in August) purchased an Eno underquilt (not enough time to get a proper one).

Two Canada trips later and I still use the XLC, but have since upgraded my UQ and have better top insulation. As the rabbit hole has gotten deeper, I am now looking at building a custom Sparrow with extra stuff...So addicting is this hanging (now as long as I can keep the bears away...there should be many more hangs in my future).

[J2neuby]

Circa 2-3 years ago: My friends invited me to go camping. Half of them were using hammocks, and when we started talking about it, they explained that is is a much more comfortable sleeping situation than ground sleeping. I immediately went out and bought two $25 dollar polyester hammocks to start enjoying the outdoor experience more. Sad to find out later this was a hasty investment :P The initial thought was to gather the tarps/gear to begin overnighting.

Not much came of this except casual outdoor use (and no overnighting) until I moved to Norway (from Georgia). I brought the hammocks along, and used them when my father came for a visit. This awakened the latent desire to sleep in the silly thing. I gathered some blankets and headed out into my nearby woods, just to find out that under-insulation was crucial (not only in Norway-temperatures). I started researching, and found my way to HF. The rest is .... not history... but the rest is the present!

[m0ntana13]

Hammocking was purely serendipitous for me.
I’m going on a kayak camping trip in a few weeks and was trying to repurpose gear I already have for backpacking.
A test load of what I was taking showed that the tent I meant to use was too big to fit in the rear hatch with the bear canister that you need in the Adirondacks lol. In a panic and not wanting to cancel the trip, I remembered I have an ENO doublenest hammock and a bug net and hoped it would take up less space - which turned out to be true so my mind set for the trip turned to a hammock for sleeping. Don’t like camping cold so new gear purchases were in order. First addition was an under quilt and then a light but roomy tarp for those rainy days. Tested the setup and all is good and am excited to try this all “for real”.

[Gator Hanger]

In 2003 I got this crazy idea that I wanted to spend a week deep in the bayous of Louisiana with nothing but trees and water which a hammock was the only option. I tied each end of my kayak to the same trees my hammock would hang from and enter up through the bottom of the hammock which kept the kayak very stable while exiting and entering, this is a huge advantage that the bottom entry Hennessy has over any other hammock but how many people are crazy enough to camp this way with the gators and snakes as your roommates but at least every night was a new location.

If anybody ever wants to try this the one bit of advice that I can give you is to keep a knife on you at the ready just for the off chance that you have a suspension failure and trust me, at night while trying to fall asleep all of the possible scenarios are bouncing around in your head of how you could be trapped in nylon and bug netting struggling to keep your head above water. Luckily I never needed it but the peace of mind was invaluable. Also I have to admit the ear plugs which were a gift from one of the rangers was definitely a life saver and kept me from going mad from the sound of millions of mosquitos trying to eat you alive. The rangers gave me a 10 percent chance of making it the entire planned seven days expecting mosquito madness but the old Hennessy kept them out and the ear plugs kept them silent. From that trip forward I never slept in another tent again...

And thus the name "Gator Hanger"

[Grayling]

All my adult life I have tried and failed to be the eternal foe of the work ethic. Last summer, after realizing I had well spaced trees in my front yard, I bought on a whim a Kammock Double Roo from REI and quick discovered that laying up looking at upper tree limbs move was about as medicinal as watching water flow down a creek. It was a substantial quality of life improvement. Also last summer, after a long illness, and years of work preoccupation and child raising, I went on my first back packing trip to my old college haunt of the Mount Rogers National Recreational Area in SW Virginia. I was dismayed at the over-use impact around shelters and started putting two and three together to make it greater than the sum of its parts. More research ensued and a plot emerged.

Several weeks ago I did a brief trip into Great Smoky Mountain National Park using my Kammock and a recently purchased Warbonnet Tarp. It was a great experience, though I am clearly still on a steep learning curve. I spent a couple of nights up Big Creek and both listened and watched both the creek and the tree tops; nearly enough to heal a man.

[whittler039]

Having some serious back problems, started looking around the web for answers. Found this forum and read a bunch. Was also into motorcycle camping, this looked like a possible answer there as well. Number one and foremost, the hammock cured my ailing back. I have put one up in my bedroom and been sleeping soundly for a year now. Great fix.

[Beezu]

In 2001 I saw the Hennessy Expedition Classic in the MEC catalog, and bought it when I visited Vancouver.
I slept in it for weeks at a time during the summer and found it to be the perfect way to drift into sleep reading a book with a thermos of tea while a cool breeze carries coyote wails mixed with loon calls and rustling poplars.
What keeps me hanging is that I now have a wife who enjoys hammock camping and canoeing in the backcountry as much as I do!
Getting off the uneven ground, having a view, snug in a cocoon, the gentle sway, watching the rain. These are things we like.