Anti hammock ground dwellers

[guySmiley]

Over the last couple months, I've done a lot of surfing around, and I've lurked a whole bunch of other messageboards related to camping, hiking, alpine climbing and such. In the process, I couldn't help but notice that there seems to be a good number of people out there that seem to not only personally dislike hammocks or camping in them, but they actually have hostility towards them, and people that use them.

Now, I've slept on the ground, in a tent, on a pad (I own 3 of them), and I've had a great time. I don't like it as much as my hammock, and I've discovered that I dislike pads in my hammock, but I don't have any pent up resentment towards the inanimate objects or the people that use them. I just don't care.

I could pretend to be high minded and say that I take a "hike your own hike" attitude, but that's not it. It's just plain old apathy. If someone asks my opinion, I'll give it to them, but basically I consider how someone else chooses to camp (beyond littering, vandalism, and other types of criminality that effects everyone else) to be none of my business.

It seems to me that this type of hostility can't purely be one-sided. There's got to be something that hangers do that contribute to it. I see it as irrational, and obviously some of it is just people online being _____'s, but some of it's not.

Let's do a little self-examination and ask ourselves "What are we doing to cause this irrationality."

What do you suppose those things are?

[Shadowmoss]

Hmmm. I'm seeing some blame the victim mentality in your post. HF's favorite ground dweller, Ewker, isn't really hostile. It's a game. He's fun to tweek, and he tweeks back. Not that you were talking about him, but he's the quickest example here. On Whiteblaze it's kinda the same 'game'. There are those on that site who have the persona of bitching about anything that is 'new' or 'different'. Outlandish things such as shelters, hiking poles, and filtering water are other newfangled ideas that will bring them out to play.

As for other sites, I figure the same dynamics probably are at play. Some folks just always play devil's advocate against anything they don't personally know.

[guySmiley]

I'm not talking about this site at all, actually. It would be downright stupid for someone to come here and take the attitude that I'm talking about on a forum dedicated to hammocks and camping in them.

So you really think it's all just people playing, and nobody means what they write? That hammock hangers aren't capable of being obnoxious in a particular way? Please don't confuse introspection with blame. That's not at all what I was trying to get at.

Hmmm. I'm seeing some blame the victim mentality in your post. HF's favorite ground dweller, Ewker, isn't really hostile. It's a game. He's fun to tweek, and he tweeks back. Not that you were talking about him, but he's the quickest example here. On Whiteblaze it's kinda the same 'game'. There are those on that site who have the persona of bitching about anything that is 'new' or 'different'. Outlandish things such as shelters, hiking poles, and filtering water are other newfangled ideas that will bring them out to play.

As for other sites, I figure the same dynamics probably are at play. Some folks just always play devil's advocate against anything they don't personally know.

[Ramblinrev]

Let's be honest about the ganesmanship... we play the same games. Yet every hang I have seen posted invites tenters to come. It is done under the rubric of "conversion therapy" but it is an "in joke" kind of thing. As dedicated as most of my hiking friends are to their tents on line, I have not experienced any hostility on the trail, outside of the good natured ribbing one would expect when something happens.

I think "hostility" may be casting a shadow that is not there.

As an example... somewhat off topic... I think we have all experienced the rivalry that exists between different branches of the military. But I dare say.. if you were to take a truly hostile attitude toward one, the others would quickly close ranks and present a united front. I think the same is true with the ground dwellers versus the bear tacos. Threaten one of us and I suspect the others would be right there. But in our element, we will play those one upmanship games.

[Mustardman]

I think the same is true with the ground dwellers versus the bear tacos.

Just whose side are you on, buddy??????

[guySmiley]

Let's be honest about the ganesmanship... we play the same games. Yet every hang I have seen posted invites tenters to come. It is done under the rubric of "conversion therapy" but it is an "in joke" kind of thing. As dedicated as most of my hiking friends are to their tents on line, I have not experienced any hostility on the trail, outside of the good natured ribbing one would expect when something happens.

I think "hostility" may be casting a shadow that is not there.

My fiance would tell you that my EQ (Empathetic Quotient) is ridiculously low. I can accept that I just may not be reading people correctly, and that you may be entirely right. That's why I have to actually think about these type of things rather than just trusting myself to react correctly all the time.

That's what I was thinking about this morning, and thought that I'd pose the question.

Also when the I put the ____ (blank) in the initial post, it could stand for "Joker." It doesn't have to be a substitute for a four letter word. I understand there's some good natured chain yanking going on.

Let me give you guys an example. There's a lot of talk here about us not being allowed to hang in certain places because of the (false) belief that hangers kill trees. That is one thing that (if it was true) would be a valid reason for hostility.

[BillyBob58]

Maybe some of them worry about the trees, but I don't recall seeing that expressed. Mostly I have just seen an attitude like " hammocks s**k" and tents or tarps on the ground are lighter and more secure or whatever. But unless it is concern over the trees, I don't see it could be anything we are doing, other than breaking with tradition. Which some folks automatically won't like.

Me, I don't care, ground or hammocks- whatever floats your boat. And most of my trips have been with a mixture of hammocks and tents. And I have had to go back to ground twice, having to abandon ship on the first hammock night( COLD!) and no trees on another. For personal comfort preferences, I'll stick with the hammock if possible, but I'll go to ground if required, and I could care less if someone else prefers the ground all the time. It's hard for me to understand why a ground dweller would care if I hung from 2 trees.

On my last Rockie's trip, one new hammock hanger hated it and swears he is going back to the ground. Fine with me, why would I care one way or another?

[Hooch]

I'm with BillyBob, sleep how you want. I think it goes without saying, but I love my hammock, plain and simple. But there are others out there who love their tent or tarp, and that's fine and well. What I don't understand are folks who preach specifically against hammocking without ever having tried it. Not to name names, but knuckleheads like Minnesota Smith, for example.

[Cannibal]

I'm with gs on this one. I have seen hostility towards hammocks up close and very personal. I've never told this story here because there was never a need to stir up the stuff, but I've had my hammock suspension cut while off getting water; cut! Not like I was car camping either. I'm a pretty darn friendly person IRL if maybe a tad obnoxious . I knew who did it and let's just say that things were evened out during the wee hours of that night (no destruction of gear on my part). But yeah, there is real hostility out there. I've gotten some pretty nasty emails regarding my meetup.com group from people who call themselves outdoor types. I've even had people that didn't want to camp near one of "those people" and walk on, no loss there.

I couldn't care any less about how someone sleeps and I don't preach hammocks unless there is interest on their part first. WB is different, as Shadowmoss said sometimes its just fun to pick at folks.

Ewker, he's a horse of another color, but I love him. He likes to have 'discussions' about hammock and tents; all depends on who he's talking to . Still never known him to be hostile about it, just a friendly PITA.

[Hooch]

I have seen hostility towards hammocks up close and very personal.........

Well that just sucks. No revenge is better than embarassment. Always rmember that.

WB is different, as Shadowmoss said sometimes its just fun to pick at folks.

Ayup.

Ewker, he's a horse of another color.......

Having met Ewker IRL, he's a heck of a nice guy. Definitely good people.