will this all come together?

[JEVanHorn]

ok so i have spent A LOT of time on this forum since i joined last month. I have read every post i think twice.(my job has a good amount of down time through out the day). But so i have read i have looked at pictures and videos on every website you could imagine. My hammock is in route to me as we speak. But honestly my head is starting to spin with all the different set ups and ways of tying it to the trees and then hanging the fly, and on and on. So my question is do i just need to wait until i get the hammock in my hands and actually work with it for all of this to make sense to me?

[BillyBob58]

Probably. It is really not rocket science, and once you have hung it up a few times it will all seem real simple, just mostly common sense. The simplicity will vary a bit depending on which hammock you get, but in the end it's all pretty simple. And if you had some one to demonstrate for you, it would probably be about a 5 minute learning curve. Probably a good alternative would be to find a video, if possible, for the make/model hammock you have bought. If not available, then the principles learned from watching the video for any hammock should help you with most any other hammock.

Welcome, and have fun!

P.S. Watch the videos at the HH site, especially regarding the HH knot.

[guySmiley]

Yep. Once you have it and you can actually pitch it, you'll figure it all out. It's actually not very complicated, but it probably seems like it is because this site is dedicated to hammocks and the over-analysis of them in every respect. It's fun, but it makes mountains from molehills at times.

[Cannibal]

I'm, roughly, in my 26th month of hammock hangin. After all this time I still occasionally am forced to smack myself in the head and go "Well, duh! That's what that is for". But, the basics come very quickly once you have it in hand. Don't ever stop learning or trying new things, but rest easily knowing you'll be an 'expert' in short order.

[lori]

The Hennessy knot, once you have it "down," will get you by. I was using it on my tarp suspension tying tarps to trees. All those knots that I practiced at home just went poof out of my head when I got out in the woods.

I'm trying out the figure 9s now, and those are a bit of a learning curve too - not the use of the thing, but in learning how to eyeball distances and length of the rope to center the tarp over the hammock.

Don't let the diagram on the Hennessy stuff sack freak you out. I stared at it for an hour and didn't get it. Don't bother. Get the hammock out, clip the strap to the tree at a little above your eyeline, slip the rope through the loop/biner, and figure 8 that rope tightly around itself, around the biner, around itself, around the biner... tie off that half hitch, go to the other tree, pull up the rope slack until you have about 30 degrees of slant from tie point on the tree to the hammock, repeat the figure eight and half hitch. Don't fuss about the actual distance to the ground from the bottom of the hammock - unless you've managed to get the straps 10 feet off the ground it won't be an issue.

Fold the hammock over itself and sit, carefully, and get used to the feel of sitting there. When you convince yourself the figure eights are holding you, then rip the slit open and sit inside your bugnet with your feet on the ground. When you convince yourself that it will hold you up in this position too, pull your shoes off, lean back, put your feet out to the right, wiggle your shoulders around to the left, and let the hammock flatten out underneath you. You might have to convince it to go there with your hands. Don't have to even use the tie outs if you don't want.

Lay there for a bit and pretty soon (unless it's 89F outside) your back and butt will start to feel the heat loss. The hammock might sway a little. But at this point your accumulation of all things hammock geek will fade away and the visceral experience of the hammock begins to take over, and you will gingerly roll on your side, feel the material give a little, and your body will begin to trust that you can fly. And your camping experiences will one by one transcend the camping life you knew before...

[Knotty]

There's nothing like hands on. Reading is good but doing is better.

Once you have the hammock it will start to make more sense. Doesn't mean you won't have any questions but you'll be much closer to the answers.

[adkpiper]

You'll figure it out very quickly. Just do some backyard testing before trying to head out onto an actual backpacking trip--there can be a bit of a learning curve. Soon you'll be converting the heathen.

It isn't so much that you drink the Kool-Aid, either--it's just really comfortable, and suddenly you find that you can't shut up about it whenever other people are talking about how sore they are on the trail.

[TinaLouise]

If you're lucky to have a backyard with trees, then practice, practice, practice... setting up and taking down your new hammock. If not then try a local park on the weekends. (and yes, people will be asking you what you're doing!!) I also did a few weekends camping with my hammock in it's "original" state before doing any changes to it. And try to "practice" in the rain or just as it gets dark and on windy days too. Plus you will need some kind of "insulation", so when you get that, practice with it too.

[Shug]

Mornin' ... just string it up when you get it and start from there. One step at a time.
Remember that it is all fun and is there to make like in the piney woods more comfortable.
Anything worth doing takes a wee bit of time to master.

[Bumper]

I was terrified of trying to hang the thing for the first time after all I'd read here and I found it all so confusing. Once my hammock arrived, though, I found it incredibly easy to put up. I didn't wory about getting it perfect, or useable, on my first attempt, I just hung it to get an idea of the shape. Then I re-hung it and found it simple enough to get it into a useable hang.

I must confess, the Hennessy lash gave me the willies, so after figuring out how to hang the hammock by just using any knot (no, I didn't get in it!) I went straight to the ring system. My rings are permenantly tied on the rope now and work great. That's the only mod I've made so far, other than to use a carabiner on the tree huggers.

I guess my best advice is to just get a sense of what may be possible by reading the forums, but don't plan any changes until you actually get the hammock and have hung it to see how the standard system works for you. Then, if you want to make mods, do them one at a time so you know which works and which doesn't.

Best of luck!