I guess I have to start this off with this,
What's up Hammock Forums?
Alright, now that I got that out of the way... Name is Cliff
I've been into this whole hammock thing since Nov. 2011. I was perusing a certain survival blog, and they were talking about bug-out bags and ways to drink your own urine - amongst all this discussion - all I saw in this one particularly enthralling post, somebody had put you need a hammock. "To get off the ground, away from the bugs, and ability to be put anywhere", I think is what they said.
Now obviously, I had slept on a hammock in the Outer Banks of NC. Plenty of hours just getting out of the house full of family (that never stopped talking) - yeah, I remembered how awesome it was. So anyway, I said to myself, "What is a Hennessy Hammock?" (obviously, it's camo - I mean, it was a survival blog). So I googled it. Saw some images and some websites, so that night I wanted to see what it looked like in person.
I went to Blue Ridge Mountain Sports to check these things out. I even went to see if they they sold stuff like this - I had never heard of it before. I thought it wasn't "the norm". I'm "not the norm" and I wanted one. Hot girl at BRMS helped me take one out of the pack and, when asked if it would be easy if I could make this stuff, replied, "It sure would be cheaper." Naturally, I fell in love.
So I went from spending over $250 on a complete setup, to spending:
-$15 on 4 yards of black ripstop nylon at Joann Fabrics
-$3 on two spools of 100% polyester thread
-$15 on 30 feet of climbing straps at REI
-$4 on 4 metal rings at Home Depot
-$0 for asking for a ENO Fastfly for Christmas (I know, I know... I didn't know about Hammock Forums yet - now I know what I want, but you have to start somewhere)
-$0 for a bugnet for Christmas that I ended up cutting up a little to make it work
$0 Dad got me a sweet The North Face 20* synthetic bag - would have been cooler if it was a down bag, but you have to remember that I didn't know anything about packability of down or how warm it really keeps you, I just got into this Hammock Forums thing right after... better late then never, huh?
-6 hours on a Friday evening with my Grandma who showed me how to sew - and by that I mean I watched (if you're out there Grandma, I love you!) Sorry about that, had to shoutout to my G Ma.
-Countless times my wife has said that what I'm doing is weird, I mean I did get the cops called on me from wondering, "Any good tree setups here?"
So, my grand total is over a few weeks - $37. I'm not factoring in gas or anything, because let's face it - we never do, but even factoring in everything - That's Cheap.
So I then have this hammock that I haven't used, but it's cold outside and I want to go and use this thing! I'm hanging on my balcony, I'm putting it up in the house, and making my wife mad each and every time I am lying in my Ham Ock, thinking, "I gotta get some "bottom" coverage."
That's where a ****'s Sporting Goods item return from the Christmas season comes in handy. Returned some padded cycling shorts, and got me a Thermarest reflectix pad. Laid in it that night, actually. My wife was asleep.
So I still have a problem - I could probably be going to the gym more, but my shoulders will still be this wide, so width coverage on my "bottom" is still an issue. So, to Wally World I go...
I get the pad and cut it 60/40 length-wise. Then, perpendicular to the first cut I made two cuts the width of my Thermarest pad + 4 inches. Slide them onto my Thermarest pad (think modified SPE) and voilą! I've got a complete system.
There was the issue of ridgeline, now there's not. Got one, love it.
Which leads me to the titling of this thread here, sorry, I just needed you to know the whole story.
Tonight I'm going out to Powhatan, Virginia where my sister and her husband live. I am going to sleep outside of their house tonight to test my hammock. BUT, I can go inside if I need to.
Yes, I'm going to take pictures.
Yes, I'm going to post them.
I might be a really good person and post a video. I diiiiid just learn some really cool knots.
All I need are some responses.
ANY TIPS????
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