Hello, all.

My wife and I are soon to be empty nesters from Alabama. We forgot how much we miss hiking, we are not spring chickens anymore and think hammocking will be a lighter weight sleeping solution for hikes that may go for a day or two.

The little woman has health issues that give her little sleep, except when she sacks out in a hammock. We even rigged one up in our bedroom so she can actually get real rest. We watched a Shug Emery video where he slept out in some really cold weather. I came home the next day and she was rigging up her hammock in the back yard to experiment with on a cold night (30's). Two good pads, one fleece blanket, a tarp and a down comforter kept her quite cozy all night. Amazed, we were. We had never considered hammocks rigged for cold weather.

I can't sleep well in a hammock because of a lower back issue (I sleep better on a flat, hard bed or a pad on hard ground), but I've been experimenting to solve the lumbar support deal. Even slept kind of OK last Saturday night in the wife's hammock. Her benefits from hammock sleeping way outwiegh my problems with them, so I have more work/experimenting to do. Maybe some member, with simular issues as mine can chime in.

We hope to eventually be able to do a little section of the AT next year. Hope to also get rigged up with mostly homemade hammocks for some local overnight hikes in Alabama before it gets buggy here this year.

Hope to learn more and hike lighter with these things.