What made you a "hanger"?

Ddarby001 · 04-18-2012, 16:16

I was hiking last weekend @ Zeleski in Ohio with my best friend and ran into a great dude Barry who recently got into hanging and really loves it. My buddy and I grilled him on the pros and con's. A lot of pro's, few if any cons. I am always striving to lighten my pack and research new products. My REI half dome is the heaviest thing in my pack. I love the idea of saving weight and adding comfort. I figured by replacing my tent and start hanging, I can take out a few items as well. I love the idea of learning a new system as well. The other thing that really pushed me to hang, my buddies snoring.

bottomfeeder12 · 04-28-2012, 21:44

Well I am completely new to all of this and so far I am liking what I have seen. About 3 years ago I recieved a ENO DN for Christmas, "not that it was a bad thing" just never had used a hammock before and I must shamefully admit that it got stuck in the closet until a while back and I came across it and decided to give it a try......Well you know from there on "as fellow hangers" the addiction started. So here I am trying to absrob as much info as I can....hahaha just like the rest I am sure...

**susiew50** · 05-01-2012, 19:54

I have been backpacking and kayak camping for the last few years. A friend of mine had a Clark Jungle hammock and raved about it. I started to research hammocks and am planning on purchasing one in the next few days. I have been learning a lot of information online and was glad to find and join this forum. I might end up selling my tent gear!

**KrisM** · 05-02-2012, 13:57

Comfort

I can still sleep on the ground if I need to, though, but my back is much more fond of a hammock bed

Plus, I've been enamored with "hammock-tents" ever since I first saw a Hennessy at REI. Camping hammocks beneath a tarp just look completely awesome to me for some reason

**Coeptus** · 05-07-2012, 21:23

It all started on a pretty ambitious hike in the White Mountains of NH about a year ago. It was starting to get dark and my wife and I had been looking for a suitable tent site for over two hours. It was really thickly forested and the incline was very steep, so it was very difficult to find a spot to pitch our two person tent (as small as it is). When we finally found a spot my wife informed me that "We really need to find a better sleeping solution that is easier to setup" (in more...descriptive words)

This comment brought me to the World Wide Web where I found small footprint tents, Ultralight Tarps, and eventually HAMMOCKS. It was love at first sight

when I found out that I could have a comfortable, weather proof, fast setup sleeping solution that could be used on a 45 degree incline with lots of trees. I was even more floored to find out that it was possible to lose my 1-1/2lb sleeping pad and 5lb tent for two ultralight hammocks (I am also on a SUL kick, but that is a story for a different time). After my fist taste (credit to "Just Jeffs" hammock page) I have never looked back to the land of heavy tents, large footprints, and unhappy spouses

**tinyaka** · 05-08-2012, 16:51

I have a buddy that owned an ENO(he's moved on to a Hennessy since then) that I got into camping with. The first morning i woke up with a sore back, he woke up singing sunshine, and a week later i bought an ENO too. the rest, as they say......

**BackPackHiker** · 05-09-2012, 09:17

Well I just purchased a new single tent to start doing some serious camping. I went over to my brothers house and he showed me his new basic hammock and said that this is what he is planning to use from now on. I tried it out and realized that sleeping in a hammock is 100 times more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. So I started to do some research and realized there are so many different hammocks to choose from for camping and that this method of camping has been going on for decades! I purchased my first hammock a DD travel hammock and tarp, I went out and tried it. I was not very comfortable but had fun. I thought that this isnt as great as I first imagined. (PS you can see the video of my first night on the Forum). I though maybe I just need to work it in. So I took it on a coupe of Kayak trips with my friend who owned a expidition Hennesy hammock, (we both purchased hammocks at the same time without knowing each other was interested kinda neat). I took a look at his hammock and realized I need something different. So I started doing some reviews and got my hands on a Warbonnet Blackbird, Bear Mountain Bridge by Jacks R Better and a Grand Trunk Nano 7. Now were talking. I haven't stoped camping since. I have started a video series called 12 months in a hammock(which you can find on youtube or the forums video page) and have been testing out new hammock gear ever since.

I find that hammock camping is super addicting and once you start you just cant stop

**Owlbear** · 05-09-2012, 09:27

My little bro has been talking about hiking the Appalachian Trail after he graduates college, and I was hoping to join him. We began discussing gear and such, that's when he told me about his goal to hike the AT in a hammock. Apparently one of his Scoutmasters took a hammock along on their Philmont trip and my little bro really took to the idea.

Got my first hammock about a month ago, and now I'm completely hooked. :}

**k5bpc** · 05-09-2012, 20:33

My beautiful wife, Jennifer, has two herniated discs in her lower back, and hates being too hot when sleeping. I am hoping (praying) that this will give her a way to enjoy camping, as I am desperate to spend more time outside with her.

**Manchego** · 05-10-2012, 14:58

I started using hammocks back in the 80's with the fishnet web type versions and the poly cording. Never intentionally slept in them, though I did nod off more than a couple times. When ENO came out with their hammocks, though, that kicked it off for me. I was still primarily tent camping, though, as this was pre underquilt times, but I always had one with me around camp.

I was still about 50/50 between tents and the ENO hammock with a cheap tarp, when I ran across an ad for Clark via a canoe site and Watertribe link. The concept looked great, never really got it to work, stayed in tents, mothballed the Clark NA and kept an ENO with me. Then, when ENO came out with the bugbag and tarp, I started using that occasionally. The real breakthrough came when my son couldn't use the HH I had purchased for him as he couldn't make it work (too tall, knees hyperextend, etc) so I tried it. Haven't gone back to a tent since, unless car camping. Don't feel like I was beaten the day prior, dont' get up at 3am, and I just feel so much better.