Family hanging, what system?

Hi
I’m trying to find a good, modular system for hanging with the family.
At the moment I’m the enthusiast and my 2.5 year old likes it too.
The wife is a little bit hesitant.

I thinking about a system for me and my son to sleep next to each other and hanging during “his” nap time. Camping in a few years.
For myself I have a working system already.

I found two systems.

A: two chameleons with the double bug net.

B: diy hammocks with a birdnest bugnet.

What suspension would be best?
Double Whoopihooks or beetle buckles?

A will be really expensive for me as I’m in Europe. Any advantage of a over b?

B seems to give the son the possibility to get in out of the hammock. Not feeling trapped. good/bad?

Weight is a concern as some hiking is involved.

Thankful for some insight.



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I can vouch for the two chameleons with the double dutch net. Though I've never tried the birdsnest, given your situation , I wouldn't hesitate to go for it.

My preference is for the beetle buckles, but whoopies work great as well. A few times I've run into situations where whoopies were too long for the trees available. Other than that i find beetle buckles incredibly easy to readjust.

hiking? why chameleon then?

11ft gathered end hammocks /dutch/
fronkey style bugnet from .67 netting
double whoopie hooks

you are complicating yourself with double whatever ... take it easy :)

I recommend to have hammocks and bugnets that can be used separately as single.

your child will not be 2 years forever and you will have the option with spreader bar, one on two tree setup, or trees fat enough to hang two hammock side by side

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cernik-Ma...20Panorama.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/%C4%8Cerm...8-DSC02111.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/%C4%8Cerm...8-DSC02126.jpg

I am from Europe too, so I had to make the equipment myself and started sewing :D

Kardinal_emeritus
Are you saying DIY, double Whoopi’s and fronkey to go over both?

Have you presented your rig somewhere?
How old are your kids?



Greetings Mr.Magoo

@kardinal_emilus

One of the big advantages of net-for-two system is that it can help those who otherwise would never go camping in the first place due to one type of anxiety or another. For example, my wife is highly claustrophobic and cannot tolerate being enclosed in a single bugnet. However, she is perfectly comfortable in the double dutch because it is open between us. I imagine a very young child may also feel more comfortable, not necessarily for claustrophobia.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr.magoo

Kardinal_emeritus
Are you saying DIY, double Whoopi’s and fronkey to go over both?

Have you presented your rig somewhere?
How old are your kids?



Greetings Mr.Magoo

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You will use fronkey separately for each of your hammocks. Learn your child to be separate. My are 6 and 8 and they grow very fast :) Never experienced any fear from dark, no need to be by my side. And if so, you can still do that with double hooks and spreader bar from dutch. Or fat trees. I enclosed some pictures in my first post in this thread, so you can see. We had 3 years old lady in our expedition group as well. Dont worry, the sooner the better and no need to develop any fear or other discomfort. Kids love hammocks :)

I recently tried both nets and would recommend the Double Dutch Bugnet. Especially if the occupant of the second hammock is only 2.5 years old. The Birds Nest is the better option if you wanted or needed to use non-Chameleon hammocks, but it's very easy to fall between the hammocks. It's not so easy to enter the sock while not putting too much stress on the net and still hit the (right) hammock with your butt. However, once it's set up, the Double Dutch Bugnet is as easy to use as a single occupant hammock with integrated hammock. The bug net also helps to prevent anything (e.g. a child) falling out of the hammock, or simply exiting unnoticed.

Both options are a bit of a PITA to set up, though. For older children, individual hammocks under one tarp as recommended by kardinal_emilius would be a much simpler solution.

I sometimes used to hang bunk bed style when the kids were younger, though it was more because of me wanting to try the style. I hung myself as close to the ground as possible and the second hammock about 50 cm higher up on the trees. You´ll have to lift the child into/out of the hammock, but by the time that´s cumbersome they´ll likely hang "alone" anyway. Makes it easy to show your presence by just talking and giving the child a pat on the rump if needed.
Another experience was that I quickly realised that bugnetsocks were "worse" than integrated nets. What happened was that various pieces of teddybears etc fell/was pushed out of the hammock and ended up in the sock. With integrated models everything, including the child, is kept in the hammock.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hutzelbein

...Both options are a bit of a PITA to set up, though.

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We started out with a pair of chameleons and found the sewn on ends caps to be quite a hindrance to getting the zippers started. Especially at night. When I made my clone, I attached the end caps with kam snaps so I could undue one side to swing out of the way or completely remove. Makes connecting zippers a snap!

It also helps to leave the net half attached to one hammock and the center attached to the other. Less fumbling that way.

Fully closed. I showed this setup to Dutch at the LLG hang, he thought it was a good idea but suggested 3 snaps per side may be enough. I tend to agree.

https://www.hammockforums.net/galler...9/endcaps2.jpg

One side unsnapped, shows easy access to zippers.

https://www.hammockforums.net/galler...9/endcaps3.jpg

Opposite side still snapped.

https://www.hammockforums.net/galler...9/endcaps1.jpg