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Just looking at the number of posts on this forum compared to when I joined, one may draw that conclusion. Or perhaps, hammock camping itself was fairly new at that time so it would stand to reason that traffic here would mirror the "bubble" of the hobby.
What are you seeing on the trail? More, less, or same number of hammocks compared to tents?
I'm seeing more! And not just on trail. Check out my post from last Spring:
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...s-Everywhere!!
I agree that there seems to be fewer people posting lately. For years I noticed noobs asking the same questions over and over. Maybe those folks are doing a better job of searching the forum for answers than in the past before being repetitious(?) And maybe we have indeed passed the growth spurt. Maybe just slow growth now(?)Quote:
Originally Posted by Clisbyclark
It seems the vendors are staying busy, so interest doesn't seem to be waning.
I see more hammocks in the woods.
As to the Forum, I think a lot of folks go on FaceBook and Redditt and other socials. Seems forums like this are sorta like sending emails. Possibly antiquated.
Shug
Boomer
Old School
There seem to be fewer posts on DIY, but perhaps many of those ideas have turned into commercial options? It also seemed like a new fabric or piece of hardware was frequently being introduced.
WAY more usage in the field now vs. then.
But yes, the huge wave of innovation has slowed, and participation in this site has dwindled a bit. Was sooooooo much fun then!
Antiquated or not Shug, I am very thankful for all the information I have leaned through this forum (and of course your videos) . It’s amazing the diversity of the information there is on here not just on hammocking but also the DIY information. Not to mention how the various cottage vendors reply to the questions asked in these forums as well. :)
I saw more hammocks than ever before at camp sites on Jones Island. However, I'm guessing at least half were used as food caches or were setup for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Park Service in Washington has somehow made the pesky raccoons "disappear", so the only camp food predators left are deer (who roam around, unafraid, at night).
There's healthy traffic on the site, imo. I haven't seen many other hammock campers in the wild, so still plenty of room to grow. Those that I have seen seem to use ENO hammocks without an underquilt. They seem to always be bundled up shivering by the fire when I walk past too.... can't say I haven't been there (and recently too, seeing as I'm pretty new to this game).
And most of them haven't come here and most of THOSE probably never will. And some of that is okay...Quote:
Originally Posted by Hang Williams
Imagine what the lead times would be if EVERYONE knew about the cottage vendors!!Quote:
Originally Posted by TominMN
I’m with Shug in believing that although usage is going up, forum participation is going down. I’m 28 and sometimes feel like I’m one of the younger ones here, however discovering this site in my late teenage years is what inspired me to get into hammock camping. A lot of the inputs and knowledge that came from this site has been put into YouTube videos, Reddit posts, instagram reels, etc. Regardless I see more and more hammocks on the AT and in the Smokies’ campgrounds each year.
The beautiful thing, to me, is that I have inspired multiple friends to convert to hammock camping. Then they rely on me for knowledge/recommendations on gear and tips for setting up. They aren’t patient enough nor obsessed enough to sift through this site. To me, this site represents the elders passing down the torch to the apprentices of the next generation.
I’ve had some great conversations and seen some great hangs from people who haven’t even heard of hammockforums yet somehow still found the cottage vendors. Almost every time I camp with someone knew they ask “where did you get all that stuff?” Which leads to a long conversation about the history of people building companies in their garages, and the incredible small business market of camping gear.
I saw a parallel change/decrease of usage of some car & Appalachian trail forums that I am subscribed to over the past 5 years.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Funny that you should ask, since I just returned from a ten-day section hike of the AT in Georgia and North Carolina. I camped alone most of the time to avoid the bubble, but when I camped with others what I saw was that tents still out number hammocks probably ten to one or better. For instance, on night two I was at Muskrat Creek Shelter and I believe I was the only hammock guy there in a group of probably 20-25 people. At Black Gap there was one other hammock besides mine and about eight to ten tents, some with two people in the tent. At Cooper Gap there was me and one other guy in hammocks and only one tent, so it varies from place to place. On Tray Mountain I saw two other guys in hammocks and about twelve or fifteen tents, so about a three to one ratio there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Clisbyclark
It's almost dead certain that AT thru-hikers are not representative of hikers in general, so the fact that most are in tents may not mean that much. It may also be true that, like me, most hammock people are not camping with the crowds at established campsites on the AT, so I can't see or count them. One thing I did notice is that almost everyone is at least aware of hammocks as a means of sleeping, even if they don't use them as such. Several people I talked to mentioned that they owned hammocks, but for lounging at camp, not as a sole source of shelter during a long distance hike.
Same here. And not just DIY ideas, but I have bought all my best gear from HF members. Possibly most DIY innovations are exhausted only for a while. Dutch, RBTR and WB are doing well though. I would like to see more trip reports. Sure do miss Wintertreking.comQuote:
Originally Posted by Heavyhiker
It used to be that Ed Speer's site was the only place on the internet that hammock campers shared information and ideas. Then HF supplanted it (perhaps because it was easier to post pictures here?) The only other good source of information was Just Jeff's TotheWoods. Now there are many groups, forums, cottage vendor sites, youtube channels, podcasts, books, what-have-you. The newbies (and the oldies) are just spread out.
I also have had a similar thought. I continue to learn new things from OG hangers like Slowhike on Hammock Forums. The technology platform is most certainly not as user friendly as the social media platforms, but there's still lots to learn and share here in my opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by BlazeyJ
Some of us OGs want nothing to do with "social media."... :scared:Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman857
NOPE, not going to happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by TominMN
I see more people using hammocks for day use but not that many for overnights. I prefer dispersed camping so don't often camp formal campgrounds. I too have noticed that HF participation has dropped off. I frequent Bushcraft USA forums and have not seen any drop in their participation. Hammock topics on Bushcraft USA generate a lot of comments.
I personally do not care for Reddit or Facebook hobby forums. Reddit attracts too many kooks. Facebook is too shallow and hard to search.
I would like to see some editing of Forum Topics: Vendors. Why doesn't Tensa have their own Vendor Topic? There is mainly one Tensa topic with over 1,770 entries. It makes it hard to find specific information.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ithica
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Many believe this forum is not user friendly. And compared to other on-line forums does not get updates to make it more user-friendly.
Until very recently pretty much all of my camping was related to Scouting trips. I started hammocking in 2015 and I was the only one in my central Illinois council to do it at first, however it only took about a year to see others pick it up. What started as almost a revolution against tents and looked down upon by the rest of the adults the popularity grew and now when I go out it is fairly widely accepted. I was happy to be a trailblazer for our cause even though my experience was limited to an ENO hammock and amazon underquilt/tarp set up. I really put in the nights though utilizing that setup and helped other new hammockers with theirs to get to their optimum lay. I think the popularity of hammock camping is at an all time high and no matter if people are buying their items online, at their local big box store, or from a cottage vendor they are getting out and enjoying the experience enough to continue. When they are ready to upgrade their gear they will seek out the advice of forums like this one and YouTube and other social media platforms.
As far as the forum goes, this particular thread has over 400 views and only 19 responses. Like many others I lurked for a great while before posting. I now really enjoy putting comments out there and waiting for responses from all of you very knowledgeable folks. Hold out hope and stay positive as I have a feeling it will come back around and be even more popular than it ever was as this next wave into our hobby find us.
I'm not really sure what that even means. What constitutes "friendly" for such folks? Color me benighted!Quote:
Originally Posted by Karla "with a k"
Last year backpacking I saw two hammocks while out (about ten different trips in the 2-3 night range). Both of those were ENO style for lounging during the day. I ran into one woman with a HH camping in a designated walk in area, though I mostly see 'day loungers' in this environment.
I am frequently the weird 'hammock evangelist' and talking to people I find a lot of people are concerned about not being able to find trees. Which I think is kind of funny for where I live. Trees are not in short supply unless you are above tree line. A flat area clear of underbrush is MUCH harder to come by.
Yar- this forum is less popular.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shug
I suspect the event which shall not be named is a part of it... a big incentive to come here over other sources is that it remains a good place to coordinate and post group hangs.
Seemed to be a decent slump off with a gradual uptick lately.
Karla points out a common complaint I've heard as well.
Keeping heads above water seems to be the main focus of many vendors and supply chain scrambles or shortages tended to take up most of the prototype time and budget.
Bit of a crazy busy boom in outdoors gear for a bit, but pretty rough times I think for many.
Been a goofy few years...
Let us not settle into becoming the old crank posse who were into hammocking before it was cool. Before, when people used forums as a primitive form of social media! Why, our accounts here aren’t even linked to our credit scores! Yet.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well, if it wasn’t for Shug and this forum, I probably wouldn’t be a hammocker. Props to Sintax and Frozen, as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karla "with a k" View Post
Many believe this forum is not user friendly. And compared to other on-line forums does not get updates to make it more user-friendly.
Karla with a K what exactly would you want us to change?Quote:
Originally Posted by TominMN
Our forum is a vBulletin Skins by Bluepearl Skins.
We don't get to change much. Give us some example and we will forward them to vBulletin to see if they could be incorporated in their software.
Shug, as the main Hammock Forums admin for our Facebook page I will agree. It is faster and quicker. Good in some ways but bad in others like DIY. The forum layout is fare better for the DIYer. The one who just want to post the latest weekend journey FaceBook is far better. I am sorry you have decided to not be a part of our FB group. You are spoken of often and with great reverence to our hobby. Your YouTube videos are recommended almost daily when a question comes up. First on everyone's mind in Facebook what does Shug say What does Shug think. Then we go from there. The Facebook forum has almost 7000 members I know that is no close to the +60K on the forum the different is our 7000 joined in the last 5 years and are active.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shug
Just never wanted to do FB as I think I would never be off of my laptop. Thanks for the good words.Quote:
Originally Posted by OutandBack
Young people don't do Facebook either, just saying. I stopped posting anything there and would've been wise to delete it many years prior when it was no longer for just college students. I'm a millennial, younger generations just never joined. Thank goodness none of the original content from html editable walls is searchable, I'd never be able to keep a job. They're one of the worst about using your phone's mic input data to sell to advertisers. If you ever have a conversation about something only to get an ad eerily related later that day, thank your Facebook app.
I beg to disagree with the not user friendly. I think Hammock Forums are pretty self-explanatory and navigable. If I can use it without trouble and cussing at it, Like I do at Facebook with its spying, all its ads, meaningless posts I am not interested in and that infernal reloading. As for Reddit, it's a fun place to visit because of its weirdness but, all the adds there too and it seems to be a little bit of an unorganized mess. Maybe some people have a problem with it here because there are rules, and we are expected to abide.Quote:
Originally Posted by Karla "with a k"
Keep up the good work Hammock Forum powers that be.
While this thread has been hijacked from the original question, I think there is a lot to be gained by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of this forum. It certainly needs a bit of organizational maintenance.
Hint hint: This sounds like a great thread to start - asking for ideas from everyoneQuote:
Originally Posted by OutandBack
It is amazing that a moderator hasn't "reminded" us that this topic has nothing to do with Hammocks per say. That's not to say it wouldn't be allowed - just not in the General Hammock Talk sub-forum. There is the Round Table, though that is not accessible to non-donating members.
There does seem to be a little "subjectivity" to what posts/content are allowed. But that's true of life in general.
I don't belong to any "social media" group (FaceBook, Instagram, TicTok, SnapChat, Twitter, etc.) and get a little frustrated when software support departments say, "Just contact us via ...." which would require joining one of those data-selling enterprises.
HammockForums and WestCoastPaddler are my two daily reads.
Ha I am actually the mod over at r/HammockCamping on reddit. Sorry if we're stealing traffic!
I generally prefer forums as well. The format allows for more in-depth discussion. HammockForums get mentioned and linked to quite a bit over there as well I will add. Most of the posts on reddit are just quick pictures of peoples setups, not nearly as in-depth or detailed as we get here, though I am working to encourage more discussion and less quick pictures over there.
I was gone on vacation for a week and when I logged back in here I was happy to see 500+ new posts still!
I've seen a lot of forums, 2hich I love, get shut down in the last 5 to 10 years because of social media, reddits, discord and such. I think hammock sales are up new vendors keep coming and maybe it's just my algorithm but seems exposure is up. Camping and outdoor activities grew during COVID so I'm sure hammocks had a boom during that as well.
A quick search on the Google machine says it's growing year over year, however tents are growing at similar rates, looking at sites that report these things I saw tents growing from 5.7 to 8.8%, and hammocks were 5.4 to 14.4 in one report. So maybe market share of sleeping outside they are gaining a bit, or just growing even with the outdoor market.
Hammocks are more popular than they were a decade ago, at least from what I've seen. I've seen a lot of the younger generation start right out camping with hammocks, rather than go with the tent-first approach formerly so popular.
More than 2008 when I started, but they use words and phrases I don't understand. The only time I heard of Whoopi was on Laugh-In. The first time I ever spent the night in a hammock was on Springer Mt. 12/31/08 20 Degrees.
In general I see more hammocks 'out there' in the woods but still far (far!) more tents. I'm OK with that in a selfish way because it leaves more hanging opportunities for me. But I am not so selfish that I would not instantly provide my best advice and assistance to anyone who really wanted to get into this very interesting sleep/shelter mode for the outdoors. And I still use tents sometimes as well because, for backpacking, a hammock isn't always the best tool for the job.
My participation has waned recently because since Nov 2017 I have gleaned enough information and tried enough approaches and tested enough gear that I've distilled it down to my very specific preferences in the very tiny niche of UL hammocking. The minimalist style is naturally not very gadget dependent, so new bling very rarely is of use. I've also returned to some other interests, such as building model R/C airplanes and riding the MTB, which are activities I had previously 'burned out' on... so it is, for me, a cycle of life type thing, where interests fade and others take their place, and then the process is repeated.
If you look at threads from 10 years ago there are many, many posts by people who no longer participate in HF.
I know I rarely come here anymore. It was different when it was constant innovation, but eventually that slowed down dramatically. Also I noticed all the regulars drifted away and a swarm of new members sorta took over. Also the incident that I won't mention, brought a new mod who's name I won't mention soured the atmosphere for me and a lot of others I know of.
Absolutely agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by Karla "with a k"
It may be a limitation of the hosting software or the format. But simple feedback options like a like button for posts, cut and past pictures, web site info etc. I find having to be able to write code, to get my links, pictures, quoting posts, etc. antiquated, time consuming, not intuitive, and not user friendly.
Other items like being able to see a post and scrolling to the next, instead of drilling down to the forum desires, then individually clicking each post of interest, Then having to click page 2, 3, and now 4 to see what people have said... i.e. on this thread. Also, having later replies, like mine disjointed from Karla "with a k"'s initial post by 30 comments and 2 pages. i.e sub-thread linkage.
Not being notified if someone has replied to something you said, or mentions you by name etc.
Then once done with a thread/forum you have to backing out to go into the next.
That all said, I still do like the bulletin board format and in a lot of ways it is easier to find stuff. And this is not to say it is bad. But, there is some room for improvement, if the software has the capability.
I would definitely hit the "like" button for that post. [emoji1360]
"Sent w/o me knowing"
I believe short hammocks are reason for both initial popularity and ultimate dislike of hammock camping
Short hammocks are sold at big box stores, and big box outdoor stores.
These short hammocks are so short, they cause camper to sleep straight in line with hammock in a “banana” type lay.
Camper can not get a good diagonal almost flat lay like you get in a recliner that leans all way back—not flat, but very comfortable.
Also these short hammocks are generally sold without insulation.
Many of these hammocks are sold without tarps.
I’m sure many noobies have tried to sleep overnight in their new short hammocks.
While comfortable for brief periods of lounging—they are not comfortable for overnight sleeping due to “banana” lay and CBS Cold Butt Syndrome.
What will they do when there is a brief rain shower?
Some big box outdoor camping stores are beginning to offer:
Hammocks eleven feet long
Insulation both top and bottom insulation
Tarps sized to keep hammock camper dry during rain.
But not enough—just mostly shelves full of short cheap uncomfortable hammocks that ultimately are a turnoff to many new hammock campers interests.
On another note I access Hammock Forums through Tapatalk, It’s easier for me to navigate posts I find interesting and the font style and size is much easier for me to read!
My first hammock was a short hammock sold without insulation or tarp. Thanks to Hammock Forums, I quickly moved up to more comfort in land of snooze!
That sums up my assessment of the situation.Quote:
Originally Posted by fallkniven
I think this has A LOT to do with it. Innovation is all but gone. Fakebook has brought in the "amazon generation", the best is whatever's cheapest nevermind the hard working cottage vendors who have been with us since the beginning.Quote:
Originally Posted by fallkniven
A like button?!? That's what you want? I've seen that elsewhere and it becomes a race to like posts and get the most likes for your post. What does that add to the knowledge base? What's so difficult about responding favorably, or unfavorably, to a post. Opens up discussion, doesn't it? And that's how we learnQuote:
Originally Posted by LowTech
I think this post about sums up the reason for reduced participation. Nothing confrontational about either poster you referenced. Did we just find out who it is that won't be mentioned? Shouldn't a mod be inviting differing opinions and open discussion?Quote:
Originally Posted by OutandBack
I think providing opinion and advice DOES add content! Even if I don't always agree with the ideas.
With all due respect, regardless of who may have been referenced in the original comments, a moderator immediately resorting to ad hominem attacks against forum members and threatening permanent ban for expressing opinions is not a good look.Quote:
Originally Posted by goobie
But to bring it back to the original question, most times I have been out in the past few years I've seen at least a few hammocks (aside from those camping with us), though I think many of them are just using them for lounging. Have seen a few sleeping overnight in them, though. That's an increase from years prior, where the only hammocks I ever saw were the ones our crew were using.
Very little of what I've seen is much other than mass market equipment though - stuff you can get on Amazon or at REI. Then again, that may just be indicative of the specific areas in NJ that I end up.
My point exactly! I think you just worded it betterQuote:
Originally Posted by silentorpheus
They teach Latin out east!Quote:
Originally Posted by goobie