Kicking myself for not bringing hammock..dang!!
Well, I have just come back from my month long motorcycle trip form east of Toronto down to Oaxaca Mexico, a month on the road. I packed my camp gear,which took up a whole 36 litre side bag,which wasnt particularly light, btw, and I used it about 5 times the whole trip.
Camping is not really done in Mexico as I was paying on the average,$20/25 bucks a night for motel rooms. So.....I dragged that bag of camp stuff all over Mexico and the US,what a waste of space and added weight. Tent, poles,sleep pad,and sleep bag.
Now my tent is a MSR Hubba Hubba so it's pretty light and small for a two person tent and the poles fit neatly in the side bag. Just everything together was heavy. I have a nemo sleep pad that is heavy, the astro? Maybe, it's got the gel pad I think. My sleep bag is the north face hotlum down so it's pretty small.
So, I went downstairs and packed my hammock, in its skins,the large HH tarp, the webbing and the tarp cord all in a X'S compression bag. Then I put it alongside my regular camp gear.....sigh....I would have been less annoyed at least dragging my hammock stuff around for weeks and using it infrequently.
Need I describe how I suffered trying to get up off the ground after riding for 12/13 hours? It's truly a heroic process at my age!
I only got into hammocking at the end of the season last year so this will be my summer to really get the hang of hammocking..I hope. I still feel a little intimidated by hanging, when I did my overnight last year, I felt anxious and trying to find the "right spaced" trees. And it actually took a while,but I guess I don't have the " eye" yet.
I have had help from a forum member here, you know who you are...Thank you so much and I still have questions!!!!.....incoming texts!
So.....much practice in my home hanging lab is ahead of me so I can feel comfortable and confident enough to leave my tent at home,even though I still find that a scary thought, honestly. Maybe I should just pack a little bivy.....just in case??
I fear not being able to hang due to tree placement or......whatever......lack of skill? Noob-ness? And being left to sleep on the ground without shelter or something.....I don't know....I need to build my confidence. No tent!!!!
Texas is very large and flat btw....:).....deadly boring on the motorcycle....zzzzzzzzz
Kicking myself for not bringing hammock..dang!!
It's possible to use your HH as a ground bivy, using walking poles or sticks to keep the tarp and bugnet taut. You will still need a sleeping pad on the ground of course for comfort and insulation. Time to leave the tent at home ;)
(I have an MSR hubba hubba btw. Great tent).
