Hi all,
I received my HH Deluxe Explorer for Christmas. I've only hung it three times and have not spent a night in it yet. I have however, gone off the deep end and have made a few modifications and purchased all sorts of DIY supplies from a couple of vendors on this site.
The reason I decided to try hammocks was, the one week I spend on North Manitou Island every year. When I first started going in 1994, I was in my thirties and sleeping on the ground didn't bother me. As the years have added up, I've found myself less and less comfortable, to the point where, about three or four years ago, I had a very difficult time getting any sleep. First one hip would hurt, then a shoulder, then the other hip, then the other shoulder, repeat all night long for six or seven nights. I've been somewhat better in recent years due to using two pads, a Thermarest 3/4 and a Z-rest, rather than just the TR 3/4.
Ultimately I am aiming for an AT thru-hike and I want as much comfort as possible in my shelter, since I will be spending eight to twelve hours a night in it.
I mentioned modifications and DIY supplies, well my first mod was to try a climbing rated carabiner and descending rings to speed my set up. Then, horror of horrors I purchased a small digital scale of the fish de-liar type, (you hang the items to be weighed). Well that scale had a very sad story to tell. Wow, I was up to about forty to forty-five pounds of gear and I hadn't even weighed it all yet. Panic set in, how am I going to get that weight down? I am a pretty heavy guy, in the 260+ range and most of my clothes just weigh more than lighter backpackers do, nevertheless I want as light a pack as possible. So, out goes the biners and descending rings, off come the default ropes, dig into my DIY pile, yep there's the Amsteel, watch hours of youtube videos, make my Whoopie Slings, and attach them to my hammock...... oooppps, my hammock isn't the same as the ones in the videos. Mine has a strap loop sewn in and the gathered end is folded and sewn rather than the one or two holes melted through. I think I was able to make it work though, up through strap loop, twice around the sewn portion, then up through the loop again, pass the free end through the fixed loop and tighten.
So, I take it out today, (the snow is finally gone by the way) hang it from a couple of conveniently located apple trees (17 feet apart) in my back yard. I do the marlin-spike hitch on each end, using a couple of small sticks for toggles and sit in it. Sags all the way to the ground..... No problem, I'll just jump up and do a quick and easy adjust on my fantastic whoopee slings and climb back in. No sooner did my full weight fully stress the setup, then thump, on the ground again, "What the......!" Hmm, the stick toggle at the head hitch seems to be missing?? The WS must have ridden up over the hitch and onto the stick toggle when I adjusted it. So, I carefully readjusted with a new toggle, making sure that the WS remained on the hitch and YES! success!
Tear down was very fast. I believe this setup will be very fast to setup and tear down once I've practiced a little more.
Anyway, I have a few pictures that I'll post in subsequent messages.
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Originally Posted by TheRuralRefugee
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