If you could turn back time...

[Slider1]

I enjoyed and am still enjoying the fun of hammock trials and tribulations. Same goes for stoves, backpacks, camp and hiking clothes, boots, meals, cameras, doo-dads and whatnots and all the accoutrement collected through the comfort quest. Money and time well spent. Fun, excercise, places revealed, self discovery, mad money spent, life changing. Would not change a thing.
Shug the Sap

Amen! Preach on brother Shug!

[old creek]

I would skip the pad thing, other than that it has been and is fun learning.

creek

[OneClick]

I started out pretty strong with a WBBB, WB Mamajamba tarp, and a HG Incubator. I did the sleeping bag instead of a TQ and that worked fine. I just switched to a TQ to reduce bulk and it's a whole lot easier to manage in the hammock.

If I could do it all over again, knowing what I know now, I'd probably open one of those 0% interest for 18months credit cards, load it up with everything I wanted (2 hammocks, 3 sets of TQ/UQ, tarp) and pay it off gradually while enjoying all that new gear! Roughly $1500, or $83/mo to be done before even really getting started That's eating out a few times, skipping stupid impulse buys, saving here and there. Not bad at all.

[vtrek]

My shoulda was to buy abridge hammock in the beginning. I am a stomach sleeper, why in the world did I buy a standard lay on your back hammock!? Almost gave up on hanging because I wasn't getting a lot of sleep. I now have the Warbonnet RidgeRunner and actually sleep well. I also spent too much trying not to spend what quality equipment costs. Of course in the end I get the quality equipment and have spent even more than I needed to.

[Grumpy Squatch]

I would have sprung for a tarp with doors first thing. I tried to use my hammock during the same early-season (May) that I used my tent and got caught in a colder than expected weekend with temps down in the mid 20s. The wind shifted every night but the last to always end up blowing in the end of my tarp, making for tough nights, regardless of how I tried to set up to avoid it.

[Reubster24]

I wish I could turn back time and not buy my eno jungle nest. Biggest waste of money. Way to short and heavy for what it is.

[Gideon]

My thoughts are similar to many:

1. Skip pads, go straight to quality TQ/UQ's; don't try to make 3/4 quilts work in really cold weather, go full length.
2. I'd go straight to a cuben fiber tarp "with doors"; gets you all the coverage you needed to really button up at a miniscule weight
3. I'd skip the heavier hammocks and go with some of the lighter options like those from Dream Hammocks
4. I would always have an integrated bug net (Missouri ) or have a separate net-less version for the middle of winter
5. I'd go straight to a whoopie sling suspension with whoopie hooks and Dutch clips; I'd skip the buckles, marlin spike hitches, etc.
6. I'd buy at least 3 set's of quilts to cover all seasons/temps instead of trying to make do with a single temp rating for so long

I think that's about it

Gideon

[alifeoutdoors]

My big regret that I wish I could turn back the clock for is sticking with it. I got into a Hennessey back in 2002, took it up to the BWCA in May and immediately discovered what CBS was all about. I couldn't quite get the hang of the suspension system either and my rear would end up brushing the ground by the time morning rolled around. I sold the hammock when I got back and didn't look at hanging again for almost seven years. That's seven years on the ground I can't ever take back. I really wish I would've kept with it so I could have seen all the innovations first hand that came later, underquilts, whoopies, group hangs etc.