Hi all, I'm Marshall and I'm posting this from the serene banks of the Chesapeake bay, here in Maryland. I just recently started hanging, however I grew up camping, backpacking and exploring the woods around the area I grew up in. As far as gear goes, my first hammock was just a simple diy whipped end that I made from a nylon/ satin kinda blended bed sheet lol. My 4yo daughter has since claimed that , so since I was still figuring all this hammock business out and I'm kind of on a limited budget for buying gear right now, I just bought a cheap Walmart Equip to start with ,an8x10 poly tarp for cover and a "20 degree" Ozark trail mummy bag. And it worked. Well, kind of. Being that my house is waterfront and I have a lot of woods around me I have a severe spider and bug issue to deal with. At first I made my own bug net of sorts using 2 pieces of flexible fiberglass screen draped from my ridgeline. That kinda worked but wasn't really giving me the full protection I needed. So I upgraded and bought the Equip mosquito net hammock. For only being $40 and from Walmart I'm vary impressed with it so far. Triple stitched, nice zippers, good construction. I did upgrade the suspension and used UST 1100 paracord in a small continuous loop thru the end channels with some webbing around the trees and I attach the two with a Beckett hitch. That got me able to sleep comftably but now I needed better weather protection. Enter the 10x10 Snugpag all weather shelter. Now im bug free and dry. Next step was to upgrade my method of staying warm. Since its summer I don't get too many nights below 70 here and the humidity is unreal at times. I did ditch the mummy bag and upgrade to the Snugpak TQ and Snugpak jungle blanket. So far I'm vary vary impressed with both of them. I did also pick up a USGI green patrol bag for $10 from amazon to supplement those on chillier nights. Here on the bay it can get vary windy and cool at times when the breeze is off the water. I have a lot of versatility with this system so far. But, the winters here can be crazy so I do need a decent UQ. Im currently getting ready to turn the jungle blanket into a diy UQ. I really want either the Snugpak or DD version, but I can't seem to find them ANYWHERE. I do plan on buying one or the other when the seasons change, but for now to get me through those cooler nights I'm gonna use the diy uq. If anyone has any tips to help me with it or a reasonably priced one for sale, please let me know. I had thought about the Snugpak cocoon for cold weather but the reviews of its construction are really bad. I think that's about it. I'm always looking to learn and would love to meet some fellow Marylanders and do a group hang this summer. I'm vary open to critique and all tips, help, comments and knowledge are welcome. I have watched all of Shugs vids and visited theultimatehang.com. A big thanks to both of those guys, they really inspired me to make my first hammock after about a month of toying with the idea.
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