Took two fellow campers on their first hammock outing this past weekend. We were able to cobble enough gear together to give them the general idea. We did just one night in a local wildlife preserve called the Green Belt.
I slept in my new Ridgerunner, one guy in my Dutch PolyD, and the other in a Yukon Outfitters. I used a closed cell pad in the RR, I let one guy use my incubator, and the other guy used his thermarest pad. Low in the night was 55°. Safe to say they are converts. Both slept comfortably and warm. Both had a little calf ridge, but not enough to deter them. Success!
The preserve has a main road/trail that connects with with two other sections, and has a short spur trail that follows the Shell Rock River. It has a campground which is underutilized but well maintained. We hopped on to the spur and hiked in less than 1/4 mile to a spot that we had priorly scouted as a good hang location. It doesn't ever get camped but had a make shift fire-ring. We set up the hammocks, made a steak dinner smothered in caramelized onions and sat on the limestone cliff and watched the sun set. (may have brought a case of beer up, too)
Earlier this year we started a FB group for local-to-our-area outdoor enthusiasts we call the "Pack and Paddle Club". These two guys, and maybe two more from the group will be coming to the Iowa Hang in Nov. I am looking forward to taking them to their first hang. I hope to see them catch the "bug".
Hammock Town(Yukon left, RidgeRunner middle, Dutch PolyD right):
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Originally Posted by johnspenn
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