The Best New Hammocks - Backpacker Magazine

[Dutch]

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do

[Slugger]

I let my Backpacker subscription expire once my eyes were opened here on Hammock Forums. The (uber-expensive) gear they were trying to shove down our throats, the overbearing coverage of the west hiking areas...made it irrelevant for me to read and I got bored quickly. Good riddance.

[KBr00ks]

One thing to remember about paper magazines: they cost a lot to print. Add shipping/mailing on top of that, and you can begin to see why courting advertisers is the only way to stay afloat.

The web has its drawbacks, but one big plus is that it's relatively cheap.

An aside: Talked to another acquaintance recently who bought a big-name "double" hammock for a camping trip with her husband and wondered why they couldn't get comfy and didn't get much sleep...

[OneClick]

One thing to remember about paper magazines: they cost a lot to print. Add shipping/mailing on top of that, and you can begin to see why courting advertisers is the only way to stay afloat.

Absolutely true. Popular Photography just called it quits this year after 80 years, citing that very reason (in addition to everything moving online/technology). Even their online version threw in the towel.

[dither]

Its all about the money. Not about the product. Need to keep advertisers happy to pay the bills. I haven't subscribed to anything unless I need to burn some Airline miles.

[alifeoutdoors]

I let my Backpacker subscription expire once my eyes were opened here on Hammock Forums. The (uber-expensive) gear they were trying to shove down our throats, the overbearing coverage of the west hiking areas...made it irrelevant for me to read and I got bored quickly. Good riddance.

That's why I gave up on them a decade or so ago. It seemed like if it wasn't out west or there weren't mountains involved you didn't get more than a paragraph. The obvious pay to play with their advertising was just the icing on the cake.

[Big Flounder]

I dropped my subscription to most magazines since a lot of them, Backpacker included, have become mostly nothing but catalogs advertising for whoever spends money with them. Seems like every other issue is a gear issue. That being said, like Mark stated earlier, I too like to have a print magazine in my hands now and then. I'm stubborn and don't care to read books on a tablet or computer, and I prefer my magazines the same way. But I find I can pick up a copy of whatever magazine I'm in the mood for that particular day rather than subscribe and get 6 issues of a gear catalog.

Watching the slow death of print magazines is tough and I sympathize with them, but most of the magazines offer a digital subscription option so they'll hopefully survive on some level. If they don't, maybe it's in part because of their content. For example, I love to bowhunt and most bowhunting magazines nowadays are nothing but gear issues as well. But one called Traditional Bowhunter (for us longbow and recurve shooters) refuses to sacrifice good content in order to advertise for bigger companies. They're surviving alright and produce a great publication full of stories, informational articles, etc and no "gear issues" or catalog style crap. It probably helps that the founder/editor, a friend of mine, is as stubborn as they come. Lol!

Anyway, I'm rambling but dangit, I think some magazines (Backpacker included) need to focus on better content and less on tooting the horns of their highest paying supporters.

All this being said, when is someone going to start publishing a hammock camping magazine? Lol

[Billy Goat]

While advertising CERTAINLY plays into it, where are *most* people getting their gear? The average person is rolling into REI (or other similar outfitter), touching stuff, checking things out and comparing, then making a purchase and taking it home that day. The average person isn't willing to wait for gear to arrive when the manufacturer gets around to making it and sending it to them. There are certainly a lot of cottage manufacturers that are fairly quick, and a few that have some stock stuff, but most can't afford to have ready made inventory. We now live in a society that needs instant gratification. Regardless of advertising budgets and expenditures, the cottage industry can't cater to the average Joe. That also plays a big part into what's written about in magazines.

Eventually the folks that check out hammocks will almost undoubtedly wind up here to find out why their hammock sucks or why they can't get comfortable or stay warm, and they will be exposed to the better cottage vendors and possibly see the light and reset their whole rig. Or they'll think a hammock is crap and decide to stay on the ground. The latter is also usually the person who would hang their hammock with paracord or some other string, giving us all a bad name and causing certain parks and wilderness areas to ban hammocks. The commercially available equipment will likely either be a gateway or a deterrent. Both cases I generally approve of.

[OneClick]

While advertising CERTAINLY plays into it, where are *most* people getting their gear?

I'm the last person to ask that because I assume everyone shops on Amazon or at least online. Easier, cheaper, convenient as hell. Amazon. It's the answer to everything. What time is it? Amazon. Excuse me sir, you look familiar...don't I know you? Amazon. How old is your little girl now? Amazon.

[VictoriaGuy]

I wonder if the magazine review writers contacted any of the 'cottage/boutique' vendors for (returnable) samples for review.
Do small vendors provide such samples?
Also, most folks nowadays aren't very fond of the 'old' concept of delayed gratification, so being put on a wait list to get hammock gear isn't very appealing. If it isn't available locally or 'one click and two days for shipping', they aren't interested.
Magazines have enough problems nowadays- they are probably sensitive about listing 'unobtanium' items as best buys.
But, these thoughts are all suppositions.....