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  1. #1
    Member Sintax77's Avatar
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    VIDEO: Which hammock camping gear to buy / upgrade first?

    Someone asked me recently for advice on which items to invest in first for transitioning into hammock camping. I made a video response with my own personal experiences, but I figured it would make for some decent conversation here as well. Obviously, some of these items are necessities and bringing them is non-negotiable, but the assumption is that you could go budget on certain items for the time being, and invest more heavily in other items first.

    How would you rank these items?

    • Cuben Fiber Tarp
    • Down Under Quilt
    • Down Top Quilt
    • Hammock
    • Backpack


    I'm that guy from YouTube that likes to walk around in the woods and talk to a camera... Check me out on Youtube, Sintax77.com, Twitter or Facebook

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    this was the trap Shug laid for me

    I'd been out of hiking for decades

    for me, the item that kickstarts it has to be the backpack

    without that, you just can't do it

  3. #3
    Senior Member TrailSlug's Avatar
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    Which to upgrade first? Insulation to me is the most important part of hammock hanging assuming you have a hammock to insulate. So for me if I had everything I needed to hang then I would upgrade in this order:
    - Insulation
    - Tarp
    - Hammock
    - Backpack assuming one backpacks and not car camping.

  4. #4

    Join Date
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    If you have everything you need for tent camping/backpacking you need a hammock and tarp. Pad and sleeping bag can keep you warm at the beginning.

    After that under quilt would be first upgrade. Then topquilt.

    Followed by a few dozen more hammocks and tarps and multiple quilts for all temperatures. A couple of backpacks also because you don't want to leave one brand out.

    This reminds me. I need another pack.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

  5. #5
    Trail Runner's Avatar
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    I was a tarp camper before I discovered the hammock so I already had everything I needed to hammock camp except the hammock. The ultralight bug bit not longer after so that was a factor in what and when I upgraded. I won't get into the fact that I now have multiple hammocks, packs, tarps, quilts and so on.

    1. Hammock
    2. Top Quilt
    3. Underquilt
    4. Backpack
    5. Cuben Tarp
    "Behold, as a wild a** of the desert, go I forth to my work." -- Guerney Halleck

  6. #6
    Senior Member Rouskof's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nodust View Post
    If you have everything you need for tent camping/backpacking you need a hammock and tarp. Pad and sleeping bag can keep you warm at the beginning.

    After that under quilt would be first upgrade. Then topquilt.

    Followed by a few dozen more hammocks and tarps and multiple quilts for all temperatures. A couple of backpacks also because you don't want to leave one brand out.

    This reminds me. I need another pack.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    +1 :-)

    I think something important is to emphasize that it is important to get good quality stuff from notorious cottage vendors, cause this way you can always sell this gear if you need your money back, and the experience will be a good one, guaranteed.

    Thinking back, I started by buying the hammock and, since I wasn't so sure I would like it: a half UQ ! :-)

    One thing I did wrong, looking back retrospectively, is thinking I needed an expensive "all in one" hammock (BBXLC) to be comfortable.
    That's something you do not figure out easily in the first place that a 60$ gathered end is as comfortable as a 300$ hammock with removable zippered bugnet / top cover.
    It is only after having tried the BBXLC, that I figured out that what I really wanted was a simple and light gathered end. I would have saved time, money and energy if I had known that first. But I guess you can't be sure of it unless you try both. Better start with the simplest and cheapest option, though, and then upgrade if it is not satisfactory.

    For me, the good hammock experience is the simplest: a bare hammock with a ridgeline and an underquilt first, be it a half one. The underquilt, this loveliest thing in the world, is really making the hammock comfortable, and it is important to experience this sensation to get into it, in my opinion.

    To be specific, I would recommend a Wooki, as the most comfortable uq IMHO.
    Last edited by Rouskof; 09-17-2017 at 11:56.

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