Hi from Northern California

**SutterButtes** · 04-12-2019, 20:26

Hi everyone. I am a total noob to hammock camping. I took naps on a hammock when I was in Guatemala but have never yet slept in one overnight.

I grew up camping in an Apache pop-up trailer until I was about 11 and then tent camping. However, I haven't even tent camped in the last 18 or so years. The closest I've been to camping lately is to stay in the Housekeeping Camp in Yosemite.

My brother and sister-in-law have gotten into backpacking and hammock camping in the last couple of years. They love it.
My brother made them some hammocks and an asym tarp and a winter tarp and a couple of costco down throw underquilts.

My husband and I usually hike to the top of Nevada Falls every time we go to Yosemite and I always saw all the backpackers and thought that I would love to do that but thought it was too complicated and I would never be able to do it. But now my brother has inspired me to learn. He even loaned me his copy of The Ultimate Hang.

I've been reading here, watching YouTube videos, and listening to podcasts about backpacking and hammocks for months now. I plan to learn to sew (finally!) and DIY most of our kit for my husband and I. If my brother could learn to sew and MYOG then I can too. So thanks to everyone for all of the wonderful information that you've made available here and on YouTube. And I hope you will have patience with my inevitable questions. I love to learn and understand how things work and why.

**sidneyhornblower** · 04-14-2019, 09:55

Hi SutterButtes and welcome to the forums. If your brother has loaned you "The Ultimate Hang" book, you've already got the first thing I would have suggested you buy BEFORE purchasing any gear. Derek's book is a treasure. Check out the stickies on the various forums for a quick way to come up to speed and toss your questions into the mix. Somebody will chime in with opinions galore.
Cheers.

**Grunt** · 04-14-2019, 13:48

Welcome, SB! You are in a beautiful part of the world to get into hammock camping. Enjoy!

**SutterButtes** · 04-17-2019, 15:13

Originally Posted by sidneyhornblower

Hi SutterButtes and welcome to the forums. If your brother has loaned you "The Ultimate Hang" book, you've already got the first thing I would have suggested you buy BEFORE purchasing any gear. Derek's book is a treasure. Check out the stickies on the various forums for a quick way to come up to speed and toss your questions into the mix. Somebody will chime in with opinions galore.
Cheers.

Thanks sidneyhornblower. I am trying to learn as much as I can so I can make informed decisions when I buy or DIY gear. I have read most of the book so far and lots here on the forums. I've watched hours and hours of YouTube videos as well, especially Shug and Sintax77 and I just finished catching up on the HYOH podcast yesterday. I've also set up my brothers DIY Hexon 1.0 and 1.6 hammocks as well as some DIY tarps in a local park (I don't have any trees at my house). So I'm starting to narrow down my options as to what I want. I do have lots of questions still but so far have been trying to do searches to find the answers.

**SutterButtes** · 04-17-2019, 15:20

Originally Posted by Grunt

Welcome, SB! You are in a beautiful part of the world to get into hammock camping. Enjoy!

Thanks Grunt. I can't wait to get out and explore the wilderness areas around here! I've lived here all my life and while I've been to a few places to go camping I'm just now finding out how many awesome places are so close by. I didn't even know "wilderness areas" existed until last year!