Hi all, a few months ago I came across the idea of adding a hammock to my overnight hiking kit after listening to an interview with Shug on Backpacker Radio. That piqued my interest so I checked out a few of Shug’s videos and decided I would give it a go. I’ve had never really slept well in a tent and thought this might be fun to try out. So after some research I decided to purchase a Wanderlust Kit from HG. The review of the kit by Adventure Alan was very helpful too.
I made a pipe stand in my backyard and tested out the kit a few times and slept pretty well. But the backyard is not quite the same as the bush is it? My first opportunity to take it camping in the bush happened last weekend and so I thought I would introduce myself and share some of how it went.
No doubt it was the best camp sleep I’ve had in a long time. I had no back soreness whatsoever. I am in my early 50s and I’ve been doing overnight pack walks regularly for the last 10 years or so. I had kind of accepted that bad sleep was just a price I had to pay for the pleasure of being out in the bush. When ground sleeping I might sleep for around 3-4 hours on my back, then wake up from having to go to the toilet or just from lower back soreness. Then for the rest of the night I would sleep side to side, changing every hour or so after waking up from being sore; not really sleeping, just dozing really. Maybe now I won’t be paying the price so much, a decent sleep very much possible in a hammock.
It was a warm night with clear skies so I did not use the tarp. It was great to just gaze up at the stars and then drift off to sleep. It definitely felt closer to nature, although the constant mozzie buzz soon had me putting in earplugs. I woke up a couple of times with a slight tingle in my feet, not so strong as numbness, but enough of a feeling to make it a little uncomfortable. I would then kick out one knee for a while with the foot on that side resting along the straight leg’s calf. I’m not sure if I had the foot end too high or it was my feet pressing against the side of the hammock. I think maybe the former so I’ll try the foot end a bit lower next time.
There were lots of trees at the camp site but it was surprisingly hard to find two suitable trees to hang from. In the bush where I was (Gippsland, south-east Vic, Australia), the trees were predominantly large gum trees in very dry bush so the threat of falling branches was on my mind. I also noticed there were plenty of single trees that would work but that wasn’t going to help me. A Tensa Trekking pole might be the go for the future I think. In any case I now know what many on this forum have said to people just starting out, that it takes a while and a bit of fiddling to get it all working the way you want it to. That suits me, trying new things and getting my gear dialled in is all part of the fun.
The reaction of my fellow hikers was interesting. They were all experienced walkers but had never hiked with anyone using hammock before. Their reactions ranged from interested to bemused to dismissive. No matter, I loved it and I’ll be taking the hammock out in future as much as possible. The Wanderlust kit from HG was excellent, very easy to set up. I am 185cm (6’1) and 102kgs (225lb) and I felt very comfortable and secure in the hammock.
Thanks to Shug for all the awesome material that got me interested, informed, entertained and ultimately decided to giving hammocking a go.
Cheers!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by iPlod
Bookmarks