Don’t be so nervous about smaller tarps, no bug net, and no floor.
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Don’t be so nervous about smaller tarps, no bug net, and no floor.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If I knew then what I know now, I would have done different. If I had not done what I did, I would not know what to do different. Does this make sense to anybody else? Just the rainy Saturday musings of an old man.
I fully understand it. If you hadn't gone through all that went before you wouldn't be where you are now, with the wisdom gained from trying things that didn't work for you.
My wife sometimes muses about some unhappy years in the past. I tell her "If you're happy today you had to go through all that to get to where you are now."
Like that Snickers commercial with the tattoo... "No Regerts"
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
ANYTHING more than the nothing I knew the first time I tried using a hammock. I just wanted something softer to sleep on (M901 ITV suck if your 6'2" - I slept where you see the red line in on the model), and mosquitos at Ft Hood, Tx are relentless....
It would be decades later at a lake house before I tried another hammock, liked it and started thinking about giving it another go.
I may be the odd duck. Then again, maybe not. I would not have changed a thing. Started with a HH Explorer Delux with Hex fly because I could get started immediately. Within a couple trips I got a 20° HG UQ. Been hanging for over 10 years. I outfitted the whole family. Got over 20 hammocks of different sizes & manufactures as well as 7-8 sets of quilts. Lost my bladder to cancer & had to go to RR so my night bag could drain easier. It's been fun. Rode the motorcycle & hung Wednesday night @ 25°.
The way I look @ it is, I don't play golf, I don't chase the young wimen @ the bars, I hate foot ball & don't care for any sports except motorcycles & hanging. All good money spent & a he'll of a lot of fun & experience @ a great price.
Even with 2 top quilts I still prefer my 0° goose down rectangle LL Bean sleeping bag. I do not hike.
FirstHammock.jpg
This is what I thought a hammock was. A couple of bucks at the Dollar Store and I LIKED IT!
Photo was taken on North shore of Vargas Island (north of Tofino). Yes, I had sunscreen on. Maybe someday I’ll adjust the photo and take some of the red out.
I actually slept in that at night. Then I found out about this company, Hennessy. Then I found out about WarBonnet, and WildernessLogics, and Butt in a Sling, and DutchWare, and Hammeck, and SLD, AND the HF For Sale sub-forum.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
The origin of, and solution to cold butt syndrome. My first hang ever was in October of 2017 and it was misery. Then I found Shug's content and was sorted out.
"If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done." - L Wittgenstein
1. When I started, I got really lucky and stumbled into a group of fellow hammock campers who hang almost every month. Attending hammock hangs early and often is the best advice I can give to anyone. You'll see many other set-ups, have knowledgeable campers to ask questions to, make friends to adventure with, and have resources for trading & buying gear.
2. The second best piece of advice I was given early in my hanging was from a fellow hammocker who said after five years of hammock camping he still didn't know all of his knots and most of the time just made it up on the fly. Knowing there wasn't a perfect way to do things and you didn't have to figure it all out allowed me to relax and not stress about remembering all my knots, hitches, and angles.
3. Being the frugal German Lutheran that I am, I taught myself to sew and splice and make all my gear (most of it). I wish I would have known how easy sewing and splicing can be and I could have made all my gear from the very start. Making my own gear has been so rewarding.
◘ May 17-19: BACONFEST @ Interstate WI SP ◘ Oct 3-6: miCHILIgan @ Middleville, MI ◘ YouTube: karlawithak216 ◘ Instagram: i.am.karla.with.a.k ◘ 99 months
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