Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1
    New Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2021
    Location
    Kingdom of the Netherlands, Noord-Brabant
    Hammock
    DD Hammocks Superlight range
    Tarp
    DD Superlight
    Insulation
    underblanket
    Suspension
    whoopie slings?
    Posts
    22

    Good morning from The Netherlands

    Hi all!

    I decided to join this forum yesterday because I intend to use my hammock more.

    Some background;
    I'm an industrial engineer in daily life, designing the automation elements of bridges, locks and sluices wit System Engineering principles, or managing information security as CISO.

    During the weekends (and often weekday evenings too) I do some volunteer work; I am a scouts leader for a group of 25 scouts aged 11-15, I do this every Saturday with 4 other leaders. Second thing I do to occupy my Saturdays is to provide swimming lessons to people with a mental disability, that's voluntary/charity work as well. I hope this will start up again soon, we aren't able to give swimming lessons since the pandemic hit.

    How did I end up in a hammock?
    part 1: "hammock = bad for your back"
    When I was 16 my group had a summer camp where we either made simple individual shelters for the week or slept in hammocks. I figured hammocks would be bad for one's back (banana shape and all) so I opted for a shelter. The guy I made a shelter with was "not very good" at it so he got a shelter after 3 hours and I ultimately had to put my canvas/tarp next to someone's else's tarp, fold it back to the ground and sleep under that.
    I was laying on top of a tree root, and as soon as it started to rain there was a big pool of water 5cm from my face. Needless to say I did not sleep at all, my back hurt a lot and my canvas was wasted.

    Part 2: good to be proven wrong

    Luckily there was a shop at this camp site, I went there, bought the cheapest hammock I could find and after some trouble I hung this between 2 trees. Guess what, I slept great for the rest of the week.
    The next summers I used this hammock with very good results, but later on I became a leader of the girl cub scouts and there I could not use it.

    However, during my study I lived in Sofia (BG) for half a year and when I entered my apartment for the first time I immediately saw 2 big hooks, across the room from eachother. Landlord used to have a hammock there.. So I asked the first friend who visited me to bring my hammock along.

    The past 2 years I have been a scouts leader and there I can sleep in a my hammock once more. With 2 other leaders using a hammock this is quite nice. Three of us sleeping side by side, great success. Minus the wind, that's been the only issue we had. Oh and a leaking canvas/tarp once, but that is why you have some backup stuff.

    However i noticed my hammock was falling apart so I treated myself with new gear. Got myself a lot of cool stuff, and I hope to find tips & tricks here, as well as a few people who'd like to go on a weekend trip or something like that.

    Cheers

  2. #2
    Phantom Grappler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Denton NC
    Hammock
    WildernessLogics 12x6
    Tarp
    HG cuben 13ridge12
    Insulation
    TopQuiltUnderQuilt
    Suspension
    S and D
    Posts
    4,925
    So good to hear your story. You can learn much about hammocks and hammock camping here.
    And if you can go camping with other experienced hammock campers, you will be able to see different solutions for challenges of weather and gear. And being an engineer, you might have your own ideas to add to the mix

    Phantom

  3. #3
    New Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2021
    Location
    Kingdom of the Netherlands, Noord-Brabant
    Hammock
    DD Hammocks Superlight range
    Tarp
    DD Superlight
    Insulation
    underblanket
    Suspension
    whoopie slings?
    Posts
    22
    Hi!
    lots to be learned indeed, most of it is basically trying and getting comfortable with my gear.

    I hope there are some people from the BeNeLux or northeastern Germany around here to go camping with, because I don't feel comfortable going out on my own at first. We will see.

    in regards to engineering, i think my scouts knowledge is more useful than my engineering knowledge. tying knots and such is more useful with hammocks than being able to draw and design processes.
    the most useful skill of my education is probably the urge to look for continuous improvement lol

  4. #4
    Senior Member brianb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Hammock
    diy insulated 10.5
    Tarp
    DIY Asym
    Insulation
    DIY Down UQ/TQ
    Suspension
    becket hitch
    Posts
    754
    Hi Ko, congratulations on the new gear. The "urge to look for continuous improvement" is part of the fun with hammock camping. When I first started using a hammock for sleeping outdoors it amazed me how much fun it was to tweak my setup and try to gain little efficiencies here and there. Sounds like you're in the honeymoon phase with your gear, which is a lot of fun and should be enjoyed as much as possible. Good luck and don't underestimate your engineering experience. Once you get comfortable with your gear I think you'll find that the organized way of thinking that is common with engineers will be an advantage. You'll be coming up with new and different ways to solve problems with your shelter, suspension, insulation, etc. Some of them will work and some won't, but there's a lot of fun and satisfaction to be found in the process and the results. Even the failures can be fun.

    I hope you can join up with others in your area. I lived in Dusseldorf for a while, and I know backpacking in your part of the world works a bit different than it does here in the U.S. -- Good Luck

    Brian
    Crayons - they might look different, but they all taste the same

  5. #5
    New Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2021
    Location
    Kingdom of the Netherlands, Noord-Brabant
    Hammock
    DD Hammocks Superlight range
    Tarp
    DD Superlight
    Insulation
    underblanket
    Suspension
    whoopie slings?
    Posts
    22
    Really helpful to read this forum, there are so many things to learn!

    And yes it's different here than to the US or Sweden. For example I am not allowed in the forest after daylight hours, let alone camp in them. Otherwise we'd do that far more often.
    Oh and everything is man-made, there is not a lot of nature, let alone hills. I just read a sticky about "old coot's tricks" from Peter_pan iirc and he's talking about finding the right side of the valley and walking to the other side of the ridge, haha there is no mountain or hill in a 100km from here!

  6. #6
    DutchConch's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Key Largo, FL
    Hammock
    Blackbird XLC/Eldorado
    Tarp
    HG dyneema
    Insulation
    Diamondback,wookie
    Suspension
    Spider/Beetle
    Posts
    132
    Images
    37
    Welcome to the forum.

    My parents are from Hillegom and I have hundreds of cousins spread around the Netherlands. I spent two summers there with my tante when I was young but that was in the 1970s.
    We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing – George Bernard Shaw

  7. #7
    New Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2021
    Location
    Kingdom of the Netherlands, Noord-Brabant
    Hammock
    DD Hammocks Superlight range
    Tarp
    DD Superlight
    Insulation
    underblanket
    Suspension
    whoopie slings?
    Posts
    22
    Just decided with a friend to go and do a hike in 2 weeks, stay tuned!

  • + New Posts
  • Similar Threads

    1. Good morning from Virginia
      By canIgotoo in forum Introduce Yourself
      Replies: 8
      Last Post: 10-05-2016, 08:07
    2. Good morning from the UK
      By nicfrombristol in forum Introduce Yourself
      Replies: 12
      Last Post: 02-19-2015, 12:16
    3. Good Morning!
      By genixia in forum General Hammock Talk
      Replies: 5
      Last Post: 01-19-2015, 19:24
    4. Good morning, from the woods!
      By iStCrow in forum Trip Reports
      Replies: 3
      Last Post: 07-21-2013, 20:46
    5. Good Morning !
      By Muskrat in forum Hammock Gear
      Replies: 3
      Last Post: 11-21-2010, 23:18

    Tags for this Thread

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •