Howdy gents. While I hail from Maryland, Chicago Illinois has been my home for 9 years. Camping started out as a fun summer activity with friends. I loved finding beautiful vistas and secluded nooks where I could feel small amongst the giant natural world. But sleeping comfortably has always been a challenge for me on the ground.
My first hammock experience was with a $30 blue hammock from amazon, which had a friendly side pouch for a beverage. I bought my friend one as well so we could lounge around in national parks during a road trip. It was this experience that I first tried to sleep outside, while I loved it, I saw may things could be improved - ending the trip by attaching a full Coleman tent to the corners of my hammock to avoid bugs! But it was that process, of tinkering, finding improvements, impromptu solutions... is what I love about hammock camping.
I worked as a grip on film sets for many years up until recently. We controlled the light which involved rigging large 12'x12' frames of silk outside in all sorts of conditions to control lighting. Doing this was some hybrid of sailing, art and engineering; but required a lot of knots, rope handling and rigging. But this job was ultimately a craft, and here I and discovered the joy of doing a clean, safe and efficient job - but always improving.
Finding different ways to find a flow state in my life has been exciting. Flow state is when you are so involved and passionate about doing something you loose track of time. Your skill amount perfectly matches with the challenge at hand.
Hammock camping is like an engineering zen. There is so much to learn, equipment to dream up, err, to save up... to get. It is the challenge of finding those small challenges each time to improve upon. But it is equally about finding your way to meditate in the woods. I love listening to podcasts and looking at the sun projecting onto my tarp through the leaves.
I love finding branches to spread my Amazon OneWind tarp apart using its great elastic tie outs. It worked wonderfully in heavy rain (my favorite condition), snow and all. Until one gnarly branch which I messily rigged over my tarps ridgeline poked a hole in the top. Not realizing this until the next rain camp, I had to think fast when I noticed it. I found a large stuff sack and inserted it through the hole and expanded it on the top side, shedding rain. This was a fun time, as the rain wasn't too hard yet, haha.
After a year of having my OneWind kit, I have recently upgraded to an insanely well crafted custom Dream Hammock Sparrow with 1.8 Airwave, which has a crazy cotton soft feel and a Dutchware Wide Winter Tarp with internal double pole mod. I use a Thermarest Argo blanket and 40 degree UQ for the summer. But I almost love winter camping even more. I use a 0 degree top and bottom quilt from UGQ.
I think my suspension is the last element that is yet to be upgraded, although my cinch buckles still work just fine. That guy on youtube, 'the Marine' says the superior hammock suspension system is easier to adjust with load, and even though I rarely do that, I am tempted by its sweet siren song of, 'just a little bit more efficient'.
I'm looking forward to contribute to the community here, exchange ideas and learn about great places to hang.
To quote the wise words of a fellow newbie who posted just before me, Im_Your_Dingleberry in his famous "Howdy" post, Hi I'm Alex and I have a hammock problem.
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