I was excited to be one of the early members of Hammock Forums, when it formed in 2006!
The early days were exciting! Lots of ideas being shared and discussed freely.
I made a few contributions but never did see the need to promote myself as the one who first came up with a new idea.
It was good enough to know that some of my ideas were found useful by others.
But over the years, some of these ideas, and variations, have become common place in the now huge hammock community, so I have recently made mention of them to a few others.
From the looks and lack of words, it seemed apparent that they thought I was full of baloney.
So, I'm going to go through a few of these ideas, some of which I have dated pictures in my HF Gallery to support.
These page #s are as I see them. Hopefully you will too.
To see them, go to my profile and click on Gallery.
You can better follow the timeline by starting with the oldest mentioned page (page 21).
One of the first was that I passed along an idea that was not mine but became popular and widely used.
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Tarp Side Pull outs
Just before I discovered the hammockers on White Blaze, I had purchased a Tarp Tent kit from Ray Way.
A seamstress friend helped me in sewing the tarp with its pullouts.
It was a little short, so that same friend helped me sew my first DIY tarp, with side pull outs.
I used it at the 1st Annual Winter Hang, in January 2007. I have pictures of it in my Hammock Forums gallery on pages 21, 17 and 18.
Tarp pull outs were nothing new. I've seen older pictures of mountain tents using them, partly for stabilizing the tents in high winds.
But no one in the hammock community was using them on their tarps.
In the following months, there was discussion and questions about spacing and how to.
I posted a picture and a drawing on pages 10 and 11.
The placement on my first DIY was not good.
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Also at the First HF Winter Hang, I used a Gear Hammock I had come up with. People asked more about it, so I posted a drawing of it. Page 20
I remember Just Jeff and others finding it interesting and checking it out, up close and personal.
Not very long after that, Just Jeff made his own version that doubled as a backpack cover.
It can still be purchased on the JRB web site. And there are other makers of gear slings.
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in February 2007, I designed what I called Storage End Covers. Pages 14 - 15.
A lot of people found them interesting. Maybe they contributed somewhat to some of the storage options for the hammock ends, that are out there today.
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Netless Hennessy
Back in the day, there was discussion about how some liked the lay of the Hennessy Hammocks but not the bottom entry. People wondered if it would change the lay if it didn't have the bug net.
So, I asked my hammock camping friend if he would let me cut the net off his Hennessy. He said, go for it.
So, I was the first to cut the net off of a Hennessy.
I believe, sometime after that, Hennessy began to offer a netless version.
And I think that may have been the start of 2Q, ZQ's zipper business.
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Mesh Tarp Sleeves
I don't remember the year, but I started a thread about mesh tarp sleeves.
I wish I could find these older threads but even AT Troll said he didn't think there was a way to find them.
I think I may have presented the idea to the Jacks (JRB) but it was a no go.
So, at a trail Days, I told Tom Hennessy about my idea. He liked it enough that he got out his little recorder and asked me to talk about it again.
He never did anything with it but several cottage vendors, like Two Speed, offers them now.
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Feel free to ask questions. Hopefully, some of the old timers will chime in.
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In my gallery, a few other pictures some might find of interest are...
The first SEHHA (South East Hammock Association) at Hot Springs, NC with Ed Spear.
Young Blood's first showing of the original Winter Tarp to be made and sold by Speer Hammocks.
Fabio and others at the 3rd Annual H F Winter Hang, 2009.
And lots of experimentation and spit balling.
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