Signed up to to do two trips this summer. Doing a semi self-supported week long bike ride across Kansas and week long hike across the Rocky Mountain National Park. Wanted a comfortable, light weight sleep system that was versatile. After much research a finally bought a WBBB XLC and haven't look back.
I have always camped but usually car camping. When I decided to go lightweight, I started looking at reviews for lightweight tents. I honestly only thought of hammocks as the rope hammocks people have in their back yards. I came across a few reviews on hammocks. Bought a wally world special for $30 (built well and works well by the way). I like the versatility, comfort, convenience.
In the past year or so I decided I wanted to do backpacking in addition to straight day hikes and wanted some lighter weight options (I prefer to spend my weight on food) while still being comfortable in a variety of conditions. Hanging seemed pretty logical to me so here I am, trying it out.
I was looking for a bivy, and found hammocks on the same site... Looked much more comfortable! And it could be just as light, provided I would use a tarp anyway when using a bivy.
Now that I've been looking at how I could have a set-up that would also work when above the tree line, it would not be lighter after all because it would probably even include a bivy - but it would only have to be an emergency bivy so that makes it lighter.
I have been getting back in to camping (used to camp all the time when I was a kid, but hadn't done it much as an adult). The last time I went camping, I could barely sleep because the ground was so hard!
Fast forward to last fall, and I was looking at getting a tent and hiking gear set for this year. Whatever weird algorithm Facebook uses picked up on that and popped up some hammock ads. I got curious and started searching online. That brought me across all sorts of videos, so I decided I needed to try this and picked up a Kammok Roo. When did I do this? December! In Wisconsin! I was just able to get out last weekend and absolutely loooove hanging! I only went out Friday night, but it was amazingly comfortable and fun. I came back and had some serious trouble falling asleep on my Serta mattress on Saturday night. That was pretty eye opening.
I'm now trying to convert friends
I have been not enjoying sleeping on the ground for some time, always wake up and toss and turn and I was looking for potentially lighter options for backpacking than a tent and was in New Zealand on Stewart Island 3 years ago when I stumbled upon some guy with a hammock set up in his yard expounding upon the virtues of the hammock. Turned out it was Tom Hennessey and my world was rocked, I had never heard of hammocks before. I came home and did lots of research and (sorry, Tom) ended up with a WBBB. I love it and sleep soundly. I also like the idea of a hammock that I can set up in difficult uneven terrain if for some reason a designated campsite is full, I can move on and camp wherever I can find adequate trees. Now the difficult part is converting my husband into hammock camping…Also working on my friends too.
I saw a cheap jungle hammock for sale on Trademe about august last year($NZ36) so got it and took it for my camping holiday at Xmas.
Didn't know anything about hammocking at all.
I still took my tent but now that thing is retired and I use my own DIY gear at least 3 times a week at home.
Since discovered hammock forums,shug,prof hammock,griz,and heaps of others on YouTube.
I changed because the shear co.fort compared to tenting.
Also alit less weight with my hammock so more rokme for essentials like food,water, n booze.
Things are chilling down a bit now but basic sleeping pad and bag used quilt style still working great.
John
After getting back into camping, hiking and kayaking I never had a good night sleep in a tent even with blow up mattresses. While looking for equipment I saw bug out camping gear hammocks, intrigued...thinking this would be lite packing for the girls kayak trip I found a cheap Coleman hammock w bug screen. Now I'm 5.10 it was just a little tight for my liking but my back felt much better. So research more and came across the Hammock Forums and learned so much including YouTube and Shug. I splerged on the WBB XLC. It's just the beginning!!
First hang in my new WBBB XLC this weekend. Love, love, loved it! We had rain and wind. Good test for my tarp setting experience. Need more tuning. We had hoped to kayak on Lake Lenape but the sculling schools took over. All that yelling from the cockswain at 7:00 am to mid afternoon took the peace and tranquility out of the camping experience.
"And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my Soul"
Last edited by Treeshadow; 04-25-2016 at 08:18.
Why I hang:
I use a Brazilian hammock as a bed. I prefer the hammock over traditional beds because it takes all the pressure points off the body. It has alleviated all my body aches including back pain and joint pain. Been hanging daily for almost a year and absolutely love it. I'll never go back.
~Angie
My desire to find a good night's rest led me towards a hammock. I do a lot of camping with our scout troop, and could never get a good night's sleep on the ground. Always tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable position I'd be awake all night. And then tired and bitchy all day from no rest. Then come home on Sunday and be completely spent with no energy to spend with my daughter who has missed me all weekend[not at all fair to her]. So then one day one of the other fathers[who is a member here] that goes camping with us often, showed up with a hammock to sleep in after he had shoulder surgery. Upon asking him how well he slept that night, his response was "awesome! never slept better". So then my interest peaked, because I'd never be able to say that about sleeping on the ground. After a lot of research and getting past the notion that hammocks were a novelty item I bought one off an auction site to try out. I'll never go back to my tent! I finally get a solid nights sleep and wake up well rested and have energy to get thru the day. And now more and more hammocks are showing up at our camp outs. I've got a few things to learn yet and am studying how to make an under quilt but this forum has a wealth of knowledge and great people to guide the way, thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experience with us noobs.
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