Visited a gear store in Hanover NH and was turned on to hammocks by well informed store clerk. Have been going for lightweight backpacking for awhile and using tarps and pads....on ground. Got tired of ground for all the usual reasons. Always intrigued by hammocks and purchased the Grand Trunk single. Used it this past weekend in the Whites under a tarp...and it was wonderful. Loved it...the gentle rocking as you settle in....trying to go diagonal...adjusting the arc for comfort..great! Now looking to understand optimal insulation and tarp systems to go with it.....while keeping weight minimal. It poured one night but I stayed dry even with a guess on rigging the tarp. Funny wiggling into that mummy the first time in the hammock with the rain coming down. I know the GT single isn't the lightest but I do like comfort...so will work with it for now. Should have done more research but just got psyched and went for it. Hoping to hang with you all! Have found great info already on forum. Cheers!
I started to hang in my Jeep. I put a rope hammock in the roll cage. If it rained I used the top for my cover. That made things a little cramped but I wasn't sleeping on the rocks along the trail, so I was better than most.
Now I'm looking at hiking with a fly rod to lake destinations. I stepped away from the hammock because I thought it was just too heavy to pack in. I have recently seen the error of my ways and will soon be hangin' in the trees...
shug inspired me with his vids
Yeah! What they all said...
And, it's a major part of my Bug out kit for a SHTF moment.
Seriously, what if you had to walk out 100 miles to get to safety... What if you couldn't drive because the roads are all blocked or messed up? Practicality...
And what if you just like to camp, but don't want to be confined to a flat spot near screaming ppl and kids.... ugh...
And what if you have a place, big and roomy, nice and sunny, that you would like to borrow for 24 hrs, provided you LNT?
(I am a confessed stealth camper too..... )
Yeah, you have to walk a ways to get to the cool rocks...
Starr
Something about camping and sleeping on the ground, my body just doesnt like it. I have never been comfortable on a sleep pad even though i have / had all the comfy gear. Crawled in a hammock and was asleep within 20 minutes. Done deal for me. Plus its more practical...it weighs nothing compared to my Big Agnes Gore Pass 2 (which is a sweet tent btw). Only thing i miss about tent camping is that you cant have powwows with friends when it is raining. How do you solve this hammock camping btw? bring an extra big tarp?
About 30 years ago, in Boy Scouts, I started hanging using cheapo string/web hammocks that I bought from Yellow Front, along with a poncho w/ grommets as a tarp. With a wool army blanket as a bottom layer in the hammock, plus a down bag, we regularly woke to frost in the spring and fall (a little chilly, but the resiliency of youth was on our side). In the summer, we just made sure we had bug dope on our face before we went to bed.
Now, after about 20 years hiatus from the woods, my boys are of an age (12/9/6) to start backpacking, and I was digging through all my old gear for them. I came across the old hammock set and had to laugh, since the main thing that no longer counts as ultralight is ME! That thing would snap in an instant, even if all the old cord wasn't rotted.
It did get me to thinking about hanging again, so I started some research . . . and started to drool as the sounds of "This is not your father's Oldsmobile" commercials ran through my head. Holy smokes a lot has changed!
I got into it because of the weight factor. I wanted to be able to hike into the backcountry to hunt without all of the weight associated with a tent and all of the accessories that go with it. I can set up camp in a few minutes and take it down even faster.
I became a hanger b/c in college when my friends and I went camping, the only gear i had was a mayan hammock that was incredible. All of my friends wanted to use it after i tried it out one camping trip. (well i had too, I had no other place to sleep. When i was younger and more stupid, after going out all night, one night we decided to go camping.)
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