Hello, All! I am new to the forum and new to hammocking.
I've been a ground dweller since I was a kid (Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, family camping) but took "a few" years off from camping and outdoor activities when life (college, job, marriage, kids, etc.) got in the way. Over the past 2 years, I got the bug for hiking and camping again; I bought a new tent, backpack, sleeping bag, pad... the works. While researching gear (I do a lot of research), I saw the increase in use of hammocks over tents, I was intregued. So I started watching YouTube videos, lots of YouTube videos. I watched EVERY SINGLE ONE of Shug's videos. I saw a lot of references to "Dutch Bling", being a gadget junkie this immediately got my attention. Then I found out that Dutchwaregear is only 15 minutes from my house!!
I am now a Cub Scout Leader and faced with a weekend Leader-training event, I decided that I needed to try hammocking. So I put together a $110 complete setup from Amazon: $27 hammock, $30 Tarp, $50 synthetic underquilt, and of course, had to try some of that Dutch Bling so I ordered a continuous rigeline.
The first night was hot and I made the rookie mistake of leaving the underquilt in the car. My hang wasn't the greatest so I spent the whole night trying to get compfortable and of course, ended up cold in the middle of the night. Second night, spent a little more time getting the hang 'better' and hung the underquilt. One pretty good night's sleep and I'm addicted.
So, I finally decided to pull the trigger on a new Chameleon Hammock, went to dutchwaregear.com and saw this:
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So, I've since ordered a new tarp from UGQ, underquilt and top quilt from hammockgear.com, and am impatiently waiting to get my order into dutchwaregear. I am so excited for all of my new gear to arrive.

I hope to learn a lot from all of you and post all of my stupid mistakes along the way.

aa4012