Awhile back I made a post about my first impressions of using a hammock. I’ll preface a little by repeating why I was interested in a hammock in the first place. I’m an old guy, and have been fighting back problems for more years than I care to remember. I haven’t slept on the ground in years, and have no intention of ever doing so again if it can possibly be avoided. My back packing days are far behind me, so weight and bulk are not a problem. My standard camp outfit includes an army style cot and a foam pad. Even when I packed and camped with horses and mules, I took along a small folding cot. These days I’m reduced to truck camping, so I can really take along anything I want to. I’ve been reading glowing accounts by people who camp and sleep in hammocks about the comfort a hammock provides, ESPECIALLY FOR PEOPLE WITH BAD BACKS. Since comfort is the name of the game as far as I am concerned, I just had to give it a try.
My last post on this subject recounts my purchase of an ENO Double Nest hammock. I set it up between a couple of trees in my back yard, and likewise up on the hill behind my house a few times. Although I never have actually slept in it, in truth I never could really get comfortable in it. Fast forward to the present.
I just spent the last 2 nights sleeping, or trying to, in a full blown Brazilian hammock. I did manage to sleep, at least off and on, but still woke up with the same old back ache I was trying to avoid. About 4:00 AM this morning I finally gave it up and went to bed. The real one; the one in my bedroom. I finally woke up again at about 10:30 AM. Did my back ache? Yep, same as always; but I sure caught up on the sleep I had missed the previous 2 nights!
Hammocks may be fine for lounging around camp, or even the occasional cat nap; but when I leave for camp in the near future you can bet my old dependable cot will go with me. I’ll take the ENO along, and if there are a couple of convenient trees handy I’ll even hang it up; but when it’s time to go to bed at night I’ll be on my cot. I’ll leave the joys of hammock sleeping to someone else. It’s not for me!
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4 comments:
A cot is more comfortable to me, also. Although I haven't been doing too badly on a sleeping mat, which is a surprise.
I once had a hammock custom made out of heavy canvas. It was 8' long and 4' wide. It was great to sleep in but alas, it was stolen from its mountain home on private land and now someone else enjoys its benifits. I too am an old man with years of lower back and knee problems.
It’s Time To Live,
What a great blog and outstanding photographs! You have a new follower.
For what it’s worth, I haven’t given up on the hammock. I just hate to admit defeat. As I suspected, sleeping in a hammock is a learning process. I finally managed to spend the entire night in it. My back feels good while I am actually laying in the hammock, but I still have the same old back ache when I get up in the morning. No worse, but no better either. Oh well, some comfort is better than none at all.
Thanks for stopping in here.
Everything that glitters is not gold
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