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Ratattoo

First I want to say as a camper the photos of the mountain and stream looked like heaven to me.
I enjoyed the photos and you are a tough man to sleep in the Jungle hammock in New Hampshire late October.

Camping is one of the reasons I joined this forum. I am very interested in Military and camping meals. The history behind them and what other nations eat. But I found MRE meals work very well for my trips. So these good reviews help out.

Now the review you did was outstanding, I would like to try that same meal in winter. I do like fresh lamb for a field meal in the spring and have never tried 'ready to eat ' lamb.

I have had the 2006 pop tart and agree, it is a poor version of the real thing.

Last how did you heat the meals? Boil in the bag or open them and cook them in a pot?

Fantastic photos!!, also a very interesting review.

Regards, Norman.

Norton: re- "...how did you heat the meals? Boil in the bag or open them and cook them in a pot?"

Because we were only camping maybe hundred yards from the cars [but about 100' down, as well], we all carried in an awful lot more gear than we might have ordinarily.
I actually pushed all three retort packages down inside a stainless steel coffee percolator. It was nice and tall, and worked out to be the perfect thing for MRE style pouches.

As to the hammock, it was not an old-style DOD jungle hammock. I have a Norwegian unit called a "Draumr". You hang sideways… with the trees off each shoulder, rather than lengthwise with the trees at your head and foot. It gets its structure from an inflatable sleeping mat... Mine is filled with synthetic insulation, and that makes all the difference. 90% of your heat loss in the hammock is out through your butt. I can safely say that I was more than just comfortable.

My friend Shug has a really great video on the hammock up over on YouTube... It's worth watching just because he's a really funny guy, and does really professional videos. If you enjoy this one, Spend some time, and watch the rest of his stuff. Lots of fun, Just be sure to take time out to eat occasionally.

ShugLink>> <<

rattattoo wrote:As to the hammock, it was not an old-style DOD jungle hammock. I have a Norwegian unit called a "Draumr". You hang sideways… with the trees off each shoulder, rather than lengthwise with the trees at your head and foot. It gets its structure from an inflatable sleeping mat...

Ok, I think a picture is needed here... The way I have it in my mind, you'd be flipping over and over.

Per request of noderaser.... It's kinda like sleeping in a Star Wars racer...

And here's a link to my blog page about hammocking>> https://moosenutfalls.wordpress.com/tag/hammocks/ [keep scrolling down...
It is a great way to go camping. I'm finding it lots more comfortable than ground-dwelling.
[noderaser-- There are a bunch of the folks on the Hammock Forums that are in and around OR. You should go to a group hang some weekend... they are all over and all the time/year-round. The hammock crowd also could care less if you come with a tent, and they'll let you try out EVERYTHING there is available... Great Folks!]

Thanks for the link to your blog Rattattoo - I imagine I'll be digging through it more in depth this week. I snagged an ENO DoubleNest earlier this year and have been loving it. I needed some gear recommendations for colder temps and it looks like I've got plenty to read up on.

There's also the Hennessey: http://hennessyhammock.com/

I've got one. Packs up very small and light, lets you camp in uneven areas (long as there's trees). The fly tensioner/rain collector is genius!

Nice to see that I am not the only one on here who has moved back up into the trees.
Several friends have the HHs and lurve'em.

I found a more "descriptive" picture on your blog... How stable is it? Looks like you wouldn't get the cocooned feeling like with an end-end hammock, but without a third point of contact it seems like you'd be rocking a lot.

I have a friend who goes hammock camping, I'll have to look around at the different options when I get back. Those "tree tents" look really cool as well, but they're super expensive. It's been an embarrassingly long time since I've done camping of any sort.

Only downside to hammock tenting (with proper ones, not standard hammocks with tarps over them) is that if you go to sleep earlier than the rowdies, they tend to come harass you and you're extremely vulnerable to pranks. The solution is to outlast all the (other) drunks.

Apologies for taking this further off topic.