Hammock Claustrophobia - THE CURE!!

[@kevichan0501]

Came here from 10000, night and day difference on quality. Congratulations on 10000 and keep on posting. We love the entertainment you provide or we wouldn’t sub to you. Thanks and keep it coming!

[@DanBecker]

Thanks so much! I appreciate it more than you know!

[@anthonymorales6980]

I randomly came across your videos this past month and man I like you stuff. I immediately subscribed and started following your stuff. Then today I heard your about your first KZbin video about feeling closed in on a hammock. Great video, made me laugh and I'm going to have to try that hammock and hammock hack you have.

[@Alex_CantDrive55]

Happy 1 Year on KZbin! Thanks for all of your time and effort and great content. Looking forward to what’s next.

[@DanBecker]

Thanks so much! Hopefully good stuff in this next year!

[@TimWatsonOutdoors]

Thanks for the shout out. I remember your problem but didn’t remember recommending the ridge runner. Past Tim was really smart! 😂😂 I do remember you mentioning the Nitecore in comments years ago.

[@DanBecker]

Tim Watson Yeah buddy!!! Nitecore was a flashlight nerd brand back then (still is) but it’s making its way to the hiking community finally. They have a ton of really great headlamps! And yes.. you are responsible for thousands of dollars I’ve spent over the years 😂 I literally have so much gear it would make you sick! Plenty of video contents worth for sure!!

[@allinview]

@@DanBecker Love the vids! Nitecore, some good unknown stuff. I personally find scotch is the answer to that claustrophobia.

[@davidson_oldbull_sectionhiker]

I didn't need the cure but I always like your gear videos. Take Care

[@MichaelJones1130]

👏🏻 This is a better video than I have ever created, Ha! We should start a support group for those who have wives (spouses) who roll their eyes at hammock and camping gear talk. 😂 ⏰

[@Speigs21]

Nice video to look back at! Congrats on the 10k subscribers.

[@DanBecker]

Thanks Sean!!!!!!!!!

[@thomaszabel1521]

Great first video. I predict that your KZbin channel will do well. Someday, it may even hit 1,000 subscribers! Keep dreaming!

[@DanBecker]

🤣🤣 thanks!!

[@wanderantics2898]

LOL and look at it now ;)

[@ifonlyseethrumyeyes8957]

what about putting a light, on the ground on each side of your hammock? I love the hammock!

[@edgit69]

So this is where the legend started 👍

[@stevesummersell_K4WXX]

Yes, porch mode. An air pillow helps too. Also, have a dim light beneath the hammock. Allows you to see out and not get blinded by lights on the ridge line.

[@DanBecker]

Steve Summersell great idea! I’ll have to try that!!

[@MrTmax74]

Good idea Steve.

[@lifthearth]

I’ve found you can use the little LED dog or cat collar lights which weight nothing and last a long time. You can put two of them out on each side of your tarp and it lights things up nicely,

[@johnmuehlhausen937]

Got a blackbird xlc (first hammock) and loved laying in it all day including under the tarp without "porch mode." Here I am at 4am the first night trying to sleep in the thing trying to figure out the panic. Thanks for the advice!

[@fosterwayne6684]

Dan, when I hammock camp I use LED tea candles, I tested one this summer and it ran continuously for a week and they weigh next to nothing.

[@TheAdventuresofEli]

Have to say i have never hammock camping , i do have an open one just never slept in it through the night. I think if an animal comes underneath me it would freak me out to much lol but the light idea is interesting .. for your fear. Tim Watson is Awesome!! And I’m currently just an instagramer about my adventures but a total noob when it comes to making videos.. so Tim has inspired me to make my first lol i’m still working on it since my trip got cancelled. Great Video and i’ll keep watching! Thanks Dan

[@DanBecker]

Thanks so much!! Warning.. once you go hammock you never go back! 😂 I’ll never tent camp again unless I have to!!!

[@Stewbphoto]

I felt claustrophobic in my first hammock (Hennessy Explorer Deluxe) and it surprised the hell out of me... I figured out that it was more than likely the heavy weave of the bug net.. I had a lighter weight bug net made and that solved my problem... who knew??

[@RicMor200]

Great video! It would be nice to research whether a certain hue or dim of light attracts fewer insects than the typical white light. I think red attracts different insects than white, but still attracts a few. This claustrophobia thin intrigues me. I've been hammock camping since 2007, and have never felt anything like it. However, I can totally understand if some people experience it. Where I do my backpacking in the tropics some people prefer hammocks over tents just because they can't cope with the idea of having scorpions, roaches, spiders or even snakes sneak in with them at night in their tents. So the idea of being suspended off the ground gives them some relief. Others can't cope with the notion of being hanging in the air and having something fail with their suspension and landing hard on their backs, especially if there are rocks or stumps below them. So, for them sleeping on the solid ground is preferable. I suppose that whatever your phobia might be, that's the kind of stuff that doesn't let you get a sound sleep at night. Just out of curiosity, if the light outside helps with the claustrophobia, but it attracts insects, what if you had a light with a timer that could turn itself off after you fall asleep?

[@Oldsparkey]

Claustrophobia in a hammock ? I like hammocks for the viability they offer , tents offer zero viability. Yes , I do camp in a tent if it is necessary. In a hammock set the rain fly up in the porch mode if you want to see everything. Or on nice nights leave the rain fly in it's snake skin. If inclement weather moves in all you need to do is to slide the skins off and steak the rain fly out. After getting in the hammock and your eyes adjust to the ambient light the night can be rather light out. Best of all , you can lay in the hammock and look up at all the stars overhead. One trip I woke to watch a Racoon check out the camp and then walk under my hammock when he went back into the woods. I very rarely use a white light at night if I use a light at all , a red light saves your night vision. Since I was 12 my main choice has been hammocks and I just turned 75. My favorite one is the Warbonnet Blackbird double bottom. The double 70D material stops mosquitoes from biting threw and having me for their supper/meal. The attached bug net protects the top of you

[@DanBecker]

Sounds like you adjusted to a hammock at a young age. I started when I was in my mid 30’s! I do porch mode as well and also have a WB Blackbird. It’s a great hammock!

[@Oldsparkey]

@@DanBecker ... Camped in a hammock for two reasons , comfort and 360 degree ventilation. Florida weather gets hot and a tent usually become a sweat lodge. As I got older I added one more reason for a hammock. Approach the hammock , turn around and sit down like sitting in a chair. Just the reverse when getting out. None of the getting on the ground , crawling into a tent. Then later crawling out and trying to gracefully stand up. lol. Yes , I still have a couple solo tents for places that require a tent.

[@d-arts7139]

what do you mean dan. its a great video! speaking of claustrophobia, what do you think of the quilts people wrap around themselves while in a hammock! if i came across one of them in the woods id run for the hills!!!

[@CreachterZ]

Great. Now this is all I can think of.

[@auroraistracy]

Try the dollar stores at Christmas for battery operated string lights. I paid $2.00 for a set like yours. It takes 2 double A batteries and lasts a long time.

[@GagePadova1]

Hey howdy doodle. Talkin lights for sleeps tryout the olight obulb with the oLink great little light without breakin the bank. Features a warm low and high setting aswell as a red light and a red flashing light. The low mode is more than enough to light up a small area in your hammock hopefully it helps someone out there it helped me

[@JJ-mf8ru]

I get claustrophobic too and it all started when I used a Kamp-Rite tent cot--the original one that looks like a green coffin. The first night I used it (while car-camping), when I woke up to take a leak, I realized I was in a similar situation as Nick in CSI who got buried alive! You can find that scene on KZbin by the way. After that I bought a blue single door "tadpole-style" 2-man tent (which for a big guy feels like a 1-man tent) and that too made me claustrophobic. So now I'm using a white 3-man tent (problem solved) and hoping to buy a Zpacks Duplex soon. I've been very curious about a hammock especially with all the "cool" KZbinrs raving about it, but after seeing how you are trying to manage your claustrophobia, I'll probably stick to tents for a while longer. Thanks for the video.

[@DanBecker]

😂 I literally laughed out loud reading that comment! Honestly, I have not experienced claustrophobia ever since I added light outside the hammock. You should really try it! I’m convinced it is by far the most comfortable way to sleep in the backcountry.. even if it does take a little practice :-) thank you so much for the comment and for watching the video!

[@otway00]

I ask people if they are claustrophobic and they close their eyes how do they handle being trapped in their own little mind. Over the years I have come across several people that can not hang in a hammock as they fill trapped even if the hammock does not have a bug net.

[@adamfleck956]

Shoot i already watched this video before your 10,000 post! Good video. One thing that really helps with hammock claustrophobia is the klymit hammock pad. It not only helps to keep you warm but prevents the hammock walls from closing in on you. Great Pad!!!

[@dustinjames4530]

I never knew it was a thing either. At first I thought this was kind of a joke but I could actually see the fear and imagine the scenario and I got nervous watching you explain. Im sure you have helped some with this video keep it up. I'll stick with my tent only because I'm worried I may actually like hammock camping. :-)

[@DanBecker]

It’s absolutely a real thing and definitely not a joke! I hope I didn’t scare you away from hammocks!!

[@user-sn5cz4eq3l]

Does your light inside the tarp attract bugs? Maybe even lots of bugs? Any recommendations for avoiding this problem? Thanks.

[@DanBecker]

Hi Erik! Unfortunately, it definitely will attract bugs. The only thing that helps is when I keep it on it’s dimmest setting. But even then it can attract bugs. One time when I was in southern Illinois hiking during the solar eclipse of 2017, my light attracted so many bugs and there were giant hornets flying in and out from underneath it! Even at night they were flying in and out! I definitely shut the light off after that 😂😂

[@chadwillms1849]

Great Video

[@patrickdoval]

Nice video !

[@davestuddert4392]

Hi Dan, I thoroughly enjoy all your vids. Can you please tell me what spreader bars you use for your bridge hammock? I've thought about utilizing my trekking poles but they'd need to be modified so they don't slip out or off. Does anyone have any suggestions for spreader bars or "mods" for trekking poles to achieve this? Also, maybe you can offer yourself as John Krasinskys double for any movies he does involving bush work? Cheers bud : )

[@DanBecker]

Absolutely! You can use Mountain Smith trekker FX camera mount poles. I’m not 100% certain they still make them but it’s what I use. They are not the best trekking polls due to the weight and the quality isn’t the best but they definitely get the job done. Otherwise, here is a company that makes carbon fiber polls: www.rutalocura.com

[@shiftinggears5870]

Great first vid! Better than mine 😂😂

[@jamestalbott2547]

Have you tried those break and shake lights

[@DanBecker]

Hi James! I’ve never even heard of them! Tell me more!!

[@jamestalbott2547]

Dan Becker We call them break and shake. You might know them as glow sticks. Should be about the same weight as a flashlight and batteries. Plus if you get the red color the bugs don’t hang around them. Pick up the great videos. If you ever get down to Georgia let me know.

[@john-davidchambers2496]

👍

[@greasemonkey4god]

It’s ok Dan… I don’t listen to you either cause you are not a famous KZbinr… 😂😊

[@jeanbecker2579]

Very good advise