Well, Looks like I've done it now......

[Fat Man Walking]

Durned if I didn't ask Santa to bring me a hammock for Christmas and Durned if he didn't! He brought me a HH Ultralite Explorer A-Sym.

Funny thing though, he got to the house about a month before Christmas and Mrs. Claus wouldn't let me play with it until after Christmas.

Finally had the opportunity to set it up in the back yard the other day. Had a little trouble with the knot but, once I played with it awhile, it was reletively easy to do. No biggie.

Mrs. Claus then suggested that I take a test run nap and she would come get me up in about an hour to get ready for an social function later that evening.

As you can imagine, getting it set up to where I wasn't sitting/lying on the ground was quite comical but, after several iterations, finally got it to where I could actually get in and lie down comfortably.

Slept hard for about an hour and I have to say that I can not wait until I can get it out on the trail later this year. I was really able to relax in comfort that I know I have never experienced in a tent or shelter on a pad.

I am going to be taking a couple of over-nighters at our farm just up the road to play with it so I will be fully trained before I hit the trail.

To paraphrase Hughy Lewis "It's hip to hang."

:banana :banana :banana :banana

[Ridge Rat]

I thought it was hip to be square??? All well, welcome to the world of cold butts and rockless sleeping. I have been hammocking for about 7 months now and love it. Though I do take the tarptent for the colder weather. Enjoy.

[hammock engineer]

Welcome to the hanging crowd. Like Rat said, look into bottom insulation. Anything under around 70 degree I feel I need something underneath me.

[Hana_Hanger]

Congrats on your wonderful gift from the better half ....right :D just kidding.

Hope you enjoy hanging in style!
There is a wealth of information on how to stay warm in the hammock both here and on the hammock forums as well as many hammock sites.
Welcome to the high side of camping and hanging in style.

[peter_pan]

Welcome to the hanging crowd.... nice gift...maybe she is trying to get you out of the house... ;) ....just get the insulation solved before your first nite of learning the hard way.

Pan

[Kerosene]

I'll echo the recommendations above to make sure that you're appropriately insulated for the temperature range you expect. I too found that sleeping in my hammock was incredibly comfortable (I can't even sleep on my back on the "space-age foam" mattress I have at home). However, once the temperature gets below 60F I will quickly feel any part of my anatomy that is touching the hammock directly. A thin (and wide) closed cell pad works into the 50's, but below that I'll need to go with an underquilt which I haven't purchased yet. One of these days.