Cody Adcock aka “Sweet Life“ now has a memory of a lifetime, he has completed his 2019 Georgia to Maine Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike! We met online after I sent out a search for a hammock thru-hiker who was willing to test R&R Hammocks new gear that had only one goal: Complete the AT in 2019 as a hammock camper.
We talked with each other and what our expectations were for the new hammock gear. I sent the new equipment to Michigan his home state, and he was able to get a feel for the equipment before his March 17 start date. Cody encountered some cold weather but he was able to stay warm and comfortable in his new R&R hammock and 20 degree down quilts.
We met for the first time in person at Trail Days 2019 in Damascus, Virginia. He gave us very valuable information on how our gear was working in the day to day life of a thru-hiker. A few weeks later we switched to summer weight Apex Climashield 2.5 synthetic quilts and a 360 degree bugnet. Then after a few more weeks we switched to 40 degree down quilts to see how they performed in warmer weather.
We then were able to meetup again in person at Falls Village, Connecticut to see how the gear was working in the summer weather on the AT. We talked with other thru-hikers at the Great Falls and enjoyed a little Trail Magic by the Falls. Cody was very thankful that the 360 bug net was in his pack because most of the other hikers were having to sleep with their under quilts to keep the bugs from biting through their hammocks, which made for very hot and uncomfortable nights. Cody was able to sleep with just the hammock and 360 bugnet in comfort.
A few weeks later we shipped up the 20 degree down quilts because the nights in New England were getting cooler. I am so thankful we had Cody to give us such great feedback on the performance of the hammock gear!
R&R Hammocks had it’s first true test on the entire length of the Appalachian Trail thanks to Cody! His entire thru-hike was as a hammock camper, he did not sleep in the shelters. With his experience we at R&R Hammocks will be able to provide a complete hammock system that comes to you fully rigged and AT Ready! All the components are by one company with one focus: A goodnight’s rest after a tough day on Trail!