Update :

Did I mentionned I bought a HH !?! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I had good contact with HH in NZ ([email]info@hennessyhammock.com">info@hennessyhammock.com</a> - but the following address seems bugged <a href="mailto:hennessyhammock@gulfislands.com[/email] , as mails sent to that address didn't get any answer) and Ann was really patient : she answered all my questions and helped me to choose the following items :
- an Explorer Asym
- snake skins,
- plus an extra (and larger) rainfly.
<img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I hoped to get all that stuff in less than a week, as it was supposed to be readily available in London, for European customers.
But the extra rain fly had to be delivered from Canada (no stock in London). I got it in 8 days, IIRC.
But still no news of the hammock itself, more than 2 weeks after ordering.
I have no explanation on what's going on.... Should not take more than a few days for a parcel posted in London to arrive in Paris I suspect the parcel has not yet been send. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
Ann just told me last friday I should have a tracking number very soon.... but nothing is happening yet.
I hope I will have it in time to try it this month, as long as weather is fine. I don't want to wait until next spring to test the hammock !!

I guess I must be jinxed, with Canadian supplyers.
I'm still waiting for another item (a leather sheath from Dix Leatherworks), payed for in March ........ !!! <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

>>

Though somewhat off the general run of the thread, -what I'm about to say does have it's On Topic relatedness.

Which is that I'm reminded of an idea that's once occurred to me.

It may at first *Sound* Silly, -but I think that it does have it's Potential Merit.

It concerns the applicability of an attached Balloon, -for Backpack and other Weight Reduction.

Not so large or gas filled that one tends to float, etc, -And Not so large that the whole contraption is just too bulky to manage. As well as Not so small that there's little to No / Not enuff, -of Flotation!

Of course such could not be used for woodland, as well as for some other types of Hiking. (Intervening Branches, Trees, Vegetation, etc). But it *Can* be Practical and Feasable, I'd think, -for Hiking say on a Treeless Plain!

In short, -I think that this idea does have some Potential!, and Isn't so silly after all. What may others think?

It would Sure reduce a lot of the "Feltweight" of a Backpack! [color:"black"] [/color] [email]brian[/email]