Opinions wanted on Hennessy Hammocks

http://hennessyhammock.com

Anybody have experience with these? I'm so very close to ordering a full 4 season setup from them as opposed to a tarp shelter/bivy combo.

Some folks swear by them, some folks swear at them.

I have one and am happy. I also have a hammock I made myself I prefer, because it is a top loader (not bottom entry) and the bugnet is removable.

That said, the H.H. is more spacious than mine, but I still like the the top load myself.

As a matter of fact, I am planning on selling my H.H. if you're interested. it's the A-sym model.

Have you looked at these: http://www.mosquitohammock.com/
I have one of the expedition hammocks and it has served me well.

The following link takes you to a pretty complete review by someone who took an Ultralight Backpacker A-Sym and an Expedition A-Sym out into the field for use and comparison. I stumbled across it some time ago and thought enough of it to bookmark the review.

http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=170

My interest was peaked, so I found some more reviews:

http://www.backpackgeartest.org/hennessyhammock/

I am still waiting to buy (budget). Hope the reviews (if you haven't seen them already) and the input from other members helps you reach a decision.

Here's my summary of the hammock situation (this is after four years of trials and experiments).

For a light, highly-integrated, easy to set up and take down hammock, the HH is hard to beat.

However, the flexibility of the top-loading hammock is much greater than for the HH. Further, you can easily assemble an inexpensive kit with NO sewing experience.

http://www.imrisk.com/testhammock/testhammock.htm

With a top-loader you can use inexpensive closed-cell foam pads to insulate beneath you, rather than an expensive, custom-tailored underquilt. You can elect to have a mosquito net over you or not. You can experiment with many different types of tarp -- material, shape, size, etc.

Of all the manufactured hammocks available, the Mosquito Hammock (Expedition model) is the one I prefer and recommend.

Though I own several of each model made by Mosquito Hammock, lately I most often use a hammock of my own design.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hammockcamping/

(Look in the Photos for my album "Bear's Pix" and check out the Dream Hammock pictures.)

I suggest you prepare yourself to buy more than one kind of hammock and be open to experimenting with home-made rigs.

Bear

I have an Expedition Asym and love it.

The only thing I would do different is to order the larger hex fly instead of the asym fly that comes with it.

I slept in mine during a thunderstorm and my right shoulder got wet. After emailing the HH folks they pointed out that I was probably lying in it centerline instead of of catty-corners as designed.

Though they were right, I still want the larger fly.

Haven't taken her out in really cold weather yet but looking forward to it.

check out this link for some more info on HH.

http://hikinghq.net/hammock/hammock3.html

Hello. I second what Samhain said. I too have the Expedition Asym and bought the larger fly. Oh and the snake skins (wrappers for the HH) are great. They really make setup and packing quick and easy.

One thing when mosquitos are around you need to sleep on something that is thick enough to keep them from biting through. The first night I spent in one (back home in South Texas) I woke to find them gorging on the buffet I unwittingly volunteered.

-H

I also have the expedition asym. It's a pretty good one man shelter that's light, easy to set up and not too expensive. But it has it's quirks, off the top of my head:

Pros:
Light, 2lb 10oz if i remember right.
Easy to set up, just tie to trees.
Fast setup, easier in rain.
Off the ground, don't need to worry about dirt or bugs.
Really comfortable, no rocks, water running in etc.
Can be set for pretty tightly closed or wide open, if the weather's good, roll up the fly.
Condensation in cold weather should roll down the fly
No fiddling with the poles, hooks, stakes, flies of tents.
No people asking to 'borrow' it to change dirty clothes etc.

Cons:
You have to pitch where the trees/poles are. Deserts are not good.
You have to pitch in the direction of trees, may not be best for wind.
The regular fly isn't so good in blown rain, get the bigger one for security.
Can't sit down on the 'floor', it's only really good for sleeping.
No place to put lots of gear inside, it all slides into you.
You still need to carry either a insulating pad or underquilt unless it's really hot and then the mosquitoes will bite you through the fabric.
You will be tempted to fiddle with the tie-outs, treestraps incessantly to get the perfect hang.
Only 1 person at a time, can't invite your 'new special friend.'

I wish somebody would invent a hammock/tent. It would have a tough enough bottom to be used on the ground, with some kind of edge strapping to keep the edges slightly above, etc. It would require two poles, but that could be the next invention. A tough hiking staff, pointed at both ends, that separates in the middle to be used to pitch the hammock/tent on the ground when there are no trees around. I wish! I wonder if anybody else has given any thought to how to make this kind of idea work very well. It might require an small adapter-piece, like a metal guitar slide or something, that fits around the screw piece of the staff, to avoid damaging them when hammering. I can't imagine it would be too hard, and I know I would buy one, I mean two!

All this awesome feedback on the HH and I'm still leaning towards a bivy and a small tarp. By the time you add everything you need for 4 season use I could get a good bivy, a good light tarp for additional shelter and still have money left over.

I was at my local outfitters today and it always amazes me just how small those damn bivy sacks pack...makes the prices seem that much bigger

something like these ??? tree tents

If I use my HH with cold wind, I use a Thermarest Prolite 4 inside the HH, to prevent cooling by conduction.
I'm looking for another solution, to lighten the weight of the system.
I have not tested the undercover/underpad system, now available at HH.

You can use it as a chair, while cooking under the rainfly;

Snake skins are a MUST : hammock is set-up or packed in a few minutes.

Yes, by all means, choose a big rain fly with the hammock ; or take both the standard and the hex fly.
Last night spent in the HH, with wind turning and blowing the rain in every directions, I get a bit of rain inside, because I had not correctly positioned the rain fly. So, next time, I will ensure a better coverage.
Anyway, a large rain fly will also give you a dry area under which you will be able to cook, to store your gear, ....
Or you can double the fly to better shade the sun ...

My main problem with my HH : I do not have enough time to use it more frequently....

After a ton of research last year, I purchased a Hennessy Ultra Light for my Appalachian Trail hike.

In short - I loved it.

My entire sleeping system weighted under four pounds! (Hennessy Ultralight is just under 2lbs...)

Some people are critical of hammocks because of the fact that you must find two trees within range. My experience has been that it's MUCH harder to find a flat and clear spot of soft earth for a tent!

I regularly strung my hammock over rocks and bushes on sharply angled ground. I like the fact that you can make camp with minimal impact on the plants and ground cover.

You must, of course, consider the issues hammocks have in cold weather (cold air flowing underneath you and sucking out warmth).
A simple foam pad in the hammock handles temps down to about 40F. Below that you need additional insulation on the outside. However, in a pinch you can simply lower the hammock down to the ground and sleep *as if you had a tent.*

Can't say enough about the Hennessey. It handled hot, cold, and very, very, very wet conditions with no problem. There were bad storms where I was sure I was going to get soaked... But with the fly properly set, there's no problem. Plus it's easy to set up in the rain - just pitch the fly first, then put the hammock up underneath nice and dry.

I have to admit, the first few nights being suspended like that made me a little nervous. I felt like a "bear tootsie roll." But I soon realized that in the very unlikely event that I had to wake up and run in an emergency, the hammock was MUCH easier to get out of than a tent. No zippers to find in the dark. Just sit up, shove your feet through the velcro seal at the bottom and drop neatly to the ground. (Then realize it wasn't really a bear at all. And change your shorts.)

I currently camp in a tent (my girlfriend wants to snuggle). But I do miss the comfort of my Hennessey. (Though not enough to leave my girlfriend alone in the tent...) ;-)

The US military used to have a jungle hammock that could be set up on the ground. If I recall correctly, the most recent version was the M-1965, but there were similar models from WWII. I did some googling but could not find a decent picture of one set up as a ground tent. Being military, it was undoubtedly heavier than a similar commercial model. And speaking of commercial models, at least one, the Clark Jungle Hammock states in its manual that it can be set up on the ground. Not being a hammock person, I have never owned one to try...

I have used one and once you get the hang of it, IMO they're great.

I had difficulty getting the hammock stretched tightly enough, until I took a survival course from Mors Kochanski, in the course of which I was introduced to the turnbuckle (or parbuckle?) knot. Basically, you tie a figure-of-eight knot in the line, but don't feed the end of the line all the way through; so you have a loop sticking through one end of the figure-of-eight. The end of the line goes through the straps around the tree, and is then fed back through this loop. The loop acts like a pulley and changes the direction of the pull; the result is, when you pull on the line to tighten it, you are pulling it toward the tree rather than away from the tree. This makes it much easier to tie off the line without it slipping and causing the hammock to sag.

I also found that if you get a small foam pad and stick it inside your sleeping bag, it will stay put far better than if you use a full-size pad and put it under the sleeping bag. Don't try to use a HH without a foam pad or other insulation, your bum will get cold.

On the lack of trees issue with hammocks.

Hennessey was showing a tripod assembly at NOAC 2006 (Boy Scout Order of the Arrow convention).

This setup involved two tripods with a ~10ft ridge pole connecting the peaks of the two tripods. The ridge pole and the tripods were constructed of 1inch (if I remember right) rigid metal conduit and a fitting for the tripod joint.

One hammock was suspended by two tripods and one ridge pole, with the fly strung over the ridge pole.

Two hammocks required three tripods and two ridge poles,
Three hammocks required three tripods and three ridge poles.
12 could be suspended using seven tripods and 12 ridge poles (hexagon with center tripod).

Not an system that I would want to take backpacking, but looked interesting for a base camp.

Thanks for the great idea of putting the pad inside the sleeping bag!! I wish I had thought of it several years ago. I will now get a lot more use from my hammock.

Spud

I've used a HH for about 5 or 6 years, and am very happy with it. I second the recommendations on the larger tarp; I have the standard tarp (I bought mine before the larger one became available) and often wish it covered more.

I use a Big Agnes sleeping bag, which doesn't have bottom insulation - just a sleeve to securely hold a sleeping pad. I've made a pad/reflector from a mylar windshield cover and some fleece material (a common DIY mod for HH users.)

In warm weather I use just that reflector pad, in moderate weather (most of the year here in OR) I put it on top of a Ridge Rest pad and put them both in the sleeve. In cold weather I put the reflector on top of a Thermarest pad.

It is the most comfortable way to sleep in the woods!

-=[ Grant ]=-

Don't know if this is helpful, but here are some thoughts and responses from another forum on the subject of hammocks: Hammock Topic

A word of caution: I was doing something similar to what aardwolfe is describing above with my Hennessy Hammock. One night, the ridgeline snapped with me in the hammock. It snapped exactly at the point I had tied a figure eight loop for the purpose of tightening (as described above). Apparently, as the knot constricts around the inner fibers, the fibers can be weakened. I talked with the folks at Hennessy Hammock via email. They say they've seen very few ridgeline breaks except when some kind of knot or tensioning device has been applied to the line. The line can be replaced by the way.

If you do use a figure eight to tighten the line, make sure it's in the foot end. When my line snapped, my feet hit the ground first, no big deal (except for severely wounded pride). If you tie the figure eight in the head end and there is a break, guess what hits the ground first. A lot more than your pride could get injured in this scenario.

I've had to re-evaluate due to my new budget (zero dollars). I had some MEC gift certificates from my birthday so I picked up an Integral Designs Siltarp Poncho (Tarponcho? Siltarponcho?) I thought it was the best bang for my buck as it's both shelter and rain gear...and crazy light weight. I just need to find a bivy that's within budget too and I'll be all set.

I've been using one for a year mainly in the jungle.

They're good and I'll stick with them but the quality has gone down since the civilian models starteted being made outside the US/Canada.

On a recent expedition the mosquito net on a new Expedition parted from the hammock on someone else's rig and the eyelet holding the ring for the side tensioners gave way on mine.

Not very encouraging

You may want to try an in-line figure eight or a butterfly for this application.

Pete

I was using an in-line eight.

I think the same constricting issue would apply with a butterfly knot. I think it's a function of the type of cord that Hennessey uses. It has Vectran (or Spectra?) filaments as a core. When those filaments are constricted at a point, the properties of the material are somehow compromised, and the cord breaks at the point of the knot.

I did get a dozen or more uses before the line snapped. Perhaps varying the point at which the knot was tied would prevent the snap at the knot point, but I'm a little hesitant to try it. It takes money to replace if it snaps, and this last time it snapped I fell in such a way that I was not injured. Next time? Who knows ...

I think it's just generally a bad idea to tie a knot, irrespective of the type of knot, in the cords used by Hennessy which is a shame because they do allow one to properly tension the hammock.

You tied a figure eight knot on the ridgeline ?? Do you mean the thin line INSIDE the hammock ??

I did once break that ridgeline by grabing that line and pulling myself up, to the "head" of the hammock. This line is not designed to do that !


Like Aardwolf, I recently made a figure eight, on one of the big external rope, going from hammock to the tree. And it is really easier to correctly tension the rope.
I sent a mail to HH, asking if there were any risk doing that. Unfortunately, I never got an answer. Should try once more.

No, outside the hammock on the line between the tree and the hammock.


That is exactly what I was doing, and yes it does really do the job ... except for that nasty little side effect of the line breaking and pitching you on the ground.

Good thing I was inside on my back when it broke. I hit with both feet simultaneously and wound up in a sort of semi-reclined, seated position. Had I been on my side, I could have had a spinal injury. Also highly fortunate (thank you, God) was that I had put the figure eight on the foot side of the line and not the head. Getting dropped on the head, even a dense one like mine...



Please post anything that you get in response. Here's what Hennessy sent to me in response to my inquiry:


Note: I had inserted a carabiner through my in-line figure eight knot and run the line through the carabiner instead of the loop itself so as not to have a sawing action as I tightened up the line.

Well, I guess I won't have a different reply, if I ask the same question again to HH.

Too bad, it was really much easier to tension the rope.

OK, let's find someting else .... a separate twin pulley system ???
;o))

That defeats the "ultralight" portion a bit, but perhaps that's the way to go.

I was just kidding .... and anyway, to secure the puley system to the hammock, some kind of knot would have to be tied, thus endangering the line...
well, well.... time to think ....

Either a knot or a friction device would have to be employed. Both of those would constrict the line and potentially lead to a failure.

...yes, time to think or learn to live with a loose ridgeline.

If you want to pick up slack why not use a separate length of cord attached to the 'tree hugger' strap then use a prusik knot?

I'm not great with knots, but I think I understand your idea.
just to be sure :
- I need to use a smaller rope than the HH rope
- attach one end to the tree or tree hugger strap
- use a prussik knot on the other, on the HH rope

Right ?
have to try that next time I take my hammock out ..

Right. Use smaller diameter cord and make it into a loop using a fisherman knot. Make a prusik around the main line you want to bring the slack in on and hook the other end of the small cord to the tree strap (I don't know what these look like but I imagine worst case you'd need to buy a 'biner for it). With no load on the line pull the main line through the prusik until it's where you want. When you load the line the small cord with the prusik will take the load instead of the main line...fully adjustable!

I kind of see where you're going with that. Interesting idea. I guess a Prussik would spread out the constriction, particularly if one were to use extra wraps in the Prussik. I'd have to try it. Under field conditions, with the kind of strain that a human body would put on the knot as one wriggles into the hammock, I'd be afraind that the Prussik would constict primarily at a single point, possibly leading to a failure of the type I described earlier.

Alternatively, one could replace the ridgeline with something less sensitive to constriction.

An interesting article about how knots effect break strength of ropes:

http://www.caves.org/section/vertical/nh/50/knotrope.html

Interesting knot article! I had always heard that the butterfly knot reduced line strength the least. Nice to know it is actually true. Interesting to note that the figure eight knots they tested did almost as well. They did not however test the in-line figure eight knot.

I wonder if these data can be applied to the Hennesy Hammock lines though. They have that very specialized core. Hmm.

SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC:
It appears that the sheet bends (single and double) really reduce the strength of a line.

The real surprise is that a bowline reduces the strength of a line so much. The bowline is such a widely used knot. A figure eight appears to be preferable.

The (single) fishermans knot is also a big loser, but the double fishermans turns out to be a pretty good knot. Interesting that there is such a great difference between the single fishermans knot and the double fishermans knot.

It would be interesting to see them test a figure eight bend and a carrick bend.

I once tightened my HH by using a trucker's hitch. But instead of putting twists or a knot in the line, I ran three or four turns around a heavy-duty oval carabiner and used that as the loop. Worked well.

Bear

Well, shoot, that would be ideal. The carabiner didn't work it's way up the line over the course of the night?

I had actually thought of that but didn't even try it because I assumed that the carabiner wouldn't stay in one place. Did you just do plain old wraps around the 'biner or overlapping wraps or ?

Not a figure eight.... a trucker's hitch ... that's what I use ...

I'm no good with knots... told you so !!

Any chance of a drawing or a picture of your set-up ??

TIA

Jim and Frenchy: I only did it once, just to see if it would work. I slept on it just fine. And no, the carabiner didn't slip. I just passed the line three or four times through the gate so the line was spiralled around the back rod of the carabiner. The tension worked to lock the carabiner in place.

This was using an Explorer model, which has the thicker line. But I'm betting it would work with the thin line models as well.

I don't use the HH much any more, as I really prefer top loaders. I think the Claytor Mosquito Hammock is the best commercially available hammock of that type.

Lately I've been using a hammock I designed myself. It's just like the Claytor hammocks -- three layers of material. Two nylon body layers and one mosquito netting layer. These are folded and sewn together to create a casing along the head and foot. But unlike the Claytor, mine isn't sewn or zippered along any of the long sides.

The netting is closed by clipping on a single loop of shock cord that runs underneath the hammock at the middle (i.e. under my butt). The rest of the netting presses itself against the sides of the body.

Also, I use a double-ring attached to my hammock body to lock onto a nylon strap that I wrap around the tree. It's just like a belt works, only a bit bigger.

If you want to read about every possible way of hanging an HH (or any other hammock for that matter) take a look at:

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/index.php

Bear

Thanks for the link; I'll check it out. Amazing what you can find on these forums. God bless you!

thanks.
Will check that forum...

Keep in mind that the geometry of the hammock will play a large role in the forces that the ropes will need to hold. The tension goes up with 1/sin of the angle. So as the hammock gets straighter, the tension goes up a lot.

For example, if the ropes are straight up and down (like a swing) then each one takes 50% your weight. If the angle of the rope to the horizontal is 45 deg then each rope takes 70%, at 30 deg each rope takes 100% weight. At 20 deg it's 150% and at 10 deg it's 300%~! If the angle is zero, in theory the tension is infinite.

So it may not be a good idea to tension the hammock support ropes too much with an inline knot. Remember this is your life you're supporting. I read about a guy who died when his friend jumped on him in a hammock, the rope at the head end broke and he landed on his head, breaking his neck.

Interesting. Thanks for the math.

I'm usually just trying to get enough tension so that the hammock doesn't scrape the ground when I get in, but I'll keep in mind that the more tension, the more stress on the ropes -- greater than even my body weight. I hadn't really thought of it. Thanks again.

I have owned about 6 or 7 of them over the years and I love them. No complaints.

So, do you have a good trick to get good tension in the support line?

I've gotta ask, why six or seven of them? Do you wear them out, upgrade to a new model, give them away, or what???

I was kind of curious about that myself.

If one were doing adventure racing type stuff, the Hennesssies would wear fast. Otherwise I would think they'd last longer.

Of course, if left in the sun (say you kept it up during the day a lot), nylon degrades quickly.

Hi Hacksaw,

I have being "swing on the edge" about buying a Hennesy Hammock and after reading this thread again I went back to check out the HH website.

Good news, as a Christmas on-line special when you order any hammock you get a free Hex Tarp, t-shirt and shipping! That was enough to convince me to try one, I ordered it today (guess what the family is giving me for Christmas).

I had also sent an e-mail yesterday evening to HH inquiring on shipping and what size Snakeskins to use with the hex tarp (answer, the hex tarp is too large to fit in the Snakeskins), I recieved a nice reply almost immediately.

Looking forward to trying it out in the spring,

Mike

Let us know how it goes when you try it out.

I think that's the package i got, minus t-shirt. The hex fly is very useful to have, i keep it separate from the actual hammock which has the regular one. So if you have to set up while it's raining, you can put up the hex fly first at arm height above head to keep the rain off, then you can take your time to set up the hammock underneath at head height. Usually that works for me so that i can step in and out of it when it's hung properly. It's also useful as a shade next to your hammock in good weather.

Goodevening aardvark,

Thanks for the tip on Hennessy Hammocks, I am eager to try mine out when it arrives (no overnight though, to COLD here right now).

Is it as comfortable and quick to set up as the HH website discribes? Most input on the web (except the ultralighters) says that the larger fly is trhe way to go.

I was putting off buying one but then this Christmas deal came up so I ordered it; then my DW told me it would be a present from my folks and the deal got even better!

Mike

Mike:

I've found it takes a bit more fiddling to get it right than what is shown on the video. They say 2 minutes. I don't think so.

HJ

Thanks HJ,

I am still waiting delivery, looking forward to trying it out but too cold to spend the night in the basic version (-18*c).

Mike

Hey,

The nice Post Office lady delivered my new Hennessy Hammock (Expedition ASYM) today with free Hex tarp and T-shirt, it feels like Christmas morning.

It is cold and windy outside though so I am going to try and set it up in the basement, my DW will think I am even crazier than normal!

Mike