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Hennessy Hammock |
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Weight (advertised): 36oz Contact Hennessy Hammock directly: 1 (888) 539-2930 E-mail: Update 17 December 2000 - Cold Weather Update 17 January 2001 - Ultralight Hammock Update 16 June 2001 - Hennessy in a Hurricane! Original Review
Benefits: No longer need a level ground for a pitch, nor do you need a sleeping
pad or ground cloth. Besides weighing less than a bivy tent, this means you save
1-2 more lbs based on what type pad you use. No waking up at night sliding down
to the bottom of your tent when you can't find a level spot. No more finding
those mystery roots and rocks after you go to bed. No more condensation
problems. No more water coming in through the floor of your tent in the rain.
I will be posting more info here as I test my heat reflector and get some cool photos of the Hammock in use.
I recently returned from three weeks in the field using my hammock in temperatures down below freezing, lowest about 30 degrees. I experimented using both an Army synthetic 30 degree bag, and my 20+ year old down bag that is on it's last legs. I recommend the following tips: 1. Go ahead and take some stakes. I carried four, but never used more than two. It was convenient to have them, and for about 1oz in weight, they were worth it.
2. I tried my car sunscreen heat reflector with great results. I tried it outside the bag which seems to be warmer but harder to control, and inside the bag which was easiest to control but not as warm. Apparently to work well, there should be some insulation between you and the reflector in order for it to trap warm air created by your body and reflected by the sunscreen. I was warm everywhere except my butt which was the point of greatest compression on the sleeping bag. Next trip I intend to try my foam pad that has been trimmed down to 20"x36" on top of the reflector, all under the bag. I also think it's time to get a new bag! 3. For best weather (wind and rain) protection, set up in a draw. I set up in a draw with the windward side uphill, the hammock parallel to the draw, and not at the bottom where the runoff will go in case of a hard rain. It was pretty warm and dry under the hammock while changing clothing, cooking, etc. 4. For best sleeping and centering of my body in the bag, I found it helped to set up the hammock with the head 3"-4" lower than the feet. 5. I was contemplating getting a 8'x10' Siltarp to use instead of the standard one, but I found this to be unnecessary after some experimenting. The weight it would have added would be about 8oz for the tarp (leaving the fly behind), 6 stakes - 3oz, and some cord - about 2oz. Conclusions: For my thru-hike, the ultralight will meet my requirements as shelter and sleeping system once I get a new sleeping bag. I Just received my Ultralight Hennessy Hammock today. This report is an initial inspection report. Look forward to a trip report in the near future.
Weight (advertised): 24oz As you can tell from my past reviews, I love the Hennessy Hammock, it provides me all the shelter I want and it also is a better sleep than any Thermarest I've ever used. Since I'm trying to cut down my pack weight, I was very pleased to find out about the Ultralight Hennessy Hammock. Saving 12oz to any ultralight hiker is a great deal! Here is the story: Well I didn't find out about the Ultralight until a day or two after receiving my original Hennessy Hammock from REI. I immediately e-mailed Hennessy Hammocks asking them when the Ultralight would be available through REI. I told them I wanted to return my Original and get the Ultralight. Expecting to hear news from some clerk at the company about how long it would take, that I would have to return the hammock then wait months for REI to get some, or maybe get little to no response at all. SURPRISE! Tom Hennessy himself returned my e-mail! He told me that REI wouldn't get them until spring 2001, but I could send him my hammock and $49 to exchange for the Ultralight. Boy was I pleased to get this personal attention from the owner of the company. In my e-mail I had also told them how I used my Hennessy Hammock at work when in the field at Fort Polk. How great his product was for the climate, insects, etc. He told me about a unit here that actually got some from him for field testing (JRTC Operations Group). Too bad I'm not in that unit. So as a wrap up to the story, Hennessy Hammock's customer service and care for the customer is first rate, great response, and they are definitely behind the product. O.K. now on to my initial evaluation of the Ultralight. 1. The Sil-Nylon tarp is very light and transparent. I don't see this blocking much sunlight, which may solve my problem of oversleeping in the mornings. 2. The hammock is about 3oz over the listed weight on Hennessy Hammock's web page. This is in past to adding the tree-hugger webbing straps as standard gear and making the fly slightly larger. I can live with this extra weight for the bonus stuff. 3. The fly. As I mentioned above, the fly is slightly larger. My original fly was a bias cut coated nylon 10' along the center line, and 6' at the widest point. It provided adequate coverage, but I thought it should be a little bigger, and I even asked Tom Hennessy if they could make custom fly's a bit larger - to which he replied he didn't want to get into the business of making tarps, who can blame him. When reviewing eGroups Backpack Gear Tests, the larger tarp was mentioned, and I was pleased to see the new tarp is now about 6.5'x10.5'. 4. The Ultralight has a full length Velcro opening which should ensure 'skeeters and other bugs stay out better. I never had a problem with that in my original model, but it did concern me a bit. 5. Tree hugger Straps included. I had only once left marks on a tree. This was a tree I had hung my hammock on for 4 days straight. Normally I don't stay in a camp that long, so I didn't see tree damage as a problem (Leave No Trace). The Ultralight uses thinner cords which could cause damage faster than the old hammock did, and could also risk getting caught up on bark in some situations. I found the instructions on how to suspend the hammock using the straps a little confusing at first, but it wasn't a show stopper. 6. The ridgeline inside the hammock which supports the mosquito net is also a beefier cord, made from the same material as the hammock suspension ropes. I don't know if this is really necessary, but it may come in handy if you wanted to suspend something heavier than a pair of camp shoes off the ridgeline. 7. Stow sack. There is now a mesh stow sack built onto the ridgeline. The sack has two pockets. The smaller one is about the right size for a maglight and some other small items. I intend to try putting my LED light in it to try as a reading light hanger. The second pocket is larger, but has a small opening. Part of the larger pocket goes under the smaller pocket. I think I could get glasses, a pen, wallet, knife, etc in this pocket. 8. The main part of the Hammock looks like it is made of the same or a very similar material as the original hammock. I'll research this and include it in my next report. I just got out of the field here at Fort Polk, LA. Spent the last couple of
weeks doing field training and gunnery, and as always I took the Hennessy
Ultralite to sleep in. Well, about the 2nd or 3rd Day we just started getting
buckets of rain, lightning, high winds, etc. It was so bad at times we had to
stop training. This lasted about 5 days straight. About the 3rd or 4th day of
the storm someone told me we were getting dumped on by some hurricane.
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