2007 Hennessy Hyperlight Backpacker A-Sym Hammock REVIEW

[Benjamin Smith]

Companion forum thread to:

2007 Hennessy Hyperlight Backpacker A-Sym Hammock REVIEW

[Brian Doble]

What is the weight of the cuben fiber prototype canopy? If I'm not mistaken, the original canopy weighs 8.25oz per Hennessy's site. So, shaving an addition 7.4 oz by replacing it with the cuben prototype would put the cuben canopy at under an ounce. I must be missing something. (I do know that MLD sells a 4.5 oz hammock canopy.)

[Martin Wood]

I added adjusters to my guy lines at 0.5 gm each I felt it was worth it, a bigger lighter fly would be great though.

[Doug Johnson]

Brian,

You are right- my weight on the cuben fly was off. I've corrected the review to show the correct weights. Here they are:

stock fly: 8.2 oz
cuben fly: 2.5 oz (that is LIGHT!)
difference: 5.7 oz

Stock hammock: 1 lb 10.1 oz
hammock with cuben fly: 1 lb 4.4 oz

Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
Doug

[Doug Johnson]

Yes Martin- I've since done the same. Especially on the fly guylines, that's a great improvement.

I've also played around with the Hennessy Automatic Fly Tensioner and Water Collection System. It's a great product that adds tension as it collects rainfall. It's a great idea that works nicely.

[Rich P]

Doug wrote: "A slightly deeper interior storage pocket would fit larger objects like a paperback book."

I find the simplest way to store a book is to drape it over the ridge line, along with my reading glasses and most everything else I bring inside. If it's not draped over, it's clipped to the mitten hooks or mini 'biners I add. I find that I don't use the pocket too much.

I choose to use a 8 x 10 silnylon fly instead of the supplied fly. (I bought my Hyperlight without the fly.) I also like to string a clothesline under the fly to hang my socks, clothes, shoes, pack, hat, etc.

[Pamela Wyant]

I just tie tautline hitches & haven't had any trouble tensioning the fly guylines.

Also, I like to attach the fly separately to the tree above the hammock with a length of cord, which keeps it higher over the hammock, allowing better ventilation & if the silnylon stretches during the night it still isn't directly on the hammock netting.

In past use I did not find the snakeskins very durable (the stitching usually eventually worked loose on the wider end). I find I like to just roll the hammock up, leaving one end tied as I roll the other end up toward it, then untie the final end when I reach it. I stow the fly separately, so if it's raining when I need to set up, I can put it up first.

I've found a platypus sport with a small loop of cord tied around it's neck will hang neatly from the glove clips on the ridgeline. To keep it out of my way at night, I push it to the very end, shoving it outside the hammock body with the cord extending through the Velcro. To get a drink at night, I just unfasten the top of the Velcro & pull it in. I do my shoes similarly sometimes.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Pam

> I just tie tautline hitches & haven't had any trouble tensioning the fly guylines.
From this I infer that you are using nylon string for your guylines. Tautline hitches work fine on nylon, although the nylon does stretch a bit in the cold and wet (like overnight).

However, don't rely on tautline hitches when using Spectra, Dacron or Dyneema strings. Those fibers are too hard and slippery for the hitch to work reliably. Try it for yourself to see.

Cheers
Roger

[Stewart Riley]

I was a very early adopter of the Hyperlight and love mine dearly. I'll never go back to being a groundling.

The Cuben fiber fly at that weight (2.5oz) is perfectly plausable. That's a good seven square feet of fly if you use the CN1K08 cuben (at .33oz sq/yd) which translates to a hex fly about 130" x 92" (about midway between a MacCat Standard and Deluxe.) That's a very roomy fly (much more than the stock tarp) and worth even the $150-200 it's likely to cost, given that CN1K08 is now running $19.60 a meter (at 48" wide) from North Sail (who bought Cuben Fiber Corp.)

For the tarp tensioners, that's an easy one. Figure 9s by Nite Ize (the smallest size) are the answer. Lightweight lines of all kinds hold great in them and they're quick and easy to use and come in at 3.6g each. What more could you ask?

[Andy Peredery]

only comment is that on windy nights the fly tends to flap around a bit more than on a tent. makes for a noisy night for light sleepers like me :-)

[Anonymous]

Great and useful review. Thanks!

I have gone back and forth from the stock HH tarp used as designed, attached to the hammock suspension ropes, and using a larger tarp tied to the trees. It looks to me like it was used by Doug Johnson as per originally designed in the review. So, what tricks did you use to overcome the slack that occurs when you get in the hammock and the hammock sags closer to the ground, taking the tarp with it? Because naturally, if your tarp was tight, it is now loose. It can be very loose.

I have tried hanging weighted stuff sacks from the lateral tie outs ( that is actually what the little plastic hooks at the tarp left/right asym tie outs are for). I have tried first over tightening the tarp to the ground, with the tarp pulling down on the ridge-line causing some "pre-sag", and then tightening the ridge-line. I have tried these two together or with bungees. They all work to varying degrees and all have their drawbacks and are quite a bother. But they are better than nothing. Because rain coverage is much better if you are attached to the suspension, because you stay close to the tarp ridge-line, as they sag together. But at the cost of a loose, flapping, noisy tarp.

So, Doug and others, how did you handle this? I'm always searching for a way to better use the original tarp, without having to use a larger tarp tied to the trees. If you tie that stock tarp to the trees, you probably aren't going to have much sideways rain coverage after your hammock sags.

But despite minor problems that need to be overcome, ain't hammocking wonderful and restful after a long hike?
Bill

[john Tier]

BB58, et al,

To eliminate HH Fly sag and get necessary protection.

First pick a protected site, lee of the ridge, behind wind block rock or bushes etc.

Second, tie to the trees, with tarp centered perfectly over the hammock…… The real key is to tie at a point on the trees 6-10 inches below the point where the HH suspension lines are tied….. This will put the fly tight on the ridge line when the hammock is unladen…..When you get in the hammock only will sag and the fly will be 4-5 inches above the ridge line….

Third stake the two asym corners….use max downward angle and make them tight….Personally a slippery tautline works best … YMMV based on knot chosen and line selection.

Pan

[Anonymous]

Thanks Pan.

Doug, as I look more closely at some of the pictures, the ones where the tarp appears nice and tight, it looks like you tied the tarp to the trees. Or in one pic, it looks like you are maybe tied to the hammock on one end and the tree on the other. Though it's kind of hard to tell for sure. Is that the case? Or did you find a way to use the tarp as directed- tied to the HH rope prussic(sp?)clips- and still keep a tight tarp?

The first picture in the snake skin segment shows a tarp that is pretty saggy. Don't know if that's with the tarp tied to the ropes and you in the hammock?

[Doug Johnson]

Hello all,

Good points about the fly. You are right that weighting the hammock adds slack to the tarp.

If you want the fly to remain taut, you have to over tension it to begin with so that it remains taut when weighted. This takes a little practice but is entirely possible.

As you've noticed in my review, I played with other solutions a bit. In one picture I have the fly attached to the hammock on the foot end but tied directly to the tree on the other. This minimised the sagging but I only did it once- over tensioning to begin with was good enough.

I also reviewed a load of accessories with this hammock: Hennessy Supershelter, JRB No Sniveler, JRB Nest, JRB, Old Rag Mountain, and also the JRB hammock tarp.

The JRB tarp is suspended completely seperate from the hammock and this completely eliminates the sagging. This larger tarp is excellent in heavy rain or snowfall conditions and I used it when pushing the hammock into the deep winter.

Last thing- the picture with in the Snake Skins sequence had been intentionally slackened. This is not how it ever looked in use.

Here's a pic of the Hyperlight in deep winter with a full spread of JRB quilts and a JRB fly. This is above 8 feet of snow!

Merry Christmas!

[Joe Clement]

If I only lived somewhere that had trees………….

[Author]

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