Ultralight Hammock Camping

August,

Couple years back we put a no-seem net on the Traveller same as the moskito… light and comfortable…Two distractors…One is the ridge line is external and the are no peak ends to slide gear to in the hammock, also the nettng droops, not quite as spaceous as the hennessy, but works well….Two is the end cords.. They are light, watch close for wear… They tend to tangle… best fix is attach the rope with a small biner so they are easy to disconnect and untangle or alternately add as 2 foot cone like sock to the end to slide over the cords and prevent tangles in the first place… nice hammock…retired in favor of the HH extreme light racer…longer and more comfortable than the Adventure racer and about 15 oz with rope and tree savers but without the stock fly…Substitute a JRB 8×8 Tarp at 9.2 oz and you have more coverage and a complete hammock rig that is 8 oz lighter than a stock BUL Asym…Have about 40 nights with no sign of wear in this rig…FWIW, I weigh 180 and am 5-11.

>i,m ready to retire it and am undecided between the adventure racer or the byers of maine mikitoe hammock

For me, the crucial difference between a Hennessy Hammock and others is the ‘ASym’ part. If I slept in a regular hammock my back would be a mess the next day–I’d rather sleep on the ground. So if you are considering switching from an asymmetric hammock to a regular slung hammock, you might want to take some material and make up a simple quick hammock and see if it works for you, or buy the hammock somewhere you can easily return it.

Doug,

You sleep in a Byer on the diagonal, same as the HH… it just does not say “asym”…

While we are at it, realize that the HH is a rectangular bottom with asym tie out points…Only the no seeum netting and standard fly are cut as parallel-a-grams or “asym” pieces.

Generally , all hammocks that are nominally 60 inches wide and of sufficient length for ones height will enable diagonal sleeping, a la, Myan Indian style…often called “Asym”… This as opposed to more traditional narrower hammocks, such as the military jungle hammock, M1965 model, or its many comercial knock-offs.

Also, be aware that the “on the diagonal” isn’t all that dramatic. Your feet are on one side of the center line, while you head is on the other. The offset is maybe a foot.

I know the first few times I was in my HH ULA, I kept trying to put my feet way out at the foot-end pullout and my head near head-end pullout. Which doesn’t work all that well, unless your 4′ tall.

>Any hammock that is wide enough can be used diagonally for sleeping flat, Central American style provided it isn’t made with tricky lacing to keep the sides high. Tie-outs on the Hennessey serve to keep the mosquito net tensioned somewhat. The light bungee cord coesn’t affect the hammock’s shape when you get sideways.

> A good mosquito net arrangement that doesn’t require velcro or zippers along the hems is to use a low hanging net with elastic: Make 2 hammock-length panels 2 feet high on the ends and 3.5 to 4 feet at the center, curving or arcing from center to ends. Stitch the panels together on the ridge line and add a lightweight fabric casing along the ridgeline. Stitch 3/4 inch velcro strips to close the 2-foot vertical sections at each end of the panels (so the panels stick together at the ends). Stitch a lightweight fabric casing on the bottom edge of each panel and install 1/4 inch elastic with friction tensioners at one end and the other end bartacked in place. Install a 3/16 inch bungee cord (drawstring size) in the top casing. Tension the bungee some and tie a loop in each end. Don’t cut off the excess; you may need to adjust it. Alternatively, put a friction tensioner behind the loop to take up the slack. A simple, ultralight friction tensioner is just an oval cut from a plastic jug with 4 holes punched in it. Thread the cord through all 4 holes and pull the excess from the center, between the 2nd and 3rd hole.

Make 2 loops of cord, attach a plastic mitten hook to each loop, and tie the loops to your hammock lines with prussic knots.

Hook the ridgeline bungee to the mitten hooks, separate the velcro at the ends, drape the net over the hammock, close the velcro over the end of th ehammock or the hammock line, tighten the elastic in the bottom casings until it seals when you are in the hammock, but still lets you get in and out.

>Hammocks are very easy to make. Just hem a 10X5 rectangle of the lightest fabric you have the nerve to try. (I weigh 210 and use 1.1 oz. ripstip Nylon 66. For Nylon 6 I have used 1.9 oz.) Accordian-fold the ends and attach the lines with a double sheet bend. That is like a regular sheet bend, but you take the ‘bitter end’ around an extra turn. Or use Speer’s knot and loop technique. Regardless, test it low, preferably with some padding underneith. I have been ‘let down’ a time or two when I didn’t set the knots firmly before climbing aboard.

Vick, do you have pics of this project?

Other hammock bugnet ideas at http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockCampingBugfree.html

I find my Speer-type hammocks more comfortable than my Hennessy UL BP Asym – I still sleep diagonally (almost flat) even though it’s not “asym” as was mentioned earlier.

Sorry, I don’t have a detail pic of the net rig. Just this with a Tyvek poncho as the fly and the snake skin bunched at the end:

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Vick, could you please pm me at jwj32542 at yahoo dot com?

Thanks,

Jeff

i would like to thank every one who commented on my post about hammock choices very insightful as allways. two heads are better then one as the saying goes.