Yep, I remember the picture of Swampus Ejectus. He nearly busted the Mach coming out of that hammock.
Hammock camping questions
- Thread starter Johnny Swank
- Start date
Ozark said:
Yep , when he bailed out it was at night and all we heard was this loud thump followed with a lot of exclamations but not really cussing , cussing for Swampy , but not for a real Marine. No Geronimo or anything like that when someone jumps out of a perfectly good airplane , just this ripping sound of the Velcro giving away and the crash.
Back to the matter at hand...........
Well the pads got me , pads 1 .. Chuck 0.
Not accepting defeat I did the next best thing , now some straps are on the underside of my sleeping bag so the pad can be attached and held there. This way no matter where the bag goes the pad will follow , sort of like that one little gal and her lamb. :lol: Just one but cut to fit in the hammock on the diagonal against the sides. I guess that might give me quarter point or something equally usless.
Chuck.
I have lots of velcro at the hangar. I'm considering sewing a few 3 inch hook pieces in the hammock, than glue the velcro pile pieces on the pad to match the hammock pieces locations. Right now the pad does slide around a little more than I like it too. I believe the velcro will keep it from sliding.
Bootlegger0173
Well-Known Member
My friend Chris has been putting off buying a Hennessey for years now, and finally came over with one of their large models tonight and we set it up and let him play with it a bit. He is hooked. It included the hex fly, and they shipped him an extra one, as well. He didn't want it, and though I offered to pay him for it, he just gave it to me. I am going to use the heck out of this thing. Already thinking of modifications though.
Got a question:
I was considering replacing the thin cords with medium duty shock cord, as we do get a lot of wind over here, and I think that it might allow it to remain snug, but lessen the chance of ripping. Any opinions as to whether that is a good idea, or should I just leave them alone?
Got a question:
I was considering replacing the thin cords with medium duty shock cord, as we do get a lot of wind over here, and I think that it might allow it to remain snug, but lessen the chance of ripping. Any opinions as to whether that is a good idea, or should I just leave them alone?
If you are talking about the thin cords on the fly, YES replace them. But not with bungee. I use a thin, braided, white nylon line. About 15' on both sides. A hard braid allows easy tying and untying, something the fuzzy original does not. White allows you to see it instead of stumbling over it, something which the original does not. Fifteen feet allows you to reach bushes and roots otherwise unreachable. It also provides clothesline capacity.
If it looks like rain - but hasn't committed itself yet, I sometimes do a special rig. Tie the line out flat or high, so the fly is winged up for ventilation, but loosen the line so the fly can droop to the ground or near it. Fasten a liter bottle - 2 if you expect a STRONG wind - to the junction of fly and line. Prop up the fly with a stick or paddle. If rain hits, kick out the prop and the fly will drop to protect you. If you're really lazy, tie another line around the prop and run it up to the hammock slit. Just reach down and yank the prop out.
To get into the hammock and your sleeping bag at the same time, try this. Lay the bag out on the sleeping pad in the hammock. Sit down in the entry slit, pull the bag down to your feet, insert your feet, and zip the bag up about 18"- 24". Stand up in the opening and pull the hood of the bag up onto your head, position the bag, and zip it almost all the way up. Reach back of your head and pull up all the slack in the back. Sit down and lay back, pulling your feet in. This gets you in a good position.
Most of us use a relief bottle for night time forays. Don't leave the hammock. With the bag on, stand up in the entry way, unzip, and let flicker. Again with hood on head, pull up the slack in back and lean back into the hammock.
I hang my headlight over the guy line in the top of the hammock. The gear loft is handy too.
If it looks like rain - but hasn't committed itself yet, I sometimes do a special rig. Tie the line out flat or high, so the fly is winged up for ventilation, but loosen the line so the fly can droop to the ground or near it. Fasten a liter bottle - 2 if you expect a STRONG wind - to the junction of fly and line. Prop up the fly with a stick or paddle. If rain hits, kick out the prop and the fly will drop to protect you. If you're really lazy, tie another line around the prop and run it up to the hammock slit. Just reach down and yank the prop out.
To get into the hammock and your sleeping bag at the same time, try this. Lay the bag out on the sleeping pad in the hammock. Sit down in the entry slit, pull the bag down to your feet, insert your feet, and zip the bag up about 18"- 24". Stand up in the opening and pull the hood of the bag up onto your head, position the bag, and zip it almost all the way up. Reach back of your head and pull up all the slack in the back. Sit down and lay back, pulling your feet in. This gets you in a good position.
Most of us use a relief bottle for night time forays. Don't leave the hammock. With the bag on, stand up in the entry way, unzip, and let flicker. Again with hood on head, pull up the slack in back and lean back into the hammock.
I hang my headlight over the guy line in the top of the hammock. The gear loft is handy too.
I left the shock cords for the sleeping portion of the hammock alone , they do the job quite well as a spacer for it.
The lines on the Hex Fly , they have been replaced with a bright yellow line and like Jack did , I lengthen them a lot more then Tom had for the original lines. Now no one ( myself included ) trip over them when the hammock ( rain fly) is set up.
The Hex fly will require 6 of the cords , one for each of the four corners and then two for the center parts in case you want to tie it off and not have it attached to the hammock.
It took a while but thinking of your question , rig up some shock cords to attach the lines to , this way you could do it either way , lines to a tent peg or tree and if you wanted to change that then the line to the shock cord attached to a tent peg or a tree. ( use the shock cord at the end ( ground or tree) of the line from the Hex Fly.)
I have been in some strong winds and the rain fly held without any problems , flapped around but held.
Chuck.
The lines on the Hex Fly , they have been replaced with a bright yellow line and like Jack did , I lengthen them a lot more then Tom had for the original lines. Now no one ( myself included ) trip over them when the hammock ( rain fly) is set up.
The Hex fly will require 6 of the cords , one for each of the four corners and then two for the center parts in case you want to tie it off and not have it attached to the hammock.
It took a while but thinking of your question , rig up some shock cords to attach the lines to , this way you could do it either way , lines to a tent peg or tree and if you wanted to change that then the line to the shock cord attached to a tent peg or a tree. ( use the shock cord at the end ( ground or tree) of the line from the Hex Fly.)
I have been in some strong winds and the rain fly held without any problems , flapped around but held.
Chuck.
A paddling buddy here has some line with reflecting stuff intertwined in it. It REALLY show up in the dark when a light flashes on it. Even I won't stumble on it (more than once or twice).
In my opinion, it never hurts to have 20' - 40' of extra line around camp. We seem to almost always find a use or three for it. I favor line about 1/16" thick, hard braided, white, nylon line.
I also like 24" wire leaders with a swivel and clip at each end. Game snares.
In my opinion, it never hurts to have 20' - 40' of extra line around camp. We seem to almost always find a use or three for it. I favor line about 1/16" thick, hard braided, white, nylon line.
I also like 24" wire leaders with a swivel and clip at each end. Game snares.
Bootlegger0173
Well-Known Member
The only place that carrys shock cord around here is the outragiously priced West Marine and I didn't go by there today when I went to town.
Yes, I had already replaced my previous fly's lines with white nylon cord, but I have now decided to use white paracord on this one. Longer of course. Also, I am going to take some existing bungee cords and make a small, maybe 3" double loop on the fly side, and add the white paracord to that. That way it will mostly be regular cord for ease of tying, but have just a bit of spring to it.
I use those steel tree stakes with the green caps on them from Wally world for stakes. On them, I have aprox. 6" of bright cord attached, as well as red and white reflective tape attached to the top couple of inches of shaft. I don't loose them anymore.
I am thinking of replacing my little gear hammock at the foot end of the mainline with a large biner, instead, on a pruskit knot. I have attached a small loop in the top of my boots and plan to hang them, as-is on my next trip to see how that works for me.
Yes, I had already replaced my previous fly's lines with white nylon cord, but I have now decided to use white paracord on this one. Longer of course. Also, I am going to take some existing bungee cords and make a small, maybe 3" double loop on the fly side, and add the white paracord to that. That way it will mostly be regular cord for ease of tying, but have just a bit of spring to it.
I use those steel tree stakes with the green caps on them from Wally world for stakes. On them, I have aprox. 6" of bright cord attached, as well as red and white reflective tape attached to the top couple of inches of shaft. I don't loose them anymore.
I am thinking of replacing my little gear hammock at the foot end of the mainline with a large biner, instead, on a pruskit knot. I have attached a small loop in the top of my boots and plan to hang them, as-is on my next trip to see how that works for me.
That's the way I hang my boots. I also use a large (12" X 24") mesh bag for dirty clothes. That way they dry and air out a bit. I hang it up under the rain fly.
Some hangers for skirts or pants have spring clips on the end. With some of these, you can saw them off and have a set of separate clips. I use these to clip that bag to the guy line from the outside.
Some hangers for skirts or pants have spring clips on the end. With some of these, you can saw them off and have a set of separate clips. I use these to clip that bag to the guy line from the outside.
This last trip I found that if you are using a rectangle bag you can tuck the upper end of the bag under the top of your pad and it will stay there for you when you get into the hammock. Just have the bag unzipped about 3/4 length and placed where you want it when you get in there. Then zip it up or leave it open if you are camping in Florida.
Joe (lazyriverguy) is a dealer for the Hennessey Hammocks and he told me that Tom has designed an undercover and a under pad for the hammocks. The undercover fits the bottom of the hammock and has a open cell pad to go in there keeping it out of the inside of the hammock.
It is a " Windproof SilNylon double wall bottom cover used with detachable, contoured open cell foam pad. Designed to work together. undercover will not work with closed cell foam pads under hammock." Copied from Tom's web site
The closed cell pads will not conform to the shape of the hammock or your body like the open cell ones will.
Accessory section of Tom's web site.
This makes sense to me , have the pad under the hammock , then your sleeping bag in the inside along with you , no scooting around trying to make sure your bag is lined up and on the pad which always wants to scoot around.
I have not ordered one , as of yet , but you can bet your bottom dollar I will have one in the really near future. The under cover and the pad that goes with it.
I am thinking that in the summer , a light weight blanket in place of the pad would offer a lot of comfort and keep any skeeters fro trying to bite you.
Chuck.
Joe (lazyriverguy) is a dealer for the Hennessey Hammocks and he told me that Tom has designed an undercover and a under pad for the hammocks. The undercover fits the bottom of the hammock and has a open cell pad to go in there keeping it out of the inside of the hammock.
It is a " Windproof SilNylon double wall bottom cover used with detachable, contoured open cell foam pad. Designed to work together. undercover will not work with closed cell foam pads under hammock." Copied from Tom's web site
The closed cell pads will not conform to the shape of the hammock or your body like the open cell ones will.
Accessory section of Tom's web site.
This makes sense to me , have the pad under the hammock , then your sleeping bag in the inside along with you , no scooting around trying to make sure your bag is lined up and on the pad which always wants to scoot around.
I have not ordered one , as of yet , but you can bet your bottom dollar I will have one in the really near future. The under cover and the pad that goes with it.
I am thinking that in the summer , a light weight blanket in place of the pad would offer a lot of comfort and keep any skeeters fro trying to bite you.
Chuck.
Tom's hammock is the second greatest thing I've ever slept next to in camp. No, the first one was neither Chuckus Snoricus nor Yakus Farticus.