View Full Version : No way, no how!!!
Graywolf
05-25-2010, 21:30
Just went to REI. They had the hennessey on sale for $99. Thought this is best chance then any to try this out..Well, here is my thoughts, I HATE IT!! No hammocking for me, NO WAY!! I sat it up us directed on the videos. Thought that would be a good way to check it out. When I sat down on it, (as a chair) it was fine, but then as I proceeded to lay down in side, once there, the ends where it is fastened to the hammock itself unraveled and I went staight down onto my arse..No way, hosey!! I am taking this back tomarrow.. What a piece of junk!! My trusty tarp/tent is just as good, and Im already on the ground..
I am very disappointed..especially with all the hoopdedoo I hear about hammocking..May work for you, but not for me..Gald I tried this out at home before I sat foot on the trail..
Emotionally bruised,
Graywolf
Mountain Wildman
05-25-2010, 21:44
You are funny, I know it's not funny but made me chuckle.
I'm with you on this one, I tried a hammock a long time ago and it wasn't for me either. Tents have been used for hundreds of years. Plus, I prefer to have my gear inside with me.
I also have a feeling that you are bruised elsewhere than just emotionally. :-)
Graywolf
05-25-2010, 21:51
You are funny, I know it's not funny but made me chuckle.
I'm with you on this one, I tried a hammock a long time ago and it wasn't for me either. Tents have been used for hundreds of years. Plus, I prefer to have my gear inside with me.
I also have a feeling that you are bruised elsewhere than just emotionally. :-)
Your so right..The other thing I notcied when I was inside, just before coming down, was it was way too cramped for me..I like space..
But right now I like ice..LOL.. yes, I am laughing about it now, so I will laugh with you..
Graywolf
Mountain Wildman
05-25-2010, 21:53
Too funny,
I always have this picture in my mind, Me snoozing in a hammock off the A.T. and a Black bear using it like a punching bag, with me in it!!! ouch!!
Graywolf
05-25-2010, 22:03
Too funny,
I always have this picture in my mind, Me snoozing in a hammock off the A.T. and a Black bear using it like a punching bag, with me in it!!! ouch!!
You know, I have had that same dream before.. I was also thinking, If the bears are getting after the bearbags hanging from the trees, and they see a very BIG bag dangling from the trees, you know they have to be thinking, "T-BONE Steak tonight..Yeah!!!"" Just a thought..
I am going to give the Hammock one more try tomarrow, just to give it a shadow of a dought, but right now, I dought it very much..
I've back-slid to a tent too - too much fiddling to tie off. I like hiking not futzing. I keep gettilg told to look on hammockforums.net for advice but that site to me is like auditing a graduate geology course with only a background in 9th grade earth science. Too much jargon.
That's what you get for buying a Chinese made Hennessy.
Graywolf
05-25-2010, 22:29
That's what you get for buying a Chinese made Hennessy.
Thats OK, Ill stick to my American made Tarp/tent..Sooooo much better, and more space..
if you set up a tent wrong would you blame the tent for it?.. :)
Rain Man
05-25-2010, 23:18
I always have this picture in my mind, Me snoozing in a hammock off the A.T. and a Black bear using it like a punching bag, with me in it!!! ouch!!
My lovely wife calls my HH "the bear pinata!" OUCH!
Rain:sunMan
.
Graywolf
05-25-2010, 23:29
if you set up a tent wrong would you blame the tent for it?.. :)
I set the hammock up according to the video.. the tree straps and tie stayed firm, the slip came from where the cord is attached to the hammock.. nope, I didnt set it up wrong.. read the thread
LOL. Sounds like you're still reeling from the unexpected tumble onto your arsee.
Did you get the original bottom entrance(peapod slit) or the newer side entrance designed Hennessey model?
Either way, once you take a tumble from a hammock it tends to be on your mind well into the future.
RedneckRye
05-26-2010, 00:54
Hey Graywolf....
You ought to change your name, address, e-mail, and hair color.
You've spoken ill of the HAMMOCK.
The Hammock-ateers will be after you now.
They have seen the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIGHT, and you have dared to draw a cartoon of it.:mad::mad::mad:
:welcome back to tent-ville, we won't hold your "experimentation" against you.
Well, I will just add that you or anyone can hardly call this an honest, evaluative test of hammocking in general. If, as you say, and I have no reason to doubt you, you set up the hammock properly, then you got a defective hammock. It can and does happen in any industry, cottage or mega manufacturer.
Would you give up driving because your car broke down the first time you drove it? I doubt it.
Sorry for your bad experience, but you owe it to yourself to give it another shot if you can still be objective and think you MAY like it. Your experience was not the norm, obviously, or hanging wouldn't have the following that it does.
Just my opinion. At least you tried it once. :-)
Just went to REI. They had the hennessey on sale for $99. Thought this is best chance then any to try this out..Well, here is my thoughts, I HATE IT!! No hammocking for me, NO WAY!! I sat it up us directed on the videos. Thought that would be a good way to check it out. When I sat down on it, (as a chair) it was fine, but then as I proceeded to lay down in side, once there, the ends where it is fastened to the hammock itself unraveled and I went staight down onto my arse..No way, hosey!! I am taking this back tomarrow.. What a piece of junk!! My trusty tarp/tent is just as good, and Im already on the ground..
I am very disappointed..especially with all the hoopdedoo I hear about hammocking..May work for you, but not for me..Gald I tried this out at home before I sat foot on the trail..
Emotionally bruised,
Graywolf
One bad experience and he gives up!:rolleyes:
The product was defective - that's the product's fault.
Obviously a good number of us have been "hanging" for quite a while.
Crawling on the ground isn't my idea of having fun, but a lot of folks like doing it, so you have lots of company. :D :)
Mrs Baggins
05-26-2010, 09:13
My lovely wife calls my HH "the bear pinata!" OUCH!
Rain:sunMan
.
Somewhere on WB I remember seeing a hammock called a "bear burrito" and a tent a "bear taco." :eek: I'll take my chances being a taco.
That's what you get for buying a Chinese made Hennessy.
On my first HH the bugnet stitching tore out on the first outing. On looking at the area clearly the stitching wasn't correct on that end of the seam. I was able to replace it with a new one but that was an expensive package to mail to Canada and a couple of months without the hammock. The replacement has been fine.
I'd be happy to buy a USA made Speers but I'd still have to attach it to trees. :D I don't mind the bottom velcro entry or keeping the pack underneath it and behind.
Even with a Speer hammock (excellent quality and design, cottage manufacturer) mistakes can happen during manufacture. I ordered mine several years ago, just before Trail Days I believe it was. I received my hammock, and had to wait a couple of days for an opportunity to try it out. While waiting, I received an email from Ed Speer. It seems that while he was away at Trail Days (or whatever trail event it was) his employees had made an error in how they attached the straps to the hammock, and he advised against using it until I checked the knot used. He offered to repair it if I sent it back, or offered to walk me through the repair over the phone if I gave him a call. I opted for the latter. Upon exam mine was knotted incorrectly. I re-tied the straps as he instructed, and it has been fine ever since.
I do highly recommend Speer Hammocks. I also really like the strapping method Ed Speer uses to attach to the trees. Simple, very effective, easy to adjust, and no knots required. No reason for complicated attachment systems. I have never seen any damage to the tree from his multi-wrap method.
Rain Man
05-26-2010, 09:31
I set the hammock up according to the video.. the tree straps and tie stayed firm, the slip came from where the cord is attached to the hammock.. nope, I didnt set it up wrong.. read the thread
Were you, perhaps, over the weight limit? I didn't read in the thread anything about that.
And for the record, I have tents, hammocks, tarps, have cowboy camped, and etc., so I have no bias toward hammocks nor prejudices against them.
Rain:sunMan
.
daibutsu
05-26-2010, 09:57
I went thru the same learning curve, except for equipment failure, that you seemed to have experienced. The Hennessey is like the gateway hammock; we start with it then graduate on to better, higher quality American made equipment.
wirerat123
05-26-2010, 10:27
I find that 90% of the time I would rather Hammock camp. I have yet to have a bad experience in it except that about 4 years ago I took mine out before I knew how cold they can get when the temps drop without bottom insulation. Even then I was able to get easily as good of a nights sleep as I could on the ground. I have a bad back and hips, ground camping just puts too much pressure on them.
You have recieved a defective piece of equipment, and using that as judgement on hammock camping is plain silly.
With tent camping I have woken up with wet equipment, sore body parts, tent collapsing in the middle of the night in a rain storm because the ground sofened enough to let the stakes rip out, heavy condensation, a raccoon climbing the netting on the body of the tent between the rain fly and the tent making the no see um netting into not bug proof netting as well as scaring the crap out of me, a skunk crawled into the tent with us in Texas once since we left everything open for ventilation, pick up the tent to find snakes resting up under it, waking up in the middle of the night to get that pine comb, rock, stick, lump of dirt, etc that wasn't noticable out from under my back, walk more miles than intended to find suitable area to camp.
Hammock camping I have had one night where my butt got cold, never woke up with anything sore, never been molested by skunks, raccoons, bears, or anything else. Never had to search too long for a spot to setup, doesn't matter if the ground is uneven, rocky, lumpy, hard, fragile, or if it's under water, if I can hang my hammock, I can camp there. If I can't hang my hammock I can use my hiking poles and it makes a very acceptible bivy shelter. Never had to get up and disturb anyone because there was the un noticed stick, rock, lump, or anything else up under me, never gotten wet in even the worst rain storm, never made an impact on the ground where there once wasn't. I've camped and slept wonderfully over rocks, roots, on a hillside, and over wet marshy ground in a swamp. The fastest I have ever truely setup a tent is about 7 or 8 minutes, I can have my Hennessy up and ready to crash in it in about 4 minutes with no confusion, no complication.
I have noticed that A LOT of people have a preconceived notion about hammock camping well before they give it a fair shake. No matter what happens, they will find every bad detail about it to use against it, not taking into account the pluses and negatives of each. Hammock camping has lost before they ever even hang the thing. They want it to fail, they do not want it to make their trusty tents and tarps obsolete. If done and done right, I just can't imagine how you could possibly sleepp better in a tent than you can on the ground, and clostrophobic, I feel more enclosed in my tent. With my hennessy I use my hiking poles to raise the corners of my tarp and have plenty of view and air flow, even more than I can get in any tent.
Hammock camping has given me my love of backpacking back. Before I got into hammocks I just couldn't rest on the trail in tents. It gets old waking up with sore shoulders, hips and my back, and tossing and turning half the night trying to be comfortable.
beakerman
05-26-2010, 12:31
Things break...it happens. I've been hammocking now for about a year or so in my....wait for this...walmart hammock with the oniy bad experince being not enough butt insulation and that was my fault. I've camped in places that tents would never venture without a flame thrower going through first to clear a site.
I'm not saying hammocking is the thing for you graywolf..like much about hiking an camping to each his own...but iwould take it back and try again. Also as pointed out there is a weight limit on these things and if there is a flaw in the strap/hammock interface then it lowers the actual limit. I know on my cheapy wallyworld hammock I'm pushing the limit (240 for me vs 300 for the hammock) and if there is a problem with the stiching I'm going to end up on the ground like you did with your much more expensive hammock.
Take it back and get another...this time inspect the attatchment points. I always do what I call the grandma inspection. My grandmother was a professional seamstress and as a child she would always inspect the quality of the stitching on our clothes every time she saw us. She would tug on the seams and open them up with her fingers to see if there was any bunching and what not.
fredmugs
05-26-2010, 12:45
Me buy Hennessey hammock.
Me take hammock out of hammock container.
Me tie one end to tree.
Me tie other end to different tree.
Me get in.
Me sleep on back.
Me sleep on side.
Me sleep really well with no back pain.
What me don't do? Watch video.
Seriously - when I tie the hammock to a tree I use these things called "knots."
At Wayah the other day, had several hikers come through mentioning the hogs they saw. Soooo glad I'm off the ground. I might be a bear burrito, but at least I'm not a target for hog plundering.
My lovely wife calls my HH "the bear pinata!" OUCH!
Rain:sunMan
.
I always thought the same thing. Imagine if a bear acually did attack you while sleeping in a hammock? lol
BigFoot2002
05-30-2010, 21:00
I attached my hammock to a defective American made tree once.
garlic08
05-30-2010, 21:24
I've had two Henry Shires Tarptents fail very quickly due to minor defects. Henry replaced them immediately and the replacements lasted many years, and I've become a die-hard Tarptent fan. I'd give the hammock a fair shot at redemption.
gunner76
05-30-2010, 22:03
just go and get a Warbonnet
SGT Rock
05-30-2010, 22:15
Hell, I've been building my own. It was great until I changed the whipping, then I felt like I was being squeezed alive in the thing. I changed the whipping again and fixed it. I guess if that older version of my homemade hammock had been my first experience I would hate them too.
But the truth is, I have tried to go to ground a few times to save weight and absolutely hated that. A good hammock is a great night.
mbiraman
05-30-2010, 23:49
I camped and worked from a tent for 14 yrs in the back country. I have a good hammock now and wished i'd found that option yrs ago. If you buy a low priced hammock on sale then your getting an entry level system. Thats like going to wallmart , buying a cheap tent on sale and expecting great things from it. Add to that lack of experience and ???
Tents may have been around for hundreds of yrs but hammocks have been around over a thousand yrs,,,,just sayin. Its not the type of equipment , its eperience and preference.
Anyone who thinks a tent is safer than a hammock against curious carnivoirs is deluding themselves. Most of the time bears don't aproach but a thin nylon wall is no protection. Experience and knowledge is your protection.
SGT Rock
05-31-2010, 01:18
And a camera.
Anyone who thinks a tent is safer than a hammock against curious carnivoirs is deluding themselves. Most of the time bears don't aproach but a thin nylon wall is no protection. Experience and knowledge is your protection.
And a camera.
I've only run into three bears (all grizzlies) that didn't run away the moment I pulled out my camera.
Dale Merkley
05-31-2010, 13:48
Hey Greywolf, if you really hate hammocking and haven't returned the hammock yet I'll buy it from you for $50.00 bucks.
Graywolf
06-01-2010, 20:57
Were you, perhaps, over the weight limit? I didn't read in the thread anything about that.
And for the record, I have tents, hammocks, tarps, have cowboy camped, and etc., so I have no bias toward hammocks nor prejudices against them.
Rain:sunMan
.
No, I weigh in at 230, the hammock is at 250, so I think Im good..I havnt written it off completely yet. Just a defect, not saying all hammocks have defects, just a bad experiance...Thats usually my luck anyway..Oh well, 3 times a charm..Right..
beakerman
06-02-2010, 08:43
No, I weigh in at 230, the hammock is at 250, so I think Im good..I havnt written it off completely yet. Just a defect, not saying all hammocks have defects, just a bad experiance...Thats usually my luck anyway..Oh well, 3 times a charm..Right..
Wow 250 max...dang that cheapie wallyworld hammock I have is at 300 pounds max. i think I paid $20 for it. I guess sometimes you don't get what you pay for....
I understand where your coming from. I'm a chevy man. Have been for 25 years....If I went out and bought a ford and it broke down the first day (it probably would) I'd return it and go back and get me a new chevy. Even though I know there are some good fords out there (haha). And that I probably just got a lemon.
dang that cheapie wallyworld hammock I have is at 300 pounds max. i think I paid $20 for it. I guess sometimes you don't get what you pay for....
250# would be too self-limiting for Walmart. :D
Graywolf
06-02-2010, 18:58
Wow 250 max...dang that cheapie wallyworld hammock I have is at 300 pounds max. i think I paid $20 for it. I guess sometimes you don't get what you pay for....
I think the Clarks Jungle Hammock is rated at 300#..Looking at that..
Graywolf
Tipi Walter
06-02-2010, 19:20
You are funny, I know it's not funny but made me chuckle.
I'm with you on this one, I tried a hammock a long time ago and it wasn't for me either. Tents have been used for hundreds of years. Plus, I prefer to have my gear inside with me.
I also have a feeling that you are bruised elsewhere than just emotionally. :-)
When I think of the hammock, I think of the jungle. Maybe cuz I spent 2 years in Panama and understood the need to sleep up off the ground. Anyway, the hammock originated about a thousand years ago with the Mayan Indians in Central America. It's said that Columbus "discovered" the hammock and then British and French sailors used them aboard ship. The US Army developed the Jungle Hammock and used it in WW2 and Vietnam. The Viet Cong had their version of the hammock, too.
Thats OK, Ill stick to my American made Tarp/tent..Sooooo much better, and more space..
The big drawback to a hammock is using it for shelter while sitting out a 4 or 5 day blizzard in 0F or -10F. Throw in a 40 or 50mph wind atop an open bald and you see its limitations. I can stay in my tent for 96 hours if need be, it would be rough doing the same in a hammock.
Just used my Warbonnet on a 4 day trip and loved it. I was sceptical at first until the first morning I woke up refreshed and w/o backpain. Slap straps are easy to attach to tree. I had my hammock set up with Tarp and all then went to help my buddy set up his tent. He started a few minutes before me. Took me only a few minutes to do everything. The hammock itselef was haning right after only 2 minutes and I bet I could get that down with more practice.
Old Hiker
06-07-2010, 10:05
I attached my hammock to a defective American made tree once.
Are ya sure it wasn't a Chinese import or knock-off ?? Didja look at the label? :D