Hennesy Hyperlight: Can I hang my pack+sacks from the ridgeline INSIDE?

[crazypete]

Good day hammockers!

I've finally taken the plunge and gotten the piece of gear that originally made me want to become a hiker: the hennesy hammock hyperlight =)

Now my original and only problem with the hammock concept was that you had nowhere to put your gear or hang stuff up to dry. But I've thought of a solution and wanted to swing it by the community to see if it will fly:

Why not pull the stuffsacks out of the pack and clip them over the ridgeline inside the hammock and then clip the empty pack inside the hammock? Now all my precious gear is safe!

Will this work? The line has a rating of 1460 lbs but the hammock only has a 200 lb rating...is that 200 lbs the fabric or the ridgeline?

Thanks for your thoughts!

[HikerRanky]

Good Morning Pete!

Welcome to WB, and to the hammocking community!

What I have done is hang the really important stuff inside the hammock with me..... Lights, wallet, small items like that...

Of course the food bag will be hung away from the campsite... I'll use some of my clothes as a pillow...

Then the empty pack can be hung open underneath the tarp...

Hope this gives you an idea....

Randy

[bigcranky]

Can you do this? Sure.

Do you want to? Well, maybe. Everything that I ever clipped to the ridgeline inside the hammock ended up hanging in the center, and I would bang my head into it every time I sat up or tried to get in and out of the hammock.

You may be able to rig something so that your pack and stuff sacks don't slide down the sloping ridgeline to the center. I gave up and just hang my pack from the tree with a small carabiner. The rain cover protects the contents.

[Hooch]

The 200# rating for the hammock, not the ridgeline. The ridgeline has to significantly stronger because of the forces put on it when the hanger is inside. That said, I like to use my ridgeline on my hammock (not a Hennessy) to hang things on under the tarp to dry. It works well. As far as storage, I use the side stuff pocket of my hammock to put things in such as glasses, headlamp, map, MP3 player, etc. I've also seen these (http://www.rei.com/product/681993) used by a few folks.Whatever you use, go for it, enjoy and congratulations for leaving the ground to the animals. :D:rolleyes:

Shameless plug for Hammock Forums (http://www.hammockforums.net).

[gunn parker]

Hi
I have a backpacker ultralight and I would not want to hang anything wet or heavy on the ridgeline over or near my head.
You could hang your pack on the ridgeline near the foot end under cover but outside of he hammock body.
And if you had items to dry I'd clip then to the suspension line at either end, or you could get a thin cord and run it under the hammock body and attach stuff to dry there.
Gunn

[JaxHiker]

Everything that I ever clipped to the ridgeline inside the hammock ended up hanging in the center, and I would bang my head into it every time I sat up or tried to get in and out of the hammock.

You may be able to rig something so that your pack and stuff sacks don't slide down the sloping ridgeline to the center.
I usually only have two things on the ridgeline that don't go in the gear pockets that come with the HH: Nalgene bottle and boots. I push the boots to the very foot of the hammock and drop them down through the entry so they hang right below the hammock. I cut about a 12" piece of 1/8" cord and put a prusik on the ridgeline. This acts as a perfect stopper knot to keep things from sliding into me and gives me one more place to put something light. I wouldn't hang anything too heavy, though.

[Rain Man]

Will this work? The line has a rating of 1460 lbs but the hammock only has a 200 lb rating...is that 200 lbs the fabric or the ridgeline?

Be very careful about thinking that 1460 lbs is the effective rating. There is a long, long safety thread on WB about this issue. Unfortunately, some morons turned it into their personal joke thread, so be prepared to wade through a morass of idiocy in an important thread about safety. You might Google the issue, as it is discussed on some caving sites, search-and-rescue sites, equipment rigging sites, rock climbing sites, and so forth.

In a nutshell, several factors work against relying on the stated rating of any line. For one, knots weaken the line up to half. For another, that rating is for a line hanging straight down only. The physics of angles can dramatically increase the effective weight on a line that is strung near horizontal. Also, a hiker is not a static, dead weight, but is dynamic weight. Every time you hop in the hammock, roll over during the night, sit-up, lay-back, etc., you create a bounce that can greatly increase your own effective weight.

In short, the line strength can be much less than stated and your own weight can be much more than stated.

So, allow for a great deal of safety factor. Or, you might find yourself landing on your back on those rocks that hammockers like to say they can sleep above, or you might even pull whatever the line is tied to. It has happened.

Rain:sunMan

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[crazypete]

I usually only have two things on the ridgeline that don't go in the gear pockets that come with the HH: Nalgene bottle and boots. I push the boots to the very foot of the hammock and drop them down through the entry so they hang right below the hammock. I cut about a 12" piece of 1/8" cord and put a prusik on the ridgeline. This acts as a perfect stopper knot to keep things from sliding into me and gives me one more place to put something light. I wouldn't hang anything too heavy, though.


Thats a great idea! Thanks for the good ideas.

So basically, the rating is only for the occupant. Sounds like I can hang arbitrary amounts of my backpack gear on the ridgeline and whack my head into it all night long as I please.

I'm only really worried about 2 things:

1. Critters. A friend and myself went up to Stratton Pond shelter for an overnight late late in the season. He slept in the shelter. I slept in my tent with all my gear inside with me. His pack was chewed through and so was his food bag. I was untouched. Now if I had left my pack outside on the ground or tied to a tree.......unattended mouse and bear food! I'm guessing the foul nikwax smell diverted some of our furry friends from my fabric castle.

2. Frozen stuff. I sleep with my camelback, batteries, cannister fuel, toothpaste. This stuff is coming inside with me no matter what. Once a camelback is frozen, you now have a lump of ice hanging on your back that is useless for drinking and is horribly unpleasant (I have a meshback atmos 65). Frozen shoes SUCK.

How do you guys deal with these 2 issues when hammocking?

[JaxHiker]

The pack hangs outside at the end of the support line (against the foot of the hammock). If you have a bigger tarp (forget it with the stock Hennessy tarp) the pack is protected. Otherwise you can use a rain cover if you expect inclement weather. I haven't done it yet but I plan on making a gear bag that runs between the support line and the side tie-out. The downside (unless you've done the zipper mod) is that you still have to get out of the hammock to get something out of the bag.

[crazypete]

Be very careful about thinking that 1460 lbs is the effective rating....

So, allow for a great deal of safety factor. Or, you might find yourself landing on your back on those rocks that hammockers like to say they can sleep above, or you might even pull whatever the line is tied to. It has happened.

Rain:sunMan

.

I'll take your sage advice to heart. I'll be doing some "full dress rehearsals" in my nice, flat, earthy, rock free backyard with full gear inside before I do a swan dive backwards onto some rocks. Hopefully, with my shelter downsizing plus the subsequent bag and pad downsizing, the total weight on the chords will be a lot less.

But....if I can do this, this will be the perfect shelter system!

Maybe I can run a parachute chord along the ridgeline and hang my stuff from that.

[BumpJumper]

This thread sucks without pictures!:D

[take-a-knee]

I hang my pack outside at the head end of the hennessy. I hang my clothing bag behind it ( between the pack and the hammock ). Food bag is hung PCT style somewhere near. A small stuff sack with a vest/warmies is hung inside the hammock, I usually use it for a pillow. I use a longer loop of cord than JAX does to hang my boots, I like them about a foot or so below the entrance slit, easy to reach for midnight runs but out of the mud and rain.

[Strategic]

I'll generally hang mine from either the foot-end tree-hugger (if it's fairly dry) or just above the foot-end hammock knot (if it's fairly wet), both with the pack cover on, never had a problem with damp. I'll hang two or three stuff sacks of the gear I want overnight from the ridgeline, though; it's just easier to keep it handy that way, mostly shoved down to the off-side space in the foot (the crocs, extra cloths, etc.) except for my "book bag" (book, journal, light, water) above my head. Works well for me. I'll also throw hiking clothes over the ridgeline or over the bug net if it's wet out and I need to dry them some, but otherwise I'll hang them from the main lines.

I'd be careful about putting a whole pack's weight on the ridgeline, they will snap if you over-stress them. The Hyperlights are actually pretty strong, but there's no reason to go hog-wild on it either.:D

p.s., I added a picture for you, BumpJumper! It's my Hyperlight at West Mountain shelter in NY. Note the pack still hanging from the foot-end tree and my trekking pole propping up the down-valley side of my fly (for the sunrise that the fog blocked out.)

[JaxHiker]

I don't have a pic of the inside (maybe I can get one tonight.) Here's the pack outside though. I was just hanging for the day so now pack cover.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/fotomonkey/1182_20211.jpg

[Rain Man]

Maybe I can run a parachute chord along the ridgeline and hang my stuff from that.

Exactly, just run a line from tree to tree alongside the HH, under the rain fly. Hang your gear there. And if you have zippers installed, you can reach right out to your gear!

Rain:sunMan

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[G-dubbs]

http://www.jacksrbetter.com/index_files/Jeffs%20Gear%20Hammock-Pack%20Cover.htm

I found this while looking at tarps to replace the stock hennessy one. Its a silnylon pack cover with four webbing loops that can be used to attach to the hennessy, and become a hammock for you pack that lies next to you so it serves two purposes. its advirtised as being between 3 and 3.75 ounces depending upon the size you need. there are several photos at the link which show how the cover would attach to the hammock.

[Strategic]

http://www.jacksrbetter.com/index_files/Jeffs%20Gear%20Hammock-Pack%20Cover.htm

I found this while looking at tarps to replace the stock hennessy one. Its a silnylon pack cover with four webbing loops that can be used to attach to the hennessy, and become a hammock for you pack that lies next to you so it serves two purposes. its advirtised as being between 3 and 3.75 ounces depending upon the size you need. there are several photos at the link which show how the cover would attach to the hammock.

I tried one of these, but could never make it work. It always pulled the foot of the hammock in and made it harder to stay flat for me, no matter how I attached it (even when I tied the bottom end to the tie-out stake rather than attached it to the hammock or line.) Many people swear by them, though, so YMMV.