Hennessy vs. Clark Jungle Hammocks

[Shane Heilman]

Knowing that there are tons of you out there loyal to the Hennessy family of hammocks, how do the two mentioned in the subject line stack up?  

I prefer to hike in the winter months so please feel free to share wisdom from lessons learned.  I will be a new convert.

I also prefer to sleep on my side, how well does this work in a hammock?

Thanks,

Shane

[Bill-182]

At home I sleep on my side almost exclusively, but in the hammock I
sleep on my side only for short periods.  I'm not sure why that is.  I
do find it's more comfortable on my side if I tuck my legs up a bit.
There is also a comfortable half-back half-side position you can find in
a hammock that you can't get on the flat.  When on my back, I tuck
something behind my knees.

Like me, I think you'll find your sleep habit changes a bit in the
hammock, but you will still be comfortable, especially as compared to
the ground-dwellers.

In cool weather, you will definitely need a pad under you.  There is a
lot more circulation around you in hammock than in a tent, and you need
to compensate for that.  I use the 24 inch foam pad from WalMart.  In
really cold weather, say below 25, you may need more than that depending
on what you're used to.  I used a -15 degree synthetic sleeping bag in
+15 degree weather, and it was cozy.  In that case I slept in the bag,
but normally I just pull it on top of me.

This year I bought two $24 down twin-size quilts from Walmart.  I plan
to use one on top, and hang the other underneath.  I haven't tried the
underquilt yet in the field.  The top quilt worked great down into the
40s, but is a bit bulkier than a good down bag.  I haven't had a chance
to try it any colder yet.

It's not an answer to your specific Hennessy vs Clark question but ...
Don't be afraid to make your own.  There is just not that much to it.  I
make mine using:

3.5 yards of ripstop nylon for the hammock body
2 8-foot pieces of nylon webbing for tree savers
40 feet of 3/16 Sta-Set line to hang from (maybe too much)
2 carabiners to attach the line to the tree savers

There are some real advantages to making your own.  IIRC Ed Speer has a
patent on using a structural ridgeline on a hammock; if you make your
own, you don't have to pay the patent rent.  You can disassemble and
reassemble your hammock as many times as you want to adjust for your own
comfort.  Not to mention the money saved over commercial offerings.  IMO
the commercial offerings depend too much on highly stressed sewn joints;
on mine there are none of those.

The downside is that you need a Beloved Seamstress to hem the fabric.
It's just a straight hem around four sides of a rectangle, but I don't
have the skill.  The rest of the assembly is knot-tying.

I do find that having the ridgeline integrated is worthwhile on a
backpacking hammock.  It's handy to hang things on (flashlight,
eyeglasses etc), helps me to haul my old bones out of it, keeps the
hammock set up the same way every time, and saves lots of time setting up.

Don't forget to check Hammock Forums and Jeff's Just Hammock page for
infinitely more opinions.  Let me know if you want more info on the DIY
option.

Bill


mshaner_climb wrote:

>  
>
> Knowing that there are tons of you out there loyal to the Hennessy
> family of hammocks, how do the two mentioned in the subject line stack
> up?
>
> I prefer to hike in the winter months so please feel free to share
> wisdom from lessons learned. I will be a new convert.
>
> I also prefer to sleep on my side, how well does this work in a hammock?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Shane
>
>
>

[Ralph Oborn]

Or if you are just experimenting.....
Ralph's on the cheap, no sew version of the Risk Test Hammock:
(as inspired by this discussion list.)

Get 4 yards of non stretch material (doesn't have to be ripstop)
Two 15'x 1 inch  straps (strapping from an war surplus store or motor cycle
tie-downs or small tow straps)

Gather the ends of the material
leave about a 1 inch "ears " up at each corner (to make a "pocket"
Make a loop of the hammock material
Tie a double sheetbend with the strapping

No sewing, no fussing, I get the material for $1.50 a yard at Wal-mart)
Total cost under $10.00

My scouts love 'em  we have  made and use about 20 of them.

Add a ridge line if you like.
If it looks like rain we drape an 8X10 blue tarp diagonally over the hammock
and stake down the corners

Ralph


On Sun, Oct 11, 2009 at 10:15 PM, Bill <bpl@...> wrote:

>
> At home I sleep on my side almost exclusively, but in the hammock I
> sleep on my side only for short periods.  I'm not sure why that is.  I
> do find it's more comfortable on my side if I tuck my legs up a bit.
> There is also a comfortable half-back half-side position you can find in
> a hammock that you can't get on the flat.  When on my back, I tuck
> something behind my knees.
>
> Like me, I think you'll find your sleep habit changes a bit in the
> hammock, but you will still be comfortable, especially as compared to
> the ground-dwellers.
>
> In cool weather, you will definitely need a pad under you.  There is a
> lot more circulation around you in hammock than in a tent, and you need
> to compensate for that.  I use the 24 inch foam pad from WalMart.  In
> really cold weather, say below 25, you may need more than that depending
> on what you're used to.  I used a -15 degree synthetic sleeping bag in
> +15 degree weather, and it was cozy.  In that case I slept in the bag,
> but normally I just pull it on top of me.
>
> This year I bought two $24 down twin-size quilts from Walmart.  I plan
> to use one on top, and hang the other underneath.  I haven't tried the
> underquilt yet in the field.  The top quilt worked great down into the
> 40s, but is a bit bulkier than a good down bag.  I haven't had a chance
> to try it any colder yet.
>
> It's not an answer to your specific Hennessy vs Clark question but ...
> Don't be afraid to make your own.  There is just not that much to it.  I
> make mine using:
>
> 3.5 yards of ripstop nylon for the hammock body
> 2 8-foot pieces of nylon webbing for tree savers
> 40 feet of 3/16 Sta-Set line to hang from (maybe too much)
> 2 carabiners to attach the line to the tree savers
>
> There are some real advantages to making your own.  IIRC Ed Speer has a
> patent on using a structural ridgeline on a hammock; if you make your
> own, you don't have to pay the patent rent.  You can disassemble and
> reassemble your hammock as many times as you want to adjust for your own
> comfort.  Not to mention the money saved over commercial offerings.  IMO
> the commercial offerings depend too much on highly stressed sewn joints;
> on mine there are none of those.
>
> The downside is that you need a Beloved Seamstress to hem the fabric.
> It's just a straight hem around four sides of a rectangle, but I don't
> have the skill.  The rest of the assembly is knot-tying.
>
> I do find that having the ridgeline integrated is worthwhile on a
> backpacking hammock.  It's handy to hang things on (flashlight,
> eyeglasses etc), helps me to haul my old bones out of it, keeps the
> hammock set up the same way every time, and saves lots of time setting up.
>
> Don't forget to check Hammock Forums and Jeff's Just Hammock page for
> infinitely more opinions.  Let me know if you want more info on the DIY
> option.
>
> Bill
>
>
> mshaner_climb wrote:
> >
> >
> > Knowing that there are tons of you out there loyal to the Hennessy
> > family of hammocks, how do the two mentioned in the subject line stack
> > up?
> >
> > I prefer to hike in the winter months so please feel free to share
> > wisdom from lessons learned. I will be a new convert.
> >
> > I also prefer to sleep on my side, how well does this work in a hammock?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Shane
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
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[Ralph Oborn]

Actually the test hammock variations were inspired by the discussion on the
hammock camping discussion list where there is endless comparisons of the
various hammock styles.
Check out
hammockcamping@...

Ralph

[Cara Lin Bridgman]

Hi Shane,

The yahoo group HammockCamping just had a brief discussion of the
relative merits of the two--for winter hiking.

CL
who uses a Hennessy, never tried Clark, but would be happy with a
Mosquito Hammock.

mshaner_climb wrote:
> Knowing that there are tons of you out there loyal to the Hennessy family of hammocks, how do the two mentioned in the subject line stack up?  
>
> I prefer to hike in the winter months so please feel free to share wisdom from lessons learned.  I will be a new convert.
>
> I also prefer to sleep on my side, how well does this work in a hammock?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Shane


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cara Lin Bridgman         cara.lin@...

P.O. Box 013 Shinjhuang   http://megaview.com.tw/~caralin
Longjing Township         http://www.BugDorm.com
Taichung County 43499
Taiwan                    Phone: [phone]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~