Sleeping on the ground has always been my least favorite part of hiking. Always stiff in the morning, no matter what pad setup I used. I've always been searching for the smallest, lightest-weight tent/shelter when backpacking. (Most of the weight of a ground tent is the poles.) I tried Bivys, Uber light tents… ugh!
• Tired of trying to find flat ground to pitch a tent
• tired of clearing away rocks and sticks only to sleep on the hard, uneven ground,
• tired of having to carry a thick foam sleeping pad,
• tired of rain water seeping into the bottom of the tent due to poorly seam sealed floor, then having to wipe the muddy bottom of the tent before packing up ...
• Waking up to nose to nose with skunks… twice!
• Tents make my sleep apnea worse… I always have to pitch far away from others. I cant sleep next to anyone. So going single instead of carrying a tent for two became important.
A few years back, I bought a mosquito hammock on clearance from REI. Set it up for summer in back yard to relax. Having been an outdoors man, my whole life I thought this would be great for backpacking or camping in general. I thought if I could get a tarp for rain, wind, and whatever elements would protect me. I had an unusual night once where I fell in too fast and got wrapped like a banana in the net upside down. There had to be a better way of getting in without screwing up the laws of physics!
Then, I found a used Hennessy Hammock on WB and the rest is history I'm embarrassed to say that the Hennessy Hammock promotional picture of the hammock in the bag held in a palm alongside the entire system hanging is what first drew me in, the second was the entry method of getting in from the bottom. Wow no more piñata moments!
Never occurred to me that sleeping in a little piece of fabric could appeal to so many people, but when you finally get a chance to lay in one, even for a couple minutes, you think 'Wow, this is better than sleeping in a comfy bed.”
It turned out there were a few more details actually hang successfully. My first planned attempts didn't pan out. I found the hammock, too cold and windy, I needed to get an under quilt if I want to hammock three season. I met Stormcrow from Ohio and he made a custom green camo on one side and a black side to hang in the sun and absorb the heat in the morning. He made a 3/4 underquilt with 800 down and 1 pound. I added a thinsulate ¾ cut pad uber light pad to further cut wind based on one or two miserable nights in a gale. The next step was to get bomb proof S clips and replace the tarp’s plastic ones.
I don’t buy into the whole top quilt idea – after reading a book on ultra-light backpacking there was an early description of a “elephant’s foot bag” or just the bottom of a down bag. Ok, I thought, why not just have a one pound mummy bag unzipped? Unfortunately, I have put on about thirty pounds over the last four years shortly after a thyroid operation…. So the mummy bag is too small anyway… So I added a 1 pound down jacket Land’s End latest Drytek. SO if you are following this I have three pounds of down for winter, if I get up in the middle of the night I pop out and jump out of the bag – but still have the jacket on… works wonders at freezing temps. I don’t chill the kidneys…I don’t have the claustrophobic issues of a mummy. I jump back in the bag and fall backwards into the right position. The hammock Velcro’s shut.
The best part of this custom set up it it compresses in a sea- to summit waterproof drybag as three softballs. protected from the water bladder.
I have one more thing to do is get rid of the black seatbelt straps and switch to a brown ratchet strap to reduce stretch and lighten it up…. So I am very happy with the results – except I am not sleeping with the dog after spending all this money! And I got to work off these pounds…
I will get some pictures uploaded soon of the set up... I have yet to take a picture of the digital camo tarp I just got.
• Tired of trying to find flat ground to pitch a tent
• tired of clearing away rocks and sticks only to sleep on the hard, uneven ground,
• tired of having to carry a thick foam sleeping pad,
• tired of rain water seeping into the bottom of the tent due to poorly seam sealed floor, then having to wipe the muddy bottom of the tent before packing up ...
• Waking up to nose to nose with skunks… twice!
• Tents make my sleep apnea worse… I always have to pitch far away from others. I cant sleep next to anyone. So going single instead of carrying a tent for two became important.
A few years back, I bought a mosquito hammock on clearance from REI. Set it up for summer in back yard to relax. Having been an outdoors man, my whole life I thought this would be great for backpacking or camping in general. I thought if I could get a tarp for rain, wind, and whatever elements would protect me. I had an unusual night once where I fell in too fast and got wrapped like a banana in the net upside down. There had to be a better way of getting in without screwing up the laws of physics!
Then, I found a used Hennessy Hammock on WB and the rest is history I'm embarrassed to say that the Hennessy Hammock promotional picture of the hammock in the bag held in a palm alongside the entire system hanging is what first drew me in, the second was the entry method of getting in from the bottom. Wow no more piñata moments!
Never occurred to me that sleeping in a little piece of fabric could appeal to so many people, but when you finally get a chance to lay in one, even for a couple minutes, you think 'Wow, this is better than sleeping in a comfy bed.”
It turned out there were a few more details actually hang successfully. My first planned attempts didn't pan out. I found the hammock, too cold and windy, I needed to get an under quilt if I want to hammock three season. I met Stormcrow from Ohio and he made a custom green camo on one side and a black side to hang in the sun and absorb the heat in the morning. He made a 3/4 underquilt with 800 down and 1 pound. I added a thinsulate ¾ cut pad uber light pad to further cut wind based on one or two miserable nights in a gale. The next step was to get bomb proof S clips and replace the tarp’s plastic ones.
I don’t buy into the whole top quilt idea – after reading a book on ultra-light backpacking there was an early description of a “elephant’s foot bag” or just the bottom of a down bag. Ok, I thought, why not just have a one pound mummy bag unzipped? Unfortunately, I have put on about thirty pounds over the last four years shortly after a thyroid operation…. So the mummy bag is too small anyway… So I added a 1 pound down jacket Land’s End latest Drytek. SO if you are following this I have three pounds of down for winter, if I get up in the middle of the night I pop out and jump out of the bag – but still have the jacket on… works wonders at freezing temps. I don’t chill the kidneys…I don’t have the claustrophobic issues of a mummy. I jump back in the bag and fall backwards into the right position. The hammock Velcro’s shut.
The best part of this custom set up it it compresses in a sea- to summit waterproof drybag as three softballs. protected from the water bladder.
I have one more thing to do is get rid of the black seatbelt straps and switch to a brown ratchet strap to reduce stretch and lighten it up…. So I am very happy with the results – except I am not sleeping with the dog after spending all this money! And I got to work off these pounds…
I will get some pictures uploaded soon of the set up... I have yet to take a picture of the digital camo tarp I just got.
Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! 
