Hennessy Hammock, the Ultimate Survival Shelter?

I set out to review the Hennessy Hammock Explorer Deluxe Asym from the aspect of a survival or bug out shelter. What I ended up with was a piece of gear that has revolutionized my bug out bag. One night in the Hennessy Hammock and you may as well just toss the old tent, you’re never going to sleep on the ground again.

I live in the country, and sometimes I just want to go sleep outside. Setting up a tent is a pain in the behind, but sleeping in the open is not good because of bugs. This is perfect. I'm on it!

Thanks.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. This will make those spontaneous little adventures I go on even easier.

I've known about hammocks but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that someone made me aware of the hammock type shelters. I am a convert. The folks at Hennessy are great people to deal with and they make an awesome hammock.

I quite like the look of this one..
user.xmission.com...

Originally posted by Soloprotocol
I quite like the look of this one..
user.xmission.com...

Interesting, but I think they are out of business...

I dont know if it was mentioned, but you can set this up high off the ground - above peoples heads and out of sight.

reply to post by Amagnon


Then how would you get in it? (without the ground nearby?) A good branch maybe.....

It looks pretty neat, but I can't help but think my dome tent would go up quicker, and be better in a thunderstorm (and less claustrophobic). Really here, that's the only reason I'd need a tent (to keep me from getting soaked in a downpour). If it was raining, and I had to get in this quick, I'd get a lot of water in with me....(and it would be right along my spine).... Love how it packs up though, and still a nice bit of gear.

reply to post by LibertysTeeth


I've been meaning to get one of these for a while now.
I am a small person so I dig the ultra lite style.

If you don't like the tent style but still want a very simple lite hammock I would suggest the amazonas traveller lite hammock (Byer of Maine). they sell a very easy rigging system for it as well.

The Hammock is 13 oz. I cant remember how much the rigging system is but it is lighter than the hammock.
less than two pounds total for sure.

This is hardly the ultimate shelter, because it won't protect against fallout or hostiles.

A Civil Defense shelter from the 60ies or 70ies with own water well and an air filtration system is a neat shelter.

For the ultimate survival shelter you might want to try Cheyenne Mountain.

I spent a month and a half living out of one of these. During thunderstorms and nights in the teens.

At first it was weird but by the second week I had it down.

Stayed bone dry while my friends tents flooded. Went up in the dark in two minutes while my friends struggled and fumbled trying to get their poles through their tents.

Took down and packed up in a minute.while my friends took half the morning folding and flattening their tents.

Never had to worry about rocks or roots in my back.

Color and placement in trees made it virtually invisible while my friends had to colect camo cover to hide their tents.

Now I own seven of their hammocks. I wont camp, hike or bike with anything else. Tents are garbage.


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ETA: If you're interested in getting one sign up for their newsletters and alerts. Once a year they have a big sale of factory seconds, demo models, prototype models, and refurbs for super cheap.

reply to post by LibertysTeeth


I keep getting error occured.

Right after, "It was so comfortable..."

Hopefully it'll be fixed later.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Nice to hear from someone who has tried them.

Have you used them during the winter? Hammocks are known for their heat loss and I'm not to sure about that bubble blanket.

Originally posted by TDawgRex
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

Nice to hear from someone who has tried them.

Have you used them during the winter? Hammocks are known for their heat loss and I'm not to sure about that bubble blanket.

Yeah I have. Most of the cold was at my back. Depending on how cold it is there are some commonly used solutions.

One is the old silver survival blanket. Line the bottom of the hammock with it. Another option is one of those reflective windshield things you see people prop up in ther cars on hot days. Place it with the reflective side to your back. They can be cut for a better fit. Hennessey sells one that is shaped to their hammocks. It's not very expensive.

When it gets crazy cold you're best bet is to go for an underquilt. It's just what it sounds like. A thick quilt that hangs beneath your hammock that blocks wind and insulates your body.

Depending on how cold it can get you can use one or all of these methods. The quilt will add the most bulk and weight to your kit but it's totally worth it if you're spending sub zero nights outside.

Hennessey's pre-made insulation
A popular underquilt maker
DIY solutions

Once I took steps to protect my back from the cold I was sleeping comfortably.
I found one of those windshield things cut to size and layering my extra clothes between it and me in my sleeping bag was plenty for numbers above zero. Anything below and I'd probably want either a heavier sleeping bag or an underquilt.

FYI, I wanted to see how one would hold up during a long term emplacement so I tied one out in my back woods about three years ago and I go up and check it out and swing in it every now ant then. No rotting or tearing yet in the rainfly, bug screen, hammock body or ropes. That's three years of northern New England winters, three years of summer sun and three years of spring rains. Still hanging there just as it was the first day I put it out.

I've been rocking a Hennessy Scout Hammock for a couple years now and I have been pretty happy with it for the most part. I live in Oregon so I don't worry much about not having any trees around.And when the rain comes (Again...Oregon!) I don't worry about getting flooded

I have slept in my hammock on the ground before and it was still pretty nice and I didn't worry about any creepy crawlers because of the built in net dealio. I just laid a tarp on the ground and laid my hammock on it to help prevent any damage to my hammock

The Scout version is pretty light in weight and doesn't take much room in my ALICE Pack, which my back really does appreciate. I think it has a weight limit of 180 lbs even though I think the amazon description said 200 lbs but hey I am only 155 lbs and don't plan on getting fat so no worries there.