Well, I FINALLY got a chance to test out my Hennessy hammock, on an overnighter. This past week, I went hiking on a local trail for an overnighter. I have a hennessy expedition asym, with the supplied tarp, and picked up an underpad for it. For upper insulation I took my Kifaru Woobie synthetic blanket.
Weather; hiking during the day, about 80 degrees. Weather dropped down to mid 40s at night, with a constant breeze (I was on top of a local mountain, so the breeze was pretty steady all night). Overnight, I got a light drizzle, and socked in by fog.
Impressions; First, finding a site to set up was nice. It was odd to look for a site, not for flatness or lack of rocks & roots, but for two good support trees. Kinda liberating. I found a good stand of old apple trees, from a long abandoned orchard, to hang from. Second, ease of setup was nice as well. The hammock I had set up before, but the underpad, this was my first go. It was straightforward, with no issues. I got the hammock hung, settled in to let it stretch while I read, the re-tightened it before bed. At the last minute, I put the tarp up, to cut down on the breeze. This proved to be good foresight, as it started raining shortly after midnight, & continued until the early morning, about 6-7 hours of light rain & fog.
Some observations. First & foremost, I noticed, upon awakening, that I had NO SORE SPOTS. Long accustomed to sleeping on tyhe ground, I, as I am sure many of you, have several places that are sore from sleeping on the ground. Well, the lack of them when I awoke sold me instantly on this. I also noticed, however, that, throughout the night, I had slipped into the exact middle of the hammock. Gravity at work, I guess. Not a big deal, as I simply stretched out and went back to sleep. I normally sleep on my side, and I think that this unconcious movement may have caused that. Last thing, I want a new tarp . the tarp supplied covers me fine, but thats about it. I couldnt fit gear, or, worst case, cook under it, if needed. I'll be looking into a new tarp sometime this month. Oh, one more thing; the ridgeline is the perfect place to stash a book
All in all, I am EXTREMELY happy I made the switch to hammocks. My body thanks me for it, and I , in turn, thank all of you!