My Claytor Jungle hammock arrived today. I paid $20 extra for the quick shipping because I was going to use it with my son on a backpacking trip this weekend. I quickly took down the Clark and proceeded to hang the Claytor. I notice three minor but disturbing items. (1) a small tear in the netting, (2) a small frayed loop sticking out of the support web, and (3) two small holes in the outside camo material near the label (looks as if someone was going to attach a label at that spot and decided to move the label over a few inches).
I hung it anyway and tried it out with the bug net unzipped. It is much roomier than the Clark, but does not appear to be as well constructed nor designed. It is not as comfortable for me as the Clark even though it is larger – the material seems to stretch more than the Clark. In my opinion, there is definitely a $170 difference between the Claytor Jungle Hammock and the Clark Jungle NA. I think the Clark Hammocks are worth the additional $170.
Needless to say I was disappointed in the quality control and even more disappointed because I will be returning the Claytor and canceling my trip for this weekend. Tom Claytor has a return policy so I'm sure I'll get my money back, but the downside is the cost of shipping to me and back to Claytor, and even more importantly, the disruption of my trip.
I already ordered a second Clark and it will be here early next week to be used on the following weekend.
Perhaps if I had not started my hammock experience with the Clark I might have been satisfied with the Claytor. But I'm not, so back it goes.
One other thing - I have no problem using email and ordering over the internet, in fact I prefer it that way. But it is nice to have an 800 number to call to resolve any issues or problems. I realize that selling hammocks is not Tom Claytor's full time job and that is probably one of the reasons his hammocks are less expensive that some others. Unfortunately, in this case it just didn't work out for me. I'd still refer people to him as the purchase and delivery went smoothly given that he was in Siberia when I made the purchase.
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