Opinions on the HH ASYM 30D SILNYLON RAINFLY

[1022]

for the cost & weight I may get the HH aysm sil tarp in brown, I'm having trouble finding an OD tarp anyway. I have a big monster 10X12 tarp for trips when rain is definately in the forcast...

[BLUEFIN 774]

Well, there it is again. Yet another person reporting bone dry conditions with the lowly HH stock tarp! And I guess not even using a SS!

And, not even attached to the hammock but tied to the trees with the hammock ridge well above the hammock.

I'm always kind of surprised when I read these reports, but this is not the first. It is really hard to beat the stock system considering weight and cost.

Did you have much wind or sideways rain? If so, how was the tarp in wind, noise wise?

Did you have the tarp pitched wide, as in your picture, during the storm?

BillyBob58, that picture was taken a few hours before the rain, it is exactly as I used it that night. I did use the undercover and the stock HH pad because I was waiting on the arrival of my 3/4 Crowsnest from Stormcrow. ( it arrived while I was camping in Nova Scotia) there was little or no wind during the night. In the morning there was a little wind causing the water from the trees to blow a little sideways. The water drops clung to my bug net but did not pass through. The tarp was tight enough not to have any noise from the wind. I did have the tarp pitched wide.

My setup really surprised me that night. I stayed in the hammock for eleven hours due to so much rain. I had spent two nights in the rain before but on those occasions I had the tarp totally closed in on the hammock.

[BillyBob58]

BillyBob58, that picture was taken a few hours before the rain, it is exactly as I used it that night. I did use the undercover and the stock HH pad because I was waiting on the arrival of my 3/4 Crowsnest from Stormcrow. ( it arrived while I was camping in Nova Scotia) there was little or no wind during the night. In the morning there was a little wind causing the water from the trees to blow a little sideways. The water drops clung to my bug net but did not pass through. The tarp was tight enough not to have any noise from the wind. I did have the tarp pitched wide.

My setup really surprised me that night. I stayed in the hammock for eleven hours due to so much rain. I had spent two nights in the rain before but on those occasions I had the tarp totally closed in on the hammock.

DOH! I looked again, and you can plainly see the SS in place! But I've always felt that was a very storm proof combo, even using the small stock tarp. Some insulation and extra rain and wind resistance taken care of all in one.

[ringtail-THFKAfood]

Small tarps will keep you dry. Large tarps give you some living room. When I am hiking solo I carry a small tarp. When going out with a group I carry a large tarp.

I recently posted some size comparison picture.

The Hennessy Cat Cape is well designed, but poorly executed. The material is heavier than necessary (10.5 oz.) and the guy loops appear to be frangile. It works fairly well as a poncho and pitches taut.

The MountainLaurelDesigns UL Hammock tarp is very robust and only 5.1 oz. If Ron Bell to put a zipper and hood cord lock on it it would become my go to tarp.

A small tarp is like a bivy bag. It will keep you dry, but life is not good if you have to hunker down for 24 hours for the storm to pass.

[BLUEFIN 774]

I just got a new 3/4 Crowsnest UQ that I will try out soon. I find the SS and HH pad work well but it is impossible to pack the pad back into it's stuff sack. As it shipped to me the stock HH setup works well in the heavy rains. I just want to try out other options.

[Nojack]

I have the stock HH set-up, as well. I have tested it out in the backyard last winter. Once it was very windy and I had the tarp blowing all over, popping and keeping me up. I then added an additional RL through the hoops on the existing one to see if I could get a tighter pitch. It seemed to work better.

Next hang was during a rain storm that lasted for a great portion of the night. I had the tarp pitched almost straight down along the sides of the hammock. I was worried that I would have to get up and out due to wetness coming in from the ends, but I was shocked to find none. Note: Wind gust would slam rain against the side at times at a 40 degree angle.

I'm a noobie, so my opinion needs to be considered just that, one opinion. The stock tarp for the HH Ul Asym is probably fine in most calm storm circumstances. If you are aware of a big storm, take extra cover or a bigger tarp on that particular trip.

Nojack

[BLUEFIN 774]

In heavy wind and or rain conditions you can also put the tarp side tie out lines through the ring from the hammock side tie out and totally enclose the hammock. You may find some condensation under the pad if using the SS. I tried this earlier this spring when it was still very cool here. I did stay warm.
there are many options with the hammock systems that are out now. Lots of different ideas on this site as well.

[1022]

The HH parralelogram dimensions are kind of tough to picture. Some very helpful person over at whiteblaze.net set up a SilNylon HH tarp over a MacCat Std for this picture. The MacCat std clearly covers some extra area, but the HH covers the HH footprint pretty well. The question is whether the WBBB has a bigger or different footprint than the HH, and if the HH would do as good a job on it as it seems to be doing on the HH

[ringtail-THFKAfood]

The Warbonett Black Bird does have a bigger foot print than the HH. The stock HH tarp is adequate, but not roomy.

In my gallery are pictures of a MLD UL Hammock tarp over a BlackBird.

Small tarps over a hammock have the same problem as small tarps on the ground. The smaller the tarp the lower it must be hung to provide weather protection.

The question is how much head room are you willing to sacrifice to shave a few oz.?

[1022]

I called Hennessy today because I was getting a little confused by the specs on their site. depending upon which hammock you look under, the fly specs/measurements were different, the only thing the seemed to have in common was a weight of 8.25 oz After talking with the rep on the phone (very nice guy) the silnylon "standard fly on the "Explorer ultralight" is the biggest 140" rigeline 128" small diaganol, 120" long side, 70" short side. He admitted that it will probably be a little heavier than 8.25oz, but shouldn't be much heavier...


The "Hyperlight Backpacker" measures 122" rigeline 105" small diaganol, 92" long side, 65" short side. according to HH

The "Deep Jungle" is listed as 97" long side & 64" short side

Even the Xl, long, and Deluxe hammocks list their silnylon flys as 8.25oz Pretty tough to figure out how

But the guy on the phone assures me that the Explorer Ultralight silnylon fly is the biggest "standard" asym shaped sil fly. Once you throw in the the cat-cut-cape-fly and they have no idea what size their stuff is or what it weighs

All this to say, this could account for some of the different experiences that folks have with the stock HH flys. It's easy to look at their site and get the "replacement silnylon fly" for 49.99 but that does not guarrentee which size you will recieve. Somebody who used the smalles 97x64 fly would probably have a different experience than somebody who used the big EXULA 70x120 fly, especially if they used it over another brand of hammock (WBBB) or worse yet bought it used as "the HH silnylon fly with no indication which size...

I think I am going to try my luck with the Explorer Ultralight Silnylon fly & see how it works
Pretty tough to Buy a silnylon fy for 49.99 + shipping