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  1. #1
    New Member
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    Mar 2011
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    Charleston, WV
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    Help me make the "right" choice

    So I'm new to hammocks, I've been a Solo tent guy for the last 4 years. I've decided to try and swap out to a Hammock as I have a growing hatred for the unlevel world.

    But lets get into why I made this thread.

    I'm 5'9 or 5'10. 160lbs. I planned on going with Hennesy Hammocks as they seem to be the Bee Knees from what I hear. I was just wondering what model I should go with. I want to stay under $250 after everything. (excluding shipping)

    I will use it during mostly summer but I sometimes will camp in the other 3 seasons. I want it to hold up well in rain as well.

    So any suggestions on a base model and what else I need to make it comfortable/better.


    Remember I'm a complete noob, so with the $250 limit what is my best bet?

  2. #2
    Senior Member Joey's Avatar
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    At your height/weight... I could suggest the $20 Grand Trunks Ultralight. Swap out the suspension with whoopie slings, which you can get from whoopieslings.com, jacksrbetter, arrowheadequipment, or make your own. This will be a 10-11oz set up. and cost less than $100 for the hammock

    Then choose a nice tarp, warbonnet superfly type large tarp, or one of OES micro for fast light hiking, or something along those lines.

    you'll stay in budget, be comfortable, and nice and light.

    To stay with HH, the ultralight backpacker would fit your budget, but I don't think you'd like the stock tarp. Picking up another tarp would put you over budget at that point.

    There's warbonnet's 1.0 DL blackbird, nice size, comfort and affordable for you too. Around $130 for the hammock, leaving room to pick up a nice tarp too.

    Too many options, really.

  3. #3
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Welcome. As you have probably noticed from reading the posts on this forum, there is no "right" hammock for everybody. However a Hennessey is not a bad place to start (there are others, also). If you can, come to the MAHHA hang in Pennsylvania and try out a bunch of hammocks. People at HF hangs are very generous about sharing information and letting others try their hammocks.

    I can't give you specific advice about possible purchases, because I'm a DIY fanatic, though I do have an old Hennessey from the days before Asym. (I modified the bugnet to make it an asym, then modified again, then modified it back ... it's seen some use.)

    Learning to use a camping hammock will give you a whole new slant on being in the wilderness, which is well, because saying you have "a growing hatred for the unlevel world" sounds downright unpatriotic from someone in West-by-God-Virginia, where the level world is but sparsely distributed.

  4. #4
    New Member
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    Mar 2011
    Location
    Portland
    Hammock
    Hennessy expedition
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    decending rings
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    go with the HH expedition, im 6' and about 155 and it fits me fine. And there is a built in bug net which would be good for the summer time. It is only $150 and REI carries it( if you live near one) or order online at the HH website and i believe you get free snakeskines.
    Hope it helped

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Kansas City, KS
    Hammock
    HH Explorer Deluxe+2QZQ Mod #4
    Tarp
    HH Hex w/ 2QZQ OFS
    Insulation
    OWL 20* TQ/UQ's
    Suspension
    Whoopies+Biner
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    As a fellow 'noob' just dipping my toe into the water, I'd agree that from what I've read there is no "right" or "wrong".

    Only what you try and you like.

    My first purchase was an HH Explorer Deluxe, which came with free snakeskins and a free upgrade to the hex tarp. Much larger than the stock tarp, the advantage here is that for us 'noobs' who don't know as much about hanging, it gives you more tarp to hide your hammock under in bad weather...a little more forgiveness for your foolishness.

    I also paid an extra $5 to have them swap the short tree hugger straps for the longer 6' ones. Total for me was $225 including shipping for hammock, hex tarp, skins, and straps.

    The other suggestion of going with a WBBB for $130 and spending the remaining on a decent tarp and maybe some whoopie slings is good too.

    Don't know how much carry weight is for you...and another thing to consider is insulation.

    You'll AT LEAST want to get a walmart blue pad for under insulation, and could use your sleeping bag from your tent days for on top.

    Hope that's decent advice from a fellow noob who spent some time working through these same choices.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
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    Jul 2010
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    38.0123, -122.4900
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    Just to clarify, $250 for everything (hammock suspention & tarp)? Are you also factoring in insulation as well?

    If it's just for a hammock, you have a lot of options. I would suggest that you try a few and see what you like. You can get Hennessy and Eno at REI to try and return if you don't like it.

    Personally, I like the Warbonnets. Really hard to go wrong with one of those.

    Good luck in choosing,

    ~S~

  7. #7
    Senior Member ChrisH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Willamette Valley, OR
    Hammock
    HH Deep Jungle XL
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    Hex Fly / Stock HH
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    Out of all the HH models I would either go Deep Jungle XL or Explorer Deluxe. Although, they do make a Safari zip now. All three of those are good models but they're all pretty heavy.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Fronkey's Avatar
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    Dec 2010
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    Grass Valley, Ca
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    Warbonnet Blackbird Dude. It's a great hammock and I personally didn't like the bottom entry of most Hennessy hammocks.

    Fronkey

  9. #9
    Senior Member grampa's Avatar
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    Aug 2010
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    SoCal
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    WBBB 1.0 Dbl
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    164
    Duecalion sez,
    "There's warbonnet's 1.0 DL blackbird, nice size, comfort and affordable for you too. Around $130 for the hammock, leaving room to pick up a nice tarp too. "

    Great suggestion! It'll save you from buying it later when you discover that it's really what you should have bought to begin with!

  10. #10
    Senior Member
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    Feb 2009
    Location
    WV
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    WBBB,Travler
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    TAH, Welcome to HF.

    I'm not far from you. Work in the Kanawha Valley most days. But really all over, Lewisburg, Marlinton, Huntington, Williamson and points in between or a bit outside that area.

    If you'd like to take a first hand look at some hammock gear let me know. I can show you a WBBB, WB Traveler, Speer, HH Expedition hammocks. Speer tarp, OES standard tarp, WB Superfly tarp ( haven't had time to try these last 2 tarps out yet myself ) and a few other other accessories. However, I expect to be quite busy the next 10 days or so, the guy I work with most of the time will be off work for surgery for a week or so. Find a couple of trees the correct distance apart. PM me if interested.

    Also, it's not long till and not far to Damascus, about an hour west of Wytheville. Trail Days is weekend after Mother's Day. If you're not in a hurry, just sayin...I expect several hammock/tarp vendors there, HH, TTTG, JRB, OES and others, so it's a good place to check out a lot of hammocking/camping gear, find out what fits ya. Might make it harder to stay under $250, otoh, sometimes you can get some discounted pricing at TD. I'd say no shipping but $4/gal gas for the trip and $12 in tolls, would be more money, just tank up in Wytheville, lowest prices around for some reason.

    http://www.traildays.us/vendors.html

    David

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