Rain Rain Rain

[canoebie]

I feel the same. It is odd that a hammock meant for "extreme wet weather" would come with straps that are unusable in wet weather! He does not even mention ( at his web site ) needing drip lines, yet it sounds like drip lines are needed even more than usual. I e-mailed him a week or two back about various webbing issues, and have not heard from him yet.

You can twist these things, drip string em, on and on, however they wick moisture. I got rid of them right away on the two JH's I purchased and replaced them with the same system in the photo using a biner, and cinch strap with the 1 inch seat belt material from strap works. I have been very pleased with set up and have stayed very dry in hard rain. The cinch and the biner combo provide for drip barriers and the strapworks material does not wick moisture.

I have also done some additional stitching on the seam holding the zipper to the body of the hammock. I also put a heavier shock cord on the netting. All in all I have been pleased with the JH, it is a value at the price. However, as with most things I purchase, some tweaking makes for improved performance and reliability. Not only that, but when I tweak it a bit, it feels like it is mine.

[Nails]

I feel the same. It is odd that a hammock meant for "extreme wet weather" would come with straps that are unusable in wet weather! He does not even mention ( at his web site ) needing drip lines, yet it sounds like drip lines are needed even more than usual. I e-mailed him a week or two back about various webbing issues, and have not heard from him yet.

Not to defend Tom Claytor or start an argument or anything, but with his recommended slipped bowline knot (or whatever it is), isn't there a loop in the attachment system that would prevent the water from getting to the hammock? I understand you're talking about wicking action as opposed to drips following the webbing, but I'm unscientifically guessing that the tension in the webbing near the knot combined with the loop in the sytem would probably work. I never tried this myself; I found some customer comment that recommended using a cut-in-half raquetball threaded onto the webbing and I used that. It worked for me, but I sure felt silly walking around with a cut-in-half raquetball. I gotta admit, I did ditch those stock straps after a few uses; it seemed like they hurt the trees.

[BillyBob58]

Drip lines will be insufficient to the problem. If you really want to use the stock straps, get two short pieces of 3/4" polyester webbing with loops on the ends and put the new straps through the channels on the hammock, clip the loops together with the caribiner, then run the stock webbing through the caribiner and out to the tree. The caribiner should serve as a break to stop water from migrating to the hammock. Of course, you're still going to wake up a couple of feet lower than you hung the hammock because the stock straps are nylon and so they stretch.

I have considered exactly what you describe as a solution. But, I simply changed my cinch buckle system from my HH over to the Claytor. A short piece of strong cordage lashed through the Claytor channel on one end, then prussicked to the CB on the other end, then webbing from the CB to the tree. This ends all water wicking concerns. I have polyester webbing from Harbor Freight on one end, polypro from Speer on the other. After a 24 hour rain, ( I did not twist the webbing, but I would normally) both straps were pretty wet, right up to the CB, and downward towards ( within a couple of inches of) the ground following the excess webbing which I half hitched around the webbing next to the CB( on the tree side of the CB), but under the tarp. IOW, this polypro and polyester webbing also did a fine job of getting the water to the hammock, though it might have been from just following gravity rather than wicking. But a previous experience showed me that with non-Claytor webbing, without the CBs or a drip line and/or a twist in the line, my hammock still would have been soaked. I suppose it might have been even wetter with the Claytor lines and their wicking abilities. Not a drop of water got past the CBs.

But knowing how to solve the problem still does not answer my question as to why a hammock " designed for extreme wet jungle conditions" would not be usable in the rain as it comes from the factory. I keep wondering if I am missing something?

[Hector]

I can't speak for Tom in that regard, but one might also ask why some hammocks ship with "slapstraps" that leave your butt sagged on the ground. Others might ask why heavy steel rings get sent with "ultralight" hammocks. Others don't like the Hennessey hanging system and change it immediately. Heck, I change most hanging systems right away. I guess we're just going to have to accept that nothing's perfect, understand what we're getting and resolve to fix the situation on our own until the manufacturers come around, if they do. So write Tom and tell him what you think, but in the meantime, let's go walk all day and hang all night.

[BillyBob58]

What this really means is that the Claytor JH, though " designed for extreme wet jungle conditions", is the only hammock I am aware of that REQUIRES modification ( more so than just adding a drip line) before it can actually be used in the rain. That doesn't make much sense, even if it is in fact the case.

We might change our hammocks to please us more, but the JH apparently requires changing, before it can be used as advertised! And I have written TC, now if he would just answer!

[BillyBob58]

Well, just for the heck of it, just to play around, I put the stock webbing back on one end of my no net. I tied the knots just as directed from TC. I laid in there for a few minutes to tighten the knot up. I got a pan of water and first I submerged the webbing a few inches tree-ward from the knot, for several minutes. The webbing became soaked right up to the knot via uphill wicking, but did not go past the knot.

Then I started very slowly pouring the water from the pan onto the webbing, as I held the two strands of webbing together about 1 foot above the knot. That was amazing to watch. The water would zip down the webbing like a bullet, and just as fast go from the knot to the 1/2 hitched webbing loop that hung down below, quickly being diverted to ground. I thought it was going to work out OK, but when I got near the last of the water in the pan, a small amount finally got past the knot and dampened the end of the hammock. I'd say 99% went to the ground through the excess webbing, but enough finally got through to dampen the hammock. So an all night rain would mess you up, UNLESS the weight of a person in the hammock would tighten enough to keep water from getting through. Which I doubt, because of the wicking. And the wicking through the fibers would probably be enough to get past a drip line. This same set up might, or might not, work with a drip line with another type of webbing.

So it appears that a hammock "designed for extreme wet weather" will soak you in wet weather when used as delivered from the factory, even with a very large tarp. That is a strange situation to me. So that means that lots of folks( including the military?) buy the Claytors, head out to camp and use it exactly as directed, and end up wet, even with an adequate tarp. I just really find that really odd. At least Speer warns you to use a drip line.

[6 feet over]

The only time my Claytor was outside, my son used it, not me. The only rain we had was while we were away from camp. I didn’t notice any wetness on his hammock, but I wasn’t there to determine the length or severity of rain.

I do know that neither my Clark, nor his Claytor, seemed wet when we returned. I DO know the Clark’s ropes and drip rings seem better suited to use ‘out of the box’, but the Claytor with its double bottom and lower price is still a good value, even if modifications are needed.

6

[Hector]

with his recommended slipped bowline knot (or whatever it is), isn't there a loop in the attachment system that would prevent the water from getting to the hammock?

There are two pieces of webbing going to the hammock (well, a loop of webbing, you know what I mean), and only one will have the half hitches on the bowline, so that wouldn't help even if the knots stopped the wicking.

[BillyBob58]

The only time my Claytor was outside, my son used it, not me. The only rain we had was while we were away from camp. I didn’t notice any wetness on his hammock, but I wasn’t there to determine the length or severity of rain.

I do know that neither my Clark, nor his Claytor, seemed wet when we returned. I DO know the Clark’s ropes and drip rings seem better suited to use ‘out of the box’, but the Claytor with its double bottom and lower price is still a good value, even if modifications are needed.

6

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I love my Claytor and I think it is a great deal. I recommend this hammock especially at the price, and I made webbing changes immediately anyway, mainly because I didn't think they looked very strong. And you can not beat the double bottom for pad use. It is hands down the best solution I have found for pad use.

I just think it is a bit silly that a hammock supposedly designed for extreme wet weather has a webbing set up almost guaranteed to get the hammock wet. Considering the price, no big deal for those who know about the problem and how to fix it.

[BillyBob58]

There are two pieces of webbing going to the hammock (well, a loop of webbing, you know what I mean), and only one will have the half hitches on the bowline, so that wouldn't help even if the knots stopped the wicking.

Actually, the directions at the web site show wrapping the half hitch around both of the pieces of webbing, or around the loop of webbing. Which I did, but it still was not enough. But, I still have not tried drip lines around each piece of webbing, on the hammock side of the knot. But I suspect it won't work due to the wicking abilities of the stock webbing. The drip lines will divert some of the water, but I suspect some will go right through the center of the webbing to the hammock. I'll try with two drip lines per side, soon. Just for the heck of it.