Question about my new Speer Hammock

[Annie]

Ok.. I got my new Speer today and I hung it out for a try.
I love it so far. But I have a couple of questions.

1. When I hang the hammock and get into it, the sides wrap up around me and almost close in front of my face! Is this normal? Do I need to "take it up" in the bottom or something?

2. I used the long wrap the way Ed Speer tells you to on his website and it seemed to work just fine. What are the benefits or why would I want to CUT the straps and put caribiners or S-hooks on them?

3. The bugnet is weird. The way the hammock curls up around my face, I really only have about 6 inches to see out. What the heck am I doing wrong?

4. I'm a little confused about how to attach the bugnet AND the underquilt? I guess I need to pull the UQ out and look to see if there is hook & loop on both sides...

5. What are the little loops on the bugnet (center) for?


I guess that is it.
As far as comfort goes, I am more comfortable in the Speer, even though it wraps around me, simply because I know I can get the heck out, unlike in the HH. But I wish I didn't lie so deep in it.... hmmmm.....

[Mule]

Annie,
The Speer is a wide hammock and it does have those floppy sides. It allows you to sort of spread out your arms and legs a bit if you want. I don't have mine anymore, but one of the things I didn't like was the way the bugnet worked. I'm not sure what the loops are for, I cannot remember them, but probably for hanging from a separate ridge line. The ridge line goes inside when the bugnet is on. I actually made another bugnet for mine. It was better and looked more like a HH than the Speer. I also put tie out loops on the hammock so I could tie it out to make the floopy sides morph into a Hennessy type shape.
The underquilt will work just like it did on any other hammock, depending on the UQ you have. If you have the Snugfit it velcros to each side and hangs from the suspension spandex stuff and fits perfect....on any hammock.
Hope this was of some help. Mule

[slowhike]

For one thing, try hanging it w/ more sag & laying on the diagonal.
That should open it up quite a bit.
And like mule said, the ridge line should be on the inside of the bug net, holding it up.

[slowhike]

Oh yeah, if you got the Snug Fit under quilt, you put it on the hammock first.
Then you will see that it has velcro on the outside just like the hammock did, so now you attach the bug net to the snugfit's velcro.

[Hooch]

If hanging the hammock with more sag doesn't help or work like you want it to, you may want to try untying it and retying or rewhipping it with the sides not pulled quite as taught. If that doesn't work for you, shoot a PM to Youngblood or give Ed a call. He's always happy to help out.

[FanaticFringer]

Quote:
2. I used the long wrap the way Ed Speer tells you to on his website and it seemed to work just fine. What are the benefits or why would I want to CUT the straps and put caribiners or S-hooks on them?


If your fine with the Speer wrap, go with it . The benefits of using things such as cinch buckles, rings, etc. is for easier adjustments of the hammock instead of having to untie/unwrap the webbing when having to adjust the hammock. There are a few ways you could go about it. None of them involve a S-hook. Do a search on cinch buckles for much info. The simplest way besides the Speer wrap would probably be the JRB Tr-Glides. http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ght=tri-glides

[tight-wad]

1. When I hang the hammock and get into it, the sides wrap up around me and almost close in front of my face! Is this normal? Do I need to "take it up" in the bottom or something?

I have a DIY "Speer style". If you are laying on a diagonal then one side will definitely have a "wall", while the other side will seem almost as if your head is falling out of the hammock. Vice versa on the feet end. This is the extreme diagonal. The perfect spot is somewhere between straight and extreme, and you will just have to experiment to find that sweet spot for you

2. I used the long wrap the way Ed Speer tells you to on his website and it seemed to work just fine. What are the benefits or why would I want to CUT the straps and put caribiners or S-hooks on them?

Frantic finger likes buckles, I like rings... ease of setup, ability to adjust spacing without having to retie everything, ability to adjust sag, but... it is heavier (marginally)

Don't have Ed's commercial product so can't comment on 3, 4, and 5...

But I wish I didn't lie so deep in it....

Lieing deep in a feather bed, surrounded by down top quilts and under quilts on a cold night, snug as a bug in a rug, feeling good, no bugs, no worries about rain or dew or polluted air, sometimes rocking as you shift your position... I wish it was this good at home sometimes....

[Annie]

Thanks everyone!

[Youngblood]

Annie,

If you have the SnugFit with Velcro, you have the Speer Model. If your SnugFit doesn't have Velcro, you have the Universal Model. With the Speer Model, you attach its Velcro to the sides of the hammock and then attach the bugnet's Velcro on top of that.

With the sides wrapping up around you, you probably aren't hanging your hammock with enough sag. To get more sag, use a little more webbing between the hammock and the tree, and attach higher on the trees. You should see sag in the hammock setup before you get in it.

How high you attach the hammock on the trees and how much webbing you use varies with the span, or the distance between the trees. I use my outstretched hiking poles to gauge a 12 foot distance and use 3 feet as my pace when I use paces to estimate the span.

My rule of thumb for how high to attach the hammock is I attach shoulder high for 12 foot spans, head high for 15 foot spans, and as high as I can reach for 18 foot spans.

[Annie]

Thanks again folks.
I'm going to attach the UQ and try hanging it again later today.
I'll take pics.