A case for narrow hammocks

[Cory Hess]

Thank you, that helps a lot. Do you feel having no zipper makes any difference to anything? I do need a bugnet, but am tossing up whether to get an inbuilt one or separate one. Oh can I ask what your own height is please? I'm 5'10.

I'm 6' even, but I've got a very wide build. I don't know if that matters at all.

I can't say if the zipper makes any difference. I know that when I'm sitting in the hammock with my legs hanging off it's a lot more comfortable without a zipper. The zipper doesn't stretch like the rest of the hammock does, so you get a lot of pressure behind the legs with a zipper there. I'm thinking that this same phenomenon might cause some of the squeeze I experienced with the Chameleon, but I don't have enough experience to say for sure. At this point it's just a hypothesis, and somebody else with more knowledge might be able to chime in on that.

I'm going through the same process of trying to figure out a bugnet. So much of this is personal preference, which makes it difficult to find your ideal without going through a lot of trial and error. I love the convenience of being able to simply zip a net on and off with the Chameleon. I'm probably going to grab a Fronkey style net for the SLD and see how that works. The other option I'm considering is ordering up a Raven from Dream Hammocks, which has a zipper in the middle and works more like a Fronkey at the ends of the hammock. I'm thinking that that might give me the convenience of the zip on net while having some stretch by way of the plain fabric on the ends. It could be the best of both worlds or the worst.

I will say that this last weekend I was out and I took both the Chameleon and the SLD. I ended up using the SLD because I was worried that my knees would bother me if I used the Chameleon. I stayed up until about 9:30, sprayed myself with DEET, and was able to go the night without a bug net. This was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where the skeeters are no joke. I'm playing with the idea of soaking the hammock in Permethrin and spraying the inside of the tarp and seeing if that doesn't do the trick without needing a bug net. I haven't decided on that yet, and am not quite convinced that it'll be enough in the middle of summer when the bugs are at their peak.

[MAD777]

I would suggest that you get the net AND treat hammock & net with Permithrin. The benefits are 1. less chemicals on your skin, and 2. no mosquitoes buzzing one inch away from your ear. Personally, I love Fronkey style nets with no bottom closure. Works for me in Florida.

Back to width: I am the OP, and I'm tall & lanky at 6'-1" and just under 200 pounds. A wider person may indeed need a proportionately wider hammock.

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[AyeJay]

I'm 6' even, but I've got a very wide build. I don't know if that matters at all.

I can't say if the zipper makes any difference. I know that when I'm sitting in the hammock with my legs hanging off it's a lot more comfortable without a zipper. The zipper doesn't stretch like the rest of the hammock does, so you get a lot of pressure behind the legs with a zipper there. I'm thinking that this same phenomenon might cause some of the squeeze I experienced with the Chameleon, but I don't have enough experience to say for sure. At this point it's just a hypothesis, and somebody else with more knowledge might be able to chime in on that.

I'm going through the same process of trying to figure out a bugnet. So much of this is personal preference, which makes it difficult to find your ideal without going through a lot of trial and error. I love the convenience of being able to simply zip a net on and off with the Chameleon. I'm probably going to grab a Fronkey style net for the SLD and see how that works. The other option I'm considering is ordering up a Raven from Dream Hammocks, which has a zipper in the middle and works more like a Fronkey at the ends of the hammock. I'm thinking that that might give me the convenience of the zip on net while having some stretch by way of the plain fabric on the ends. It could be the best of both worlds or the worst.

I will say that this last weekend I was out and I took both the Chameleon and the SLD. I ended up using the SLD because I was worried that my knees would bother me if I used the Chameleon. I stayed up until about 9:30, sprayed myself with DEET, and was able to go the night without a bug net. This was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where the skeeters are no joke. I'm playing with the idea of soaking the hammock in Permethrin and spraying the inside of the tarp and seeing if that doesn't do the trick without needing a bug net. I haven't decided on that yet, and am not quite convinced that it'll be enough in the middle of summer when the bugs are at their peak.

The skeeters are no joke in the Northwoods eh?

You've given me some good food for thought with the zipper thing here, thank you. I try to avoid DEET and things like that on my skin, but I hear that the permethryn creates an invisible barrier around the surfaces it is put on.

There is a guy who does hammock camping educational YouTube videos from tropical jungle, his channel is called junglecrafty. He is a Brit that's lived in Malaysia for the last 12 years and since then been a very active, avid hammocker and bushcrafter in the Malaysian jungle.

He has a couple of vids talking about how to avoid the mozzies and things without nets and skin sprays if they're not too bad. He will sometimes use nets and sprays when they are thick, but that's it. Here is his YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/junglecrafty

He does perhaps put up with a few more bites than most of us would be willing to though.

[Cory Hess]

Back to width: I am the OP, and I'm tall & lanky at 6'-1" and just under 200 pounds. A wider person may indeed need a proportionately wider hammock.

Sorry about the derail. My original intention was to point out that my experiment was in no way scientific and that the hammocks had differences other than the width. Of course, people get to chatting and we get way off topic. My apologies. Thanks for the advice on the skeeters. I'll do some more researching and find a more appropriate thread to post in regarding those.

There is a guy who does hammock camping educational YouTube videos from tropical jungle, his channel is called junglecrafty. He is a Brit that's lived in Malaysia for the last 12 years and since then been a very active, avid hammocker and bushcrafter in the Malaysian jungle.

He has a couple of vids talking about how to avoid the mozzies and things without nets and skin sprays if they're not too bad. He will sometimes use nets and sprays when they are thick, but that's it. Here is his YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/junglecrafty

He does perhaps put up with a few more bites than most of us would be willing to though.

Thanks for the heads up on this fella. I'll check him out when I get some down time tonight.

[nateprentice]

I fold my 132"x90" in half to get a 45" wide for 'da summertime...


Attachment 112493

When you say that you fold yours and a half, what exactly do you mean? I am asking because I purchased a pod sleeping bag, but I have a double person hammock . I am thinking of forwarding over the Hamic so that I can fit the pod over it sufficiently. Would this work? And how would you do the fold?

Newbie here, in case it is a stupid question.


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[AyeJay]

When you say that you fold yours and a half, what exactly do you mean? I am asking because I purchased a pod sleeping bag, but I have a double person hammock . I am thinking of forwarding over the Hamic so that I can fit the pod over it sufficiently. Would this work? And how would you do the fold?

Newbie here, in case it is a stupid question.


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I'm a noob too, but I'm guessing perhaps you'd have to completely ungather the ends first before folding the rectangle in half down the length. Then gather back up so you have the same length but half the width as before. Could be wrong though and might be lot more to it.

To do this it would want to be an extremely wide hammock. He said it's a 90 inch-wide hammock and when folded gives a 45 inch hammock. 90 inch is a rare kind of wide, at least as far as I know, 7.5 feet. And even halving that amount of width, we're only left with a 3.75-foot hammock (45 inches). 11 ft x 3.75 ft.