Hello everyone! Recently I've gotten into hammocking and have been asking a lot of questions regarding hammocks, tarps, UQs, etc. I've been getting a lot of help from everyone here and I figured I'd try to give a bit back by showing some pictures of my current set up that I mostly bought on recommendations from other forum members. Now please bear with me as I've only hung it a handful of times and am still getting the hang of it.

Hammock: The hammock I bought is the Hennessy Hammock Expedition Zip Model. For me, its awesome. I'm about 5'10 and 180lbs and I have absolutely no problem with the size at all. I can easily and comfortably lay sideways. The intergrated bug netting is a great feature and is kept off your face at all times. The zippers are great as they run the entire length of the hammock and allow you to flip the netting over if you don't wish to have it on. On either side of the hammock you'll find bungee cords that allow you to stake the hammock out if you wish to do so. This is nice because it allows the hammock to be spread out. Inside the hammock you will find a nice organizer hanging from the ridegline. Headlamps and cellphones would be a great addition to them. You'll also fine a few clips attached for you to hang other odds and ends up. The overall quality of the hammock is great. I didn't see anything wrong with it and it seems like it will hold up to a lot of stress. The set-up is relatively easy, however I'm still getting use to it so it takes me a good 10 minutes to get it right. Take down is a breeze with the supplied snake skins. The people over at HH were great to order from and helped answer all my questions and put me in this hammock. They also gave me a great military discount!




Tarp: The tarp I'm running with this is the Hennessy Hex Fly. I have this going over a continuous ridge line that I got through Stu over at whoopieslings.com The tarp itself is very nice. Its very big and covers the entire hammock without a problem. I haven't set it up in "porch mode" yet but I can all ready tell that it will give you great coverage while cooking your morning cup o' joe. The tarp comes with a tie out point on each corner of the tarp. On the underside of each corner there is a little pocket that allows you to tuck the cord in when you pack up. The cord doesn't seem all that strong though, so I plan on upgrading it to something a bit stronger down the road. I'm sure it will hold up just fine if you didn't. This was my first time pitching the tarp and I had to use sticks for improvised stakes so I didn't get the greatest pitch. I plan on getting some ground hog stakes soon. Overall it seems to be a great tarp. I haven't done a water test on it yet but i'm sure it'll hold up.



Continuous Ride Line: Just a quick over view of the continuous ridge line. I purchased this from Stu at his site and I am very pleased with it. He made the length of cord 35' long per my request and I'm glad I have the extra length. It normally comes 30' long but the extra little bit makes me feel a little more confident in the ability to set it up. He makes it out of 2.2mm dyneema fiber and it seems to be very strong. The set-up is very simple with the attached knot bone and the figure 9 on a movable prussick. He also has two other prussick loops on the line that have small #1 S-Biners on them that allow you to clip on your tarp over or under the line. Once you clip the tarp on you just have to slide the know to get the tarp to be pulled tight. Stu was very nice to order from and I'm sure I will again. The quality of his stuff is great.





Conclusion: The hammock, tarp, and ridge line all seem great. Please note I'm not a pro at this at all and I'm sure many of you have a lot of nights in your given hammock set-ups. What I have here seems to work great for my needs but time will tell what does and doesn't work. A few things that I do plan on upgrading are the tarp tie outs and hammocks suspension. There is nothing wrong with the stock set up and I plan on using it for awhile but I'm interested in a system that makes it easier to adjust and achieve that 30 degree lay everyone loves. I'm gonna be sleeping in this set-up this weekend and I'll update everyone on how that goes. I hope this post will be useful to other people considering the items I have or at least that this post was a good/fun read.

(P.S. Thanks to Shug and his videos for getting me into this!)

Cazador