HELLO Hangers!!! from north Texas!

Hi everybody, I'm a NYC girl whos got twin boys in Scouting since they were tiny little Tiger cubs!! They are now in Boy Scouts which means that we ALL (mom & dad included) will be camping out at least once/month! WHoopie!!!! I totally love the outdoors (except for the critters in the stalls in the night!!) and am new to this whole hammock thing.
With the transition to separate tents for my hubby & I, I've elected to get the Lawson Hammock/mini-tent. I figure if I can't find any trees then at least I still have a tent. I set it up yesterday in my backyard and it works great, but I have two worries: the rainfly doesn't fit tight enough to make it really rainproof, and out of the box it had a 1/2" cut on the hammock part! I really enjoy all of the DIY information at HF and made my own tree hugger and used the single line suspension rigging posted on this site. I substituted 2 carabiners for the rings and am amazed at how quickly I was able to adjust the angle, height and hang of the hammock.
Now I have to decide if I should return the Lawson and get something else, or patch up my Lawson, and make my own rainfly like some of y'all!! Any suggestions?

Welcome; from Ohio. If it came damaged, I would definitely call them and/or return it. You didn't use a box cutter or knife to open did you? I think I'd rather have a tarp so that if it's raining I can still get out of hammock and mutter around a little without getting wet.

The cut sounds like you need to contact the supplier for replacement.
On the rainfly/tarp. It should be maybe a foot longer than your hammock, so the hammock is covered end-to-end. I pitch my tarp so it can almost touch the ground at the bottom edges when it storms. Then the hammock top/ridgeline it almost up into the pitch part. My new tarp also has "doors", but it was out in the yard in 40 MPH winds and rain with the foot end pitched open and the hammock all stayed perfectly dry.
Post a few photo's of the set up, from outside and looking at the hammock with the tarp over it.

And welcome to hammock forum and have fun with the boys! I go orienteering at the BS ranches you will be camping at. James Ray is nice, but Athens is really nice. They got a huge donation and really fixed up the one side of Athen's/Clements BS Ranch. We use Athen's for a two day event, the side with the pools and such is nice, but they let us loose on the Mosenbach side which is REALLY remote and some huge trees! Our next Orienteering event is over at SID, near Bridgeport. 2500 acres of rocks, cactus, oil and gas wells, cattle, cactus, rocks......

Hello and Welcome to the Forums from Canada!

The Lawson hammocks are heavy and cumbersome. I would return the hammock and get a better one. There are plenty that you can read about on this forum that you will like much better. ie. WBBB, Hennessey (I love my HHDJ), Wilderness Logic, and many more. PapaSmurf will custom make you one, and they are sweet.
Yes, an seperate Tarp will give you much better coverage. In Texas, you will need coverage from the rain and the sun... :)
Good luck, and welcome aloft from SC. :)

Also, you could make a hammock pretty inexpensively, and make them for the entire family.

hello and welcome from louisiana

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BajaHanger

The Lawson hammocks are heavy and cumbersome. I would return the hammock and get a better one. There are plenty that you can read about on this forum that you will like much better. ie. WBBB, Hennessey (I love my HHDJ), Wilderness Logic, and many more. PapaSmurf will custom make you one, and they are sweet.
Yes, an seperate Tarp will give you much better coverage. In Texas, you will need coverage from the rain and the sun... :)
Good luck, and welcome aloft from SC. :)

Also, you could make a hammock pretty inexpensively, and make them for the entire family.

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That was also going to be my suggestion. You can thank us later. :) Just about every hammock with a built in netting can easil be pitched on the ground by using two hiking poles or tree branches. There are several photos in the gallery showing how to do it. Go with something lighter.

Miguel

Welcome neighbor. I'm right down the road from you in Frisco.

Welcome to HF from Mass.

Welcome, from lubbock