Newbie: Questions about Hennessy & others

I'm a total newbie when it comes to hammock camping. My previous hammock experience has been with a cheapo mesh hammock (the kind you'd find on ebay for $10) and a nice backyard hammock with wooden spacers (still not designed for hammock camping -- but oh so comfortable!). As a fan of relaxing in hammocks, sleeping in them when camping seems the next logical step ;) I've been doing a bit of research, trying to decide which model is best for me.

So far, the most promising reviews seem to come from the Hennessy asyms. Everyone seems to love them, they seem to be stable, their Explorer and Safari models seem quite roomy (more important to me than weight), the snakeskins reportedly really speed up setup and takedown, and so on. They also have the option for an insulation system and a large hex fly (so that I could keep my gear under my hammock). There's just one issue that I'm not sure about with them: can they be used as a camp chair like a basic hammock? I.e., could you set it up so that the fly is off and the netting untensioned (laying flat), and then sit on top of it? If not, can you recommend any other models that are generally nice and that you can do that?

My gear philosophy is this: weight isn't very important. I'll take the "more money for reduced weight" tradeoff, but never the "reduced comfort for reduced weight" tradeoff. I like gear that serves multiple purposes, is roomy, durable, sets up and takes down lightning fast, and in general, quality stuff -- even if it weighs more. I've hiked fine with a 60 pound pack; what I like is to be able to really kick back when I get to camp.

Thanks for any input you might have :)

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Originally Posted by Rei

There's just one issue that I'm not sure about with them: can they be used as a camp chair like a basic hammock? I.e., could you set it up so that the fly is off and the netting untensioned (laying flat), and then sit on top of it?

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Yes you can do that quite easily, but you have to make a tiny modification.

You cut the ridgeline, tie loops in the loose ends, and then hold those ends together with either a small carabiner or a screwlink. When you want to use it as a camp chair, you simply unclip one end of the ridgeline from the biner and the netting lays flat with the body of the hammock. Later when you get ready for bed, you put simply hook the ridgeline end back into the biner to raise the net.

Just use as a chair the way Hennessy recommends:
www.hennessyhammock.com/use-as-a-chair.html
Works great for me. I hang it a little loose to lower the ridgeline and
prevent it from bothering my head.

Excellent; this is definitely the hammock for me, then. Thanks, everyone!

I may someday cut the cord and add a carabiner or a loop, making it very easy to use as a chair lounger. But I really get quite excellent results by just hanging it loose while lounging. If it's pretty loose, that pretty much negates the ridge line discomfort. I also reach under it, pull the opposite side towards me while sort of pushing the side nearest me slightly over the ridge line. So that it is pretty much upside down, and when I lean back I am leaning on the hammock fabric as well as the ridge line. Works pretty darn well, once I figured out how to do it. When I first tried to use the HH this way, it would feel like the ridge line would cut me in half, or was trying to decapitate me. I felt the Speer was much superior for this use. But now, I actually find the HH superior as a chair, because I have a nice wide flat surface under me, rather than sinking down into the bathtub style chair.

It might work even better if I cut the cord and added a biner for reattachment. The main hassle now is the non-removable bug net. Unless it's real buggy, then it is a blessing to be able to just lay down and have it quickly snap shut!

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Originally Posted by BillyBob58

The main hassle now is the non-removable bug net. Unless it's real buggy, then it is a blessing to be able to just lay down and have it quickly snap shut!

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Could you just flip the HH over and sleep on the underside?

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Originally Posted by BillyBob58

I may someday cut the cord and add a carabiner or a loop, making it very easy to use as a chair lounger. But I really get quite excellent results by just hanging it loose while lounging. If it's pretty loose, that pretty much negates the ridge line discomfort. I also reach under it, pull the opposite side towards me while sort of pushing the side nearest me slightly over the ridge line. So that it is pretty much upside down, and when I lean back I am leaning on the hammock fabric as well as the ridge line. Works pretty darn well, once I figured out how to do it. When I first tried to use the HH this way, it would feel like the ridge line would cut me in half, or was trying to decapitate me. I felt the Speer was much superior for this use. But now, I actually find the HH superior as a chair, because I have a nice wide flat surface under me, rather than sinking down into the bathtub style chair.

It might work even better if I cut the cord and added a biner for reattachment. The main hassle now is the non-removable bug net. Unless it's real buggy, then it is a blessing to be able to just lay down and have it quickly snap shut!

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Great tip on hanging it loose to keep the ridgeline from cutting into you. I'm afraid to cut mine and add a biner because even with the extra length of the biner added in I couldn't help but figure the total length would end up shorter when you include the two loops tied in. I like my sag the way it is and was worried about shortening it any. Anyone ever measure the resulting ridgeline after the modification?

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Originally Posted by ZDP-189

Could you just flip the HH over and sleep on the underside?

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Nope, because you would end up trying to perch on top of the ridge line, unless you have made the detachable ridge line modification, which I haven't.

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Originally Posted by Redtail

Great tip on hanging it loose to keep the ridgeline from cutting into you. I'm afraid to cut mine and add a biner because even with the extra length of the biner added in I couldn't help but figure the total length would end up shorter when you include the two loops tied in. I like my sag the way it is and was worried about shortening it any. Anyone ever measure the resulting ridgeline after the modification?

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I made my HH ridgeline removeable, and it is still perfectly comfortable.

If you're that worried about the exact ridgeline length, you could always measure it first, then just tie in an extra length of cord if it was too short after the mod. If you tie a simple knot at each end of the 'cut', like a bowline, even a quicklink is plenty long enough to account for the amount of cord used for the knots.

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Originally Posted by ZDP-189

Could you just flip the HH over and sleep on the underside?

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Even if you make the ridgeline detachable and lay in it or flip it over and lay in it, it's not the best because the netting is not as large as the bed of the hammock. That will cause the sides to pull in so you loose the width that helps make the HH comfortable. Or you'll stretch or tear the netting trying to lay on it.