BMBH failure

Just want to relate a quick story. Been using the bridge hammock for 20 nights or so over the spring and summer with a thermarest camp pad in bottom. I use a 5 lb sleeping bag with it and i weigh 185 lbs. I would like to say that the hammock gives a great night sleep and is quite east to set up with a jrb tarp over it. Well, one night at 2 a.m. i awoke in a heavy downpour and I thrashed around abit to pull the sleeping bag into order and the next thing i knew is i was on the ground. Didn't get hurt but having to pack it all up in the rain was no fun. I have found that when I use a sleeping bag i have to thrash around alot to get it zippered up and positioned properly for sleeping. This evidently really stresses the stitching on the straps where the support bars hook into the metal rings. Where the straps are sewn together with the hammock corners is where it let go. I sent it back to JRB and they appologized for the problem and the quickly repaired the hammock and sent it back with the statement that this would not happen to me again. No cost to me at all. I guess what i would like to say is that I will now only use a bottom and top quilt now so that I minimize my thrashing. I will also closely inspect all the stitching at critical areas before using it. I do love the hammock though and will continue to hang it. Good hanging all. jim

Wow, that must have been a shocker!
From all I've heard about the Jacks though, sounds like they really take care of their customers.

I had a failure at the same spot in a DIY bridge. It went down when my dad was trying it for the first time. Pretty embarrassing. What's worse is that there's no one to send a homemade hammock to for a repair - I had to swallow my pride and beef up the spreader pockets.

I'm glad you weren't hurt and I'm not surprised you had a good customer service experience with the Jacks.

lemaddoc:

Thanks for the report ... glad you are alright.

I'm in the process of making another DIY Bridge ... now, I plan on using a few more ounce to back-up the hammock corners.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lemaddoc

Just want to relate a quick story. Been using the bridge hammock for 20 nights or so over the spring and summer with a thermarest camp pad in bottom. I use a 5 lb sleeping bag with it and i weigh 185 lbs. I would like to say that the hammock gives a great night sleep and is quite east to set up with a jrb tarp over it. Well, one night at 2 a.m. i awoke in a heavy downpour and I thrashed around abit to pull the sleeping bag into order and the next thing i knew is i was on the ground. Didn't get hurt but having to pack it all up in the rain was no fun. I have found that when I use a sleeping bag i have to thrash around alot to get it zippered up and positioned properly for sleeping. This evidently really stresses the stitching on the straps where the support bars hook into the metal rings. Where the straps are sewn together with the hammock corners is where it let go. I sent it back to JRB and they appologized for the problem and the quickly repaired the hammock and sent it back with the statement that this would not happen to me again. No cost to me at all. I guess what i would like to say is that I will now only use a bottom and top quilt now so that I minimize my thrashing. I will also closely inspect all the stitching at critical areas before using it. I do love the hammock though and will continue to hang it. Good hanging all. jim

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Do you have any pics of the corner that failed? I have been monitoring what I think is an overstressed corner in my BMBH. I would like to catch it before it fails.

I dont have any pics but what failed was the stitching came apart. jim