Speer comfort?!? I only know HHs

[FanaticFringer]

and I'll tell you why!

We went camping.
First time I'd used the HH.
I spent forever getting it set up and trying to adjust the underquilt.
I couldn't do it alone -- needed someone to adjust it while I was inside.

Finally got it set up.

Went to bed.

Middle of the night is a storm.
Rain is blowing in.

AND I COULDN'T GET OUT!!!

:::LMAO!!!:::

It was a comedy!
I kicked!
I tried to sit up!
I ripped at the bottom.
I could no more find that exit than anything.

I figured I was gonna die in there!

I started yellin and my partner came to my rescue.
After I calmed down, we laughed until I almost wet my pants.

I decided that was all the HH I needed.
I'm using the cash to order me a SPEER!
At least I can get out of the sucker!

Joe, on the other hand, is keeping his HH.
He loves it.

So it just depends on the person.

Wow LMAO.
Kinda like hammock prison.

[Mule]

I had a very similar incident happen to me the first time I camped in a hammock; it was a HH. And I was all alone a couple miles into the Hoosier National Forest.
I couldn't seem to get my Big Agnes pad under me so I would feel I wasn't going to roll off, so I would just kind of hop up and jerk the pad over. Man! It took about ten minutes of exhausting work but finally I thought I had it just right.
So I looked outside through the bugnet, well, through where the bugnet was supposed to be and couldn't see through the hammock at all. So I fired up my trusty torch and AGHhhhh! The exit slit was at about 11 O'clock over my HEAD!!! I had to say **** really loud to keep from saying something worse. Well about five minutes later I had the darn hammock jerked around so the exit was low enough to get the $$&^ out. I was so tired.
I rested and tried again and finally got it right. Had a wonderful night after all, but I am glad I was alone so no one could see my wrestling match with a Hennessy. Soon after I bought a top loader and sold my HH.

[BillyBob58]

That is exactly what happened to me my first night ever, at a toasty 22F, in my HH and SS. My mishap was caused by wild thrashing trying to get inside a mummy bag. When I woke up shivering about 0230, and was in a hurry to abandon ship and get on the pad/ground, I found I was actually laying on the netting with the exit slit high up on my right side. It was a real battle to get out, I thought I was going to have to call for help. But I finally got out. I remember a few folks did not believe this could happen, but there are a few of us now with the same experience.

The miracle is that I ever got in a hammock again, much less a HH. But I used the HH the rest of the trip without serious trouble, and slept gloriously and warm enough. Nothing close to that first nights trap ever happened to me again. I'm still quite fond of my HHULEXP and SS, though I also enjoy 2 top loaders, Speer and Claytor.

[Buckeyebuck]

Perhaps there should be a new thread/poll: "Did you flip your HH on the first night?" Seems to be a common occurrence. I know I flipped mine. Wasn't so funny then . . . . Thankfully the netting was strong enough 'cause there were some gnarly rocks several feet below me. I've not flipped my HH since.

As to comfort of one or the other, I can't say because I sleep very comfortably in the HH.

[HappyCamper]

Yes! I had the same "wild ride" experience in my HH when trying to use a pad and all other gear on a cold winter's night! I swore, NEVER AGAIN ! ! Hurray for zipper mod! Still using my HH but now have choice on how I want to enter it!

[squantrill]

I found I was actually laying on the netting with the exit slit high up on my right side.

If its high on your right side then im guessing you got in the wrong way around ? the slit should be at your foot end not your head end.

And as for getting out just sit up find the velcro grab either side and just pull it apart or stick your foot through it works great..

[BillyBob58]

If its high on your right side then im guessing you got in the wrong way around ? the slit should be at your foot end not your head end.

And as for getting out just sit up find the velcro grab either side and just pull it apart or stick your foot through it works great..

Nope, not at all. I've always got in the same way for the last 2 years: head in entrance, turn around so that I am facing the foot end, and sit down, then lay down and pull my feet up and in to the right, head towards my left. Works like a charm, and worked perfectly even that first night. The problem arose AFTER I was in, with the opening down by my feet exactly where it belonged.

When I first got in, all was well with my SS pad under me and the foot opening under my feet as they were supposed to be. Then the battle started as I attempted to get inside my mummy bag and zip up, after I started getting cold around the shoulders trying to use it as a quilt ( mummy bag rating=20*F, outside temp 22*F). Also, i was probably loosing heat from below because I put a pad in the under cover, which turns out was against Hennessy's directions, probably causing a big gap. I struggled and struggled, and never did get in the bag and get it zipped up. I can always accomplish that now, but I didn't know how that 1st night.

Apparently, all of this flopping around in the pitch black night managed to somehow twist the HH around on its axis, but I didn't yet know it. I finally gave up in exhaustion, and fell asleep with my bag used as quilt, but with a poor fit/seal around the shoulders, where the bag narrows at the hood/shoulders area. This flopping around probably took place over several hours, as I would give up, fall asleep, wake up cold and try again to get inside the bag.

About 2:30 AM, I woke up shivering violently. ( I also had severe altitude sickness, which did not help when trying to figure the hammock and SS out- this was at 10000 feet). I could not find the bottom exit, it was no longer where it was supposed to be. I turned on my headlight to look out side the netting. To my amazement, the net was no longer above me, but below me. I was laying in the netting, at least partially, it was making up about half or more of the bottom. To my right side and above me was the
SS pad, and still down by my feet- where it belonged- BUT up in the air at about 2 or 3 o'clock ( rather than at 6 o'clock where it belonged) was the hammock entry/exit velcro split.

I had no idea how I was ever going to get out, but after another mighty struggle, I managed to partially get the hammock twisted in the right direction, enough to get my feet out and escape. It is amazing that none of these acrobatics damaged the hammock. I'm still using the same set up 2 years later. I put my pads on the ground, got in my mummy bag and zipped up the collar/hood, and slept warm under the stars until daybreak. I don't know what the final low was, but I saw 22* when I got out of the hammock, with much cursing of hammocks and whoever told me about them!

Can you believe I ever got in a hammock again after that nightmare first night? Which also provided much laughter for and ridicule from my still tenting buddies, who slept uneventfully that night? As I should have if I had not succumbed to the bizarre idea of hanging from a tree near the timberline?

But I did, even though I swore I would spend the rest of the week on the ground under the HH tarp only. But it all came together by the next night, pretty much, more or less. We made camp earlier the next day, giving me plenty of time to hang the hammock correctly, with the foot higher than the head. I figured out how to get in the bag when needed. And I never came close to "flipping" the hammock again, and I slept warm, comfy and toasty the rest of the trip. In fact, by the last night of the trip, even though the wind was blowing hard, off of Big Sandy lake a few feet away, right in the bottom of my HH, I was the only person to sleep comfy AND warm. The tenters all woke up cold and grumpy after a night of rolling down hill and dealing with rocks and roots, following an exhausting day crossing a major pass. Tent site choices were very poor at the point where we could go on no longer and the sun was setting. I was the last one to wake up the next morning, because I was so comfortable and warm. Every one else was up and ready to get out of that cold windy place, they didn't even want to take time for breakfast. I, on the other hand, was now a newly converted hammock hanger. I still had some issues to work out, especially regarding the tarp and how to use the Super Shelter correctly, but the deal was done. I have not spent a night on the ground again.

But that first night, I got in the hammock in correct fashion. But that sucker flipped on me, due to all of my thrashing. It has obviously happened to several other folks as well. I think HH should warn about the possibility, though it is easily avoided if you half way know what you are doing. I have never (not even once) come close to it again. But it CAN happen!

[Hector]

> And as for getting out just sit up find the velcro grab either side and
> just pull it apart or stick your foot through

I've never done anything but lightly push the slit with my foot to get out. Shrug.

[BillyBob58]

> And as for getting out just sit up find the velcro grab either side and
> just pull it apart or stick your foot through

I've never done anything but lightly push the slit with my foot to get out. Shrug.

Same here. Truth is, half the time or more, the Velcro on mine pops open by itself. The trick for me ( more so now than when new) is to keep it closed. I've never had any bugs come in though. I'm thinking they tend to swarm near the head end, where my expired CO2 and body heat tends to be, apparently ignoring the foot end, which tends to be covered with a bag and/or SS anyway.

[Blue Caboose]

Chump Monkey,

Here are somethings that I have noticed. Keep in mind that I am 5' 10" and 180lb.

I started with a HH. It is comfortable and easy to use. I did not like the bottom entry as far as getting into a sleeping bag and not being able to reach outside for stuff. It needs a bigger tarp IMO. Their hex tarp is nice.

Got a Clark and loved it. Comfort suited me better and I like the stock tarp. (many have posted here that they don't) The pockets are great and I was good down to the 50's with just them. For really cold like windy mid 40's and lower (I am from Florida) I needed a pad. IMHO the Clark is a great system. When it came to having an all around system (light weight, use of an under quilt, and for me very simple) I became interested in the Speer.

My dream is to jump easily into the hammock on a 30 degree night, slip easily under a quilt and feel the warmth of the snugfit and top quilt surround me. I have a JRB quilt and tarp now and have just ordered the Speer III and snugfit. I will let you know how this all works out first cold night that i get to test it.