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  1. #1
    Senior Member GaHammockGuy's Avatar
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    Hennessy ridgeline Mod

    Okay

    I bought the HH Exp. a couple of years ago (my first Hammock experience) and loved the IDEA of hanging in a hammock. but the winter forces me to take along more equipment to keep warm like another pad and my down sleeping bag. So getting in the bottom was troublesome with all that extra padding.

    I switched to a DIY top-loader and am saved! I love love love the top-loader.

    But sitting in the corner under all my non-used gear is this little ($120) green bag collecting dust. "I must salvage this hammock and use it somehow" I think every time I see it peaking out from the pile of surplus ripstop Grosgrain, and para-chord. And one night while working late on a DIY project I swear I heard it cry out...

    "SAVE ME... SAVE ME"

    After a tear rolled down my cheek, I dried my eyes dry and started thinking of ways to salvage this hammock.

    I love the lay of the hammock, the bug net and the rain fly (for summer hangs) but that thick rope had to go away.... so I started.

    MODIFICATIONS SO FAR (not many)

    • Switched out the rope for a whoopie (amsteel 7/64)
    • Switched out the slings for longer tree huggers
    • switched out the climbing biners for soft shackles made from Amsteel
    • Added a continuous ridge line for the rain fly



    Next up is why I called... errr..... um.... started this thread.

    I want to sew in a zipper and convert it to a top/bottom loader. I will not sew the Velcro shut because for summer hangs I thinnk it will be (as Tony the tiger would say) GRRRRrrrreat!

    but for winter hangs, the HH sucks.
    -Am I supposed to say IMHO here

    To get in I have to FLIP over my sleeping bag, then my pad, then my air mattress ... get in.... then flip it all back and then get comfortable.... it is a hassle..... (I did start inserting my little blue pad INSIDE my sleeping bag, so I would only have to flip over two items.... still a hassle.....

    Make sure the Velcro is shut then get on top of the mattress .... by this time I have worked a sweat I needed to get out just to cool down...

    So I want to add a zipper. That should be no problem, but my question is this...


    has anyone switched out the static ridgeline for the bug net for a whooppie to be able to adjust the sag of the HH? I think it might be modifiable (is that a word) to adjust the sag of the hammock to maybe more comfortable...

    Any thoughts? I am THIS CLOSE to cutting my techline at the desired length for the whoopie sling bugnet ridgeline.

  2. #2
    Senior Member packeagle's Avatar
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    I added one on my Explorer, but then replaced that with a line the same length as the stock one. I feel that the stock length was just right.

  3. #3
    Senior Member ChrisH's Avatar
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    2QZQ can do it for ya, I'm sure. That's if you wanna spend some more money to get what you want out of that particular hammock.

  4. #4
    Senior Member salamander42's Avatar
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    On the zipper. . . I'm planning on sending mine to 2QZQ to have it modded. . . I've done a little sewing and have learned enough to know that I'm not ready to mess with doing a zipper mod myself yet. Balancing the price of having them do the mod against the hassle and time it would take to do it myself, i think they're going to win hands down.

    On the ridge line. . . I don't see any reason not to try an adjustable one. Give it a shot and let us know how it works out!

    On keeping warm. . . Try an underquilt. . . They make sleeping in a hammock sooooo much more comfortable. I made one of insultex that has been working for me down to about 30 degrees or so. I don't know if I'll ever save up enough for a good down UQ, but after the success I've had with my DIY one, I'm definitely considering it.
    Don't alter my altar
    don't desecrate my shrine
    My church is the water
    and my home is underneath the shady pines

    From the song "One Man's Shame" by William Elliot Whitmore

  5. #5
    Senior Member Silverlion's Avatar
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    You'll find that once you find that magic length on your RL, you will have no need to adjust it again. When I installed my whoopies, I made an adj. RL out of Amsteel as well. Once I found my sag, I made it fixed on both ends. My justification for a 1/8" Amsteel RL is because I had extra Amsteel and I'll take any advantage I can get in case of a widowmaker. We haven't much of an edge against one so I'll take any edge i can get.
    We must all learn to live together as brothers--or we will all perish together as fools. MLK

  6. #6
    lattie11581's Avatar
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    Very doable.. I have done two HH zipper mods. The first I cut the netting at the hammock seam.. it worked but I noticed a lot of stress at the ridgeline. And small wear hole formed in the net. So on the second I cut the hammock body 6" below the seam.. much much better. And you can easily duck under the side pullouts to get in and out. the first way the pullout got in the way a little. I also put a woopie on the ridgeline on the looped side I attatched a soft shackel on the adjustment side and it worked but as previously stated it was a waste as the stock length was, for me, the most comfortable, so I put it back. I took a zipper from an old worn out tent door that I was holding for spare parts. It took about an hour . I am posting from mobile so here is a link to the photo


    https://picasaweb.google.com/m/viewe...12145322831362



    I hope the link works

    Lattie

  7. #7
    Senior Member GaHammockGuy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by salamander42 View Post
    ......On keeping warm. . . Try an underquilt. . . They make sleeping in a hammock sooooo much more comfortable. I made one of insultex that has been working for me down to about 30 degrees or so. I don't know if I'll ever save up enough for a good down UQ, but after the success I've had with my DIY one, I'm definitely considering it.
    Yup. I have used an UQand it was awesome, but not on the HH because of the bottom-loading feature. But now, I will have a top-loader so the UQ will come in handy.

  8. #8
    Senior Member GaHammockGuy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lattie11581 View Post
    ......So on the second I cut the hammock body 6" below the seam.. much much better. And you can easily duck under the side pullouts to get in and out. the first way the pullout got in the way a little. ........
    DOH! I already made the cut. But I did not cut into the netting. I cut just below the seam. I will use Grosegain (sp) to sew it all together with the zipper.

    I will also put in a whoopie for the netting RL and post some shots of the finished product.

  9. #9
    lattie11581's Avatar
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    wear and tear

    Keep an eye onthe ridge line. That's where the small holes in the netting started showing up. It put a lot of stress on the netting when getting in and outfrom the side

  10. #10
    Senior Member GaHammockGuy's Avatar
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    DONE!!!

    I made the cut.
    Added in the zipper (120" from JoAnns)
    swapped out the static bugnet ridge line for a whoopie.
    Its been raining here off and on so I need to wait for a dry day to test it and take pics.

    But pics are on the way.

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