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  1. #1
    New Member
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    May 2013
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    Hennessy Hammock Expedition Asym
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    Pad Condensation

    Hey everyone, I have a Hennessy Expedition hammock and have been using it with a pad on the Long Trail this summer. I love everything about it, except for the condensation that always dampens my pad and the bottom of my sleeping bag. Any suggestions on how to stop this? Thanks!

  2. #2
    Senior Member DC125's Avatar
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    I also noticed condensation on my Hennessey Double Bubble pad when I was in NH a few weeks ago. First time that has happened, although we were experiencing heavy rains (on and off) and high humidity at the time. After browsing here, I'm seriously looking at underquilts to solve that problem. I also noticed it wasn't as bad when I was using my synthetic bag. It was a lot worse when I used my down filled bag.

    I'm interested how others have solved the problem.

  3. #3
    SilvrSurfr's Avatar
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    Jul 2011
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    Jersey Shore, NJ
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    My first hammock was a Hennessy Expedition Asym Zip. I used a Wally World blue pad and a 0* synthetic sleeping bag, and stayed warm down to 22 degrees, but there was always condensation. Since I was using a synthetic bag, it didn't bother me all that much - I still stayed warm.

    Condensation with pads is inescapable for most people. Underquilts are definitely the way to go when you can afford them.

  4. #4
    Senior Member turnerminator's Avatar
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    Sep 2009
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    By getting into your sleeping bag, you are sandwiching it between your body and a non-breathable layer. Its going to get damp. Using the sleeping bag as a quilt keeps the bag from getting damp. I find a sleeping bag warmer, easier and more comfortable to use this way in a hammock. Just slide your feet into the bag and leave the torso open to basically function as a top quilt.

    Condensation will usually form on a pad as Silvr says. Reducing the amount of water that gets soaked into your insulation to minimum is the best and easiest way of dealing with it.

  5. #5
    Senior Member
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    Some people have drilled a number of small holes in their pad and have said they noticed a drop in condensation when using their pad. They drill the holes about 8 inches apart across the pad.

  6. #6
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Yes condensation is a common complaint with pads in a hammock, apparently far more than on the ground. Did you have this problem when sleeping on the ground?

    But also keep in mind the possibility of sweat if your back over-heats. Especially if you have on some layers and are inside a synthetic sleeping bag, rather than using a top quilt(TQ). Any sweat or condensation will have no where to go once it hits the pad, and will tend to pool up there.

    If sweat is an issue, maybe a thinner pad would help, or fewer layers, or using the bag as a quilt.

    I think an SPE might help, like the one that is for sale here right now. I have, a very few times, added a torso sized WM blue pad into my pad pockets on a JRB BMBH or Claytor No Net when the summer nights got way colder than normal and nothing was just not enough, or in the fall up at Fall Creek Falls TN when my super light Insultex UQ was not quite enough. I had no sweat issues, but I did not add the pad until I was cold, so maybe that saved me? Also, I was not inside a sleeping bag either time, but under a Golight TQ.

    But the one and only time I ever set out to sleep on a full length pad was maybe 6 years ago. I had a speer hammock and pads in a Speer SPE on an 18* night, with no tarp. I was still way down in the learning curve about how to stay warm in a hammock. I started out inside an old 5F TNF synthetic bag. I was soon so warm that it gave me confidence to try quilt style again, which had failed me a couple of times in the recent past, I just couldn't keep warm enough on top due to drafts, so I kept ending up inside the bag. But this time all was good, even quilt style, and it remains probably the warmest winter night I ever had in a hammock. I do not remember any condensation or sweat or moisture problems that night. But most of the night, I was quilt style, so maybe that helped? Or maybe it was the wicking layer of the SPE? I really don't know.

  7. #7
    Member
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    Try the smooth green venture pad from Walmart. I used to have the same problem until I switched to this pad

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