Okay so I got the Clark’s North American hammock because I liked the sound of it, the pockets underneath, the storm guard, bug net, cool camouflage color, etc. Well after using it for a week I will report that it is a good hammock, with the SPE 4x4, a ¾” thick CCF pad, and a 25° bag, I have been able to sleep colder than I thought. 12°F with 25 to 35 mile an hour winds was the lowest it got for me, but with norms and averages over the week between 20 and 34°F. So let’s get to the good the bad and the ugly.
The good:
I fit in the hammock. If you’re a big guy; tall, large around the waist, or larger on the shoulders, you’ll still be able to fit.
The bug net seals up nice and tight. And it is easy to open from either the left or the right side.
If you set the storm guard and bug net correctly, you can use the hammock as a chair. You can even sit two people in the chair, but that isn’t recommended, however I did have my GF sit with me for a while and swing a little bit to get the feel of it.
The pockets under the hammock are huge and they rock. Stuff those suckers with inflated 1 gallon Ziploc bags and you got yourself a quality under quilts. Stuff those suckers with your boots, you dirty underwear, clean underwear, extra shotgun shells, and they super rock.
The ropes to tie it to the tree are pretty strong and long enough to get around a pretty good-sized tree that is the distance away from another good-sized tree. I did however invest in a pair of tree huggers, because I suck at tying knots.
If you separate the rain flying from the bug and storm guard and tie that off separately, you have a lot of room inside, and easy access to all the different zippers.
The bad:
Overall the storm guard works great however, where they come together the zippers for the left side and right sides over your head, they do not quite meet and leave about a half-inch on either side of the middle. This causes air exchange, and can let drafts in. Now this isn’t necessarily bad, if it were say 40°, 50°, 70°F. But when I was in 18° below zero Fahrenheit in the wind chill, having that blow or seep down onto your face, sucks.
The rain fly is small and retarded. If you leave it connected to the hammock as it is shipped to you it joins part of the ridge line for the bug and storm guard. This means that unless you are 3 feet tall, you have to duck to get in the hammock once it is set up. Fortunately you can disconnect the rain fly from the hammock body to raise it up. Unfortunately it is so small that in bad weather if you did that, you’d get soaked and/or have the rain fly blow away. Plus you have to set the hammock body up first and then the rain fly, so if you were doing this in the rain your hammock would be soaked, because the rain fly is stored inside the body of the hammock.
The ugly:
The built-in stuff sack. The built-in stuff sack. Let me just repeat this, the built-in stuff sack. I have had everyone I know who likes to camp, and even two expedience hammock hangers, try and stuff this hammock in the built-in sack. Everyone has failed. It is a most worthless thing you will ever see. I hope the guy that invented it gets hemorrhoids.
The directions, or lack thereof. Things like roll up hammock, stuffed in sac; tie hammock to tree, sleep, don’t quite cut it as directions. Also if you call them and ask for help or send them an e-mail they will tell you that the directions are ample, all one page of them. I mentioned to them in an e-mail I wrote in a relatively irritated state that it might behoove them to spend 15 minutes in their backyard with a video camera to document this, and then stuff it on their dang blasted website.
The summary:
With this hammock, a real rain fly, a real stuff sack or compression bag to store the hammock, a little ingenuity in sealing up storm guard over your head with some Velcro and a little sewing, and the understanding that you are all alone in this world once you buy the hammock from these people, it’s not a bad hammock. I think that the fact that you don’t need under quilt really makes this hammock worthwhile, you just have to accept all the other ridiculous problems that go with it.
They do give you 90 days with the hammock, and after that you can return it if you’d like, at least that is what they say.
I ordered a larger rain fly the same one that everyone else right here probably uses from sportsman’s guide, and that should resolve the rain fly issue. I’m going to check out REI for a bag or something to stuff the hammock in, and just forget I ever saw that *** ****, god forbidden, godless, piece of junk stuff sack that it comes with built-in to one of the pockets.
For the amount of money this thing costs, you’d think it wouldn’t be a headache.
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Originally Posted by NCPatrick
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