Quote Originally Posted by Riverpirate View Post
I agree wiht Lori kind of:

For the very reasons she says she would not buy a Clark I would. For me the Clark is a single system that does everything I may need without adding other "stuff." If I want, I can "strip it down" to just a hammock or I can leave the pieces on I need for that particular trip. It is the Land Rover of the Hammock industry IMO. It will do anything. But if you are only driving back and forth to work on paved roads, it is a little overkill. But if you don't really know what conditions you will be driving in day to day, you can get in it and not worry.

And if you just want to have the coolest most expensive ride in the neighborhood.............well you need a Clark.
Personally, I would love to try a Clark, but never have. By the time I found out about the Clarks, I already had a HH with SS, and also a 17 oz Speer (~21 oz with bug net).

And once you already have a few hammocks and tarps and insulation systems, it's tough to cough up 3 or 4 hundred bucks for a new system.

Only by trying one can I determine for sure if the comfort would be right for me. You know, lot's of folks may swear by the comfort of Hammock A after using many other hammocks, but another person who has also used many hammocks might swear by hammock B. You can't really know until you try and spend 10 hours in it.

But, it looks really cool to me, and I would love to try the entire system. Though I have never felt much assurance from the built in insulation pockets, who knows? Need to try it?

But not only does it come down to additional money, it is also a weight issue. I see the NA is ~ 3 lbs 2 oz. Not really that bad for the entire system rated for comfort @275 lbs. The fly seems kind of small, but with that weather shield I'm sure it would keep you real dry. But if you want to have a bigger fly to hang out under, you need to add some more cost and weight to the above.

Somebody previously mentioned throwing solutions at the problem, like layers of IX and such. But I'm thinking of a recent trip where I was not expecting lows to be any colder than the upper 40s, almost a zero chance of rain and probably very little problems with bugs, because it has been so dry. So I decided to go with a net free hammock, an IX under quilt at 8 ounces, and my smallest tarp – the old 11 oz Hennessy hammock stock tarp. This worked out perfectly, as my clothes had been treated with permethrin and I used Picaridin bug spray. No bug problems, everything was really wide-open and I could see out of the hammock real good all night. I was warm enough. And my total hammock/bottom insulation/tarp weight was 2.2 pounds. Because I was hiking off trail a good bit on this trip, I was grateful to keep every ounce off my back. There would have been no need to carry another pound or more of hammock gear on this trip. Then again, maybe some of the stock weight of the Clark hammock could have been left behind? Plus of course, there are other lighter Clark models, so......

Anyway, I think it's a really cool design and someday I hope to get to lay around in one to determine the comfort levels. But I guess I'll have to try sleeping in cold weather to determine how well I would like the Clark insulation system compared to things I have been used to using. Things like pea pods, Hennessy Hammock Super Shelters, Warbonnet torso length Climashield UQs, and last but certainly not least: JRB MW4. And hey, even just a plain old pad slipped in the wonderful pad pocket of the BMBH.