HAve anyone of you had any experience either good or bad with one of these hammock tents? It looks like it might make a good bivey for a short trip in a woodlands area.
www.hennessyhammock.com

Thanks,
Dave

Have a look at this one, not a hammock, but a good shelter with nearly no weight...:

http://shop.strato.de/epages/Store11.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPa...6308/Products/810225

Dave,

I have been using a Hennessy Ultralite Backpacker A-semetrical hammock off and on for some time now. If you decode to get one, I would strongly recommend you getting the winterizing kit at the same time, which consists of the wind and waterproof undercover and the open-cell foam under pad. You can put extra clothing or another bag or a poncho-liner in the foam pad for added insulation to keep your back side warm. The undercover also keeps out the wind chill on your backside and stops mosquitoes from biting you through the bottom of your hammock.

Sleeping a hammock takes a little getting used to but is quite comfortable once you get it figured out. Follow the directions and read up on the tips on the Hennessy sight. I have slept through rain, snow and hail in mine during the first week of deer season at altitudes up to about 10,000 feet. I made it through some terrible thunder and lightening storms with high winds and I suffered not at all from the elements and that was before I had gotten the winter kit. I did get cold in a zero degree rated bag with a 2 inch thick pad underneath me. Getting the winter kit has solved most of the backside getting cold problems.

The Snake Skins that you can buy with your hammock as an accessory are neat but you need a bigger size if you decide to get the winter kit. I now have two sets but only use the set that's big enough to use with my hammock and winter kit.

You do not lay flat in a hammock like you do on the ground. You are flat from your hips to your feet and from your waist to your head, sort of like sleeping in a recliner or a hospital bed. It is easily possible to sleep on your sides or even your stomach with a little more effort. A quilt type cover works best in a hammock. Just unzipping a sleeping bag, pulling it over you and tucking it in and under you works a lot better than trying to crawl in a bag in a hammock.

Inflatable insulated pads and down mats can be used in the foam pad suspended under you while you are in your hammock, in the under cover. Everything sort of moves out of the way when you enter the hammock through the slit in its bottom. Once you are in the hammock, things will return to their proper position automatically.

Its a lot faster and easier to leave the under cover and floating foam pad on the hammock when changing camping locations on a daily basis. For doing that, a bigger stuff sack that you can quickly cram everything down into works better than using the snake skins.

Hammocks are not for everyone. Some people find then too confining and uncomfortable. A Hennessy hammock is a weatherproof, light weight and compact system. Insulating your back side in cold conditions brings the weigh and bulk back up to about a what it would be for a light weight backpacking tent, and sleeping on the ground is sure a lot warmer, but not as comfortable if you find hammock camping to be comfortable for you.

If you are still interested in a hammock after reading all this, I believe a hammock would be worth a try for you. The prices of the hammock and winter kit are sure reasonable enough compared to comparable quality and weight backpacking tents, and you have the adventures of hammock camping to look forward to. I use mine a lot for car camping situations because I find the hammock more pleasant than sleeping in a vehicle. It doesn't matter if the ground isn't level, is rocky or wet when you have a hammock. All you need is a couple of trees the right size and the right distance apart, which can be more of a problem than you might think at times, which is all just part of the challenge of hammock camping...Rusty.