I think I may be turning into a hammocker. I wondered what all the fuss was so I bought some material at Walmart and made a "test hammock" using imrisk's design

http://www.imrisk.com/testhammock/testhammock.htm

and I've been trying it out. Very comfortable and I will certainly use it on my hikes this spring. But now I'm thinking about summer and all the mosquitoes. I'm wondering if I ought to get a professionally made hammock with a built-in bug net.

Now I don't want to start a flame war here about who makes the best hammocks. Both Hennessy and Speer offer fine hammocks but each uses a slightly different approach to bug netting. Hennessy has the netting sewn to the hammock and you climb in through the bottom. The Speer is a top-entry and the bug netting closes with velcro.

The Speer has the advantage that you can leave the netting off when you don't need it which you can't do with a Hennessy. That's attractive. But I'm worried that if I turn around in the night the velcro will pop open and I'll get bit. Is this a concern at all? Does someone have experience with the Speer they would be willing to share?

Thanks,
Heber

Then just buy yourself a Clark Jungle hammock and quit frettin' about the netting coming undone! You know what we say here, "Buy quality once and cry once, buy the lesser and cry until you can afford better" <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Zippered bug netting is like sliced bread once you've had it there's no sense in fighting the loaf <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Yep. I'm a regular Speer user. I sewed my own.

With the full length velcro on the side, as long as you seal it up when you get in there's pretty much no danger of it "popping open" - and in fact the hennesey has similar things, just not in the bugnet - the hennesey is open on the bottom half and velcroed shut. Sealed up, neither of them lets anything in, Left open, well,
they let flying critters in, both of em'.

Either hammock is a fine choice and used properly will keep the bugs out just fine. I've used a speer
in horridly (like, you have to wear a headnet even wearing 100% deet or you can't breathe) type
conditions and it worked just fine.

I have actually used hammocks like the test hammock in buggy conditions by adding a ridgeline a-la speer, then rather than bothering to sew velcro on the side and sew a bugnet like the speer, just get a section of bugnet or muslin and clip it to the ridgeline, adding a couple of weights to the bottom. If you
have a look at the other sections of risk's page, he shows a few hammocks where he uses a weghted bottom on a bugnet, rather than having them attached. It seemed to work well too. So I don't think it's too
much of a concern. You can always try that with your tester and bugs and see how you do, the trick I found when I tried this is just getting a good "drape" that draped against the sides of the hammock, as opposed to leaving gaps. I'm sure you could pull it off with one of those cheezy coghlans bugnets you
can get a crappy camping stores for 3 bucks.

Before buying either, be sure to consider a Clark Jungle Hammock. I have the CAMO Tropical with the WeatherShield and consider it to be the best backpacking purchase I've ever made. My North Face tent has now been stored deeply away. Brum

http://www.junglehammock.com/models/camo/index.php

If it's about cost, you can most certainly turn your test hammock mosquito proof. It's not much work, but I have no idea what netting supplies are in your area so I'd say that'd be the hardest part. Definitely check out Risk's site, he makes complicated issues like this into simple ones :-)

I also built the test hammock and then used some goop glue to fasten hook and loop and a bug net to a ridgeline. I then built a tarp and copied the clark model. I plan to use this setup for a couple of upcoming weekend campouts but plan to purchase the Clark with the full monte setup, Maybe even in camo. I like the idea of stealth camping.

I have a few DIY speer type hammocks and the drape idea actually works pretty well. Even better with some snake skins to help seal the ends. Snake skins are a very easy DIY project with some leftover sil nylon. If no snakeskins, you can secure loose ends with clothes pins or binder clips. I did the drape method and eventually sewed velcro on one topside edge of the hammock and one edge side of the netting. So it attaches nice and clean on the one side, goes over the ridgeline and drapes over the other side. Entry and exit is easy and I get a nice tight fit of the netting against the hammock. As I move around in the hammock, the netting is free to adjust slightly over the ridgeline. I sewed a few small pockets at the bottom of the netting on the side that drapes free and I throw a few small stones in to help keep the the whole thing weighted nice and tight. Because it's attached with velcro, I can remove the net system when not needed.

In addition to the online sources for no-see-um, fabric stores sell netting. Look in the wedding veil section as well. I found some $1/yd netting at China-mart (walmart).

Good luck!!

Oh yeah, I forgot about using wedding veil material for the bug netting. Thanks for bringing that up. The walmarts in my area are discontinuing their fabric sections!

Chaz, I chose the Clark Tropical jungle hammock in camo specifically to be hidden if needed. I travel in areas of Michoacan where robbers are common. Some are growing herbicide-proof hybrid marijuana, and the more violent ones are smuggling coke out of Guatemala and Colombia. A few are just poor villagers, whom out of desperation have turned bandito. The latter hide out in the mountains between their hijackings and armed robberies of passengers on public transport buses.

When in north east Michoacan I usually bed down far off the foot paths in deep overgrown ravines or canyons to avoid being seen too easily. I also have a camo silnylon rain cover for my backpack. Once my camo hammock is hung, my pack is in its camo rain cover, and all loose gear is stored in the pouches on the bottom of the hammock, I'm pretty much in full stealth mode.

Camo is a smart choice, whether you're dodging drug smugglers, robbers, or over zealous park rangers. With camo you blend into nature, and you're not uglying up the view with orange, yellow, or florescent green or blue tents. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Brum <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I love Ed and also his philosophy on promoting hammocking but the velcro netting did not work out well for me because I am a ease of use kind of guy and I felt sort frustrated using the velcro (first time user). I do think the thick straps that connect the Speer hammock to the trees worked well and easily enough though, easier for me than using the HH tree huggers. The HH netting is ease of use (no setup), but that bottom entry sometimes worked well for me and sometimes did not work well, depending on how level I set up the HH, and of course your stuck with the netting whether you need it or not. Go figure.

And that's a fine approach if you're hiding from gun toting pot plantation types.

Now me, I prefer a reasonably bright color, particularly for my canopy, because I just find it
lighter and cheerier. I certainly do camo if I'm out killing things - but other than that on the off
chance that anything happens and people are actually looking for me, I'd rather not make
life any more difficult for SAR people to spot my camp - or me - one of the reasons that unless
I'm packing a gun and have reason to stay hidden - I don't hike in overly muted colors.

Phat wrote:


Brumfield wrote:

hey, Phat, was it my "uglying up the view" remark that got you going? I was thinking of your "lighter and cheerier" choice of canopy colors when I added that line in there, just to evoke your ire. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Like Earthling says, "we fall like a moth to a flame". But you sure dive bombed that particular flame at Warp 10 speed. ("Scotty, I need Warp Speed!"... "Aye, Captain Phat, I'm givin er all she's got!") <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

By the way, when I need to blend in I use bright and cheery colors too... at the beach. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

But for drug runner infested beaches I use this:
http://www.armynavyshop.com/prods/rc2300-camo.html

Brum
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Brum, Although I like the camo idea and will consider that option when I purchase a clark, I will use my homemade hammock for a couple of upcoming weekend jaunts. The hammock is some kinda funky gray color and the bug netting is black. But the fly is walmart ripstop green. It might blend in a little this summer with foleage. (but we all know where mites grow). <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
If I were dealing with banditos, I would be in full stealth mode also.
Keep up your good work and be safe out there.

A towel? bah. Wrong tool for the job Brum. Just be friendly and bring along a little friend for them to say hello to:

Nice M14 phat. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I didn't know Canadians liked guns. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> JK.

Yo, Phat, you old gunner runner. You might find that model M14 to be a bit under powered down Michoacan way? I've seen Sage Tactical M14's in the hands of Purhépecha guarding their land. I didn't ask to pass through. Brum

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09399833.htm

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6113878