Hennessy Hammock - Explorer Deluxe Classic XL - Built Tough for Emergency Services

I recently purchased the Hennessy Explorer zip hammock. I grew up camping, I spent many a night on the ground in the Marine Corps and it never seemed to bother me. As I've gotten older I still love to get outdoors, but I find that it doesn't love me so much. Even with the deluxe camp version of the Thermarest I would wake up and feel like I'd gone ten rounds with George Foreman. My back, hips and shoulders would hurt, and I'd be tired. At a recent Order of the Arrow event I was introduced to the Hennessy hammocks. I bought one because I knew I could return it to Amazon if I didn't like it, but I was hoping for relief. When the hammock arrived, I was impressed with what appeared to be top notch construction and materials. I set it up in our yard for practice and just to try it out. Setup was easy and fairly straight forward. The first campout I took it on, I also took a tent just in case. There is a learning curve to sleeping in this hammock and I can't say that I got MORE sleep in the hammock than I get in a tent, but when I got out of bed in the morning there were no aches and pains! I've since spent 5 more nights in the hammock, and every one has been better than the last, and they ALL have been better than a night in a tent. I still sometimes feel a little claustrophobic, and I am primarily a side sleeper so I do sometimes wish I could comfortably sleep that way fully. I often sleep in kind of a half side/half back position which works for me almost as well. Stomach sleepers, other than those with Chinese acrobat-like flexibility, I don't think a hammock is for you... I use my Thermarest underneath for insulation and when paired with a Wiggy's Ultra Light sleeping bag, I have been warm and cozy even when the temperature dips into the low to mid 30's (Fahrenheit). The only complaint I have is that the thermarest isn't quite wide enough and I have sometimes woken up with a cold shoulder where I slip off of it, but of course that has nothing to do with the hammock... I think I'll buy the reflective insulation that Hennessy sells because it's wider at the shoulders than the Thermarest. I would definitely suggest purchasing the snake skins, and I also replaced the tie-out lines on the fly (these were cheap and seemed to snag everything) with some of the MSR reflective line. The only other things I don't like have nothing to do with THIS hammock, but seem to be a weakness of hammocks in general are the lack of storage space, and the lack of privacy. I deal with the storage space by bringing either a smallish tarp or a small one-man tent for my gear to keep the rain/dew off. Both of these solutions diminish the appeal of hammock camping by increasing the weight, size and the time it takes to setup camp. Privacy when you are in the hammock isn't the problem, trying to get dressed while laying in a hammock is NOT easy, but climbing out of the hammock to get dressed is not always advisable... The bottom line is that this is a great product with a learning curve that offers all the benefits and suffers most of the drawbacks of it's nature as a hammock. None of the drawbacks is a fatal flaw IMO, they just require that you adapt to deal with them. The benefits certainly outweigh the drawbacks for me. Update: 22 Aug 2013 I have now spent an entire 8 days straight camping and a few more over nighters with this hammock and I've learned a few more things. I THINK I might like a bridge hammock like Jacks R Better sells but I'm not sure since I don't own one. I find that my knees sometimes hurt from being slightly over extended. Rather than buy one, I am seriously considering making my own. Hammockforums dot net has a TON of great information on hammock camping including DIY hammocks. I would HIGHLY recommend spending some time over there before pulling the trigger on a hammock. None of this has fundamentally altered my opinion of this hammock though. It's still a great product and for me it's vastly superior to sleeping in a tent. It's just not quite...ideal for me and I'm enough of a tinkerer to think that I may just be able to build my own hammock nirvana.

After reading the many reviews of the Hennessy and watching you tube videos I had come to the conclusion that this was the tent for me. I own 4 tents. 2 that leak when it rains and 2 that I spent a whole bunch of money for. I have camped on my own deep in the woods for months. I WISH I HAD ONE OF THESE YEARS AGO! Last night I took it out of the bag, set it up in what seemed to be 2 min. It was fast and simple. I put my cold weather bag in it and down came the rain. It rained all night. I am guessing the temp was in the low 40s F. The wind blew hard yet I was warm, dry and very comfortable. What a great product. I plan on buying 10 more( I have a lot of family and friends). As a survivalist this tent just makes sense. Its perfect for your Bug Out Bag. Its small, lite, bug repellent, easy to use, well made, and water resistant. I watched a video of a guy who hung his off the side of a rock face where there where no trees. I have seen them hung in between trucks, off of fences, rocks, hiking poles with guide wires and stakes. I even saw one hung in a hole with the rain fly covering the hole. Now that is inconspicuous camping. Oh yea. The whole cold weather thing I haven't tried yet BUT the pad they sell is a aluminum bubble wrap insulation that you can buy big rolls of at home depot for 20$s. I use this stuff all the time in my work and it is great insulation. One roll would make a 3 layer thick insulation pad 4ft by 6ft. Reflective insulation is far better then any other form of insulation. I will post my cold weather findings when I camp in the snow. On the other hand this thing will rock in hot weather. I am sold. I am a believer. Best night sleep I have ever had in a tent by far!

8.5 hours of comfortable, uninterrupted sleep the very first night. This is it, this is the hammock camping solution you are likely looking for. It does everything it says it does and does it very well. For the best experience I highly recommend 3 modifications to the default setup: 1. Get two snakeskins. One for the hammock and another for the tarp. This way, you can easily deploy your rainfly at a moments notice in the case of inclement weather, then you can leisurely setup the hammock while remaining dry. The snakeskins make setup/teardown an absolute breeze. 2. Grab the hex tarp. The asym is cool and functional for some scenarios but if you want that "all in one" hammock camping solution you are going to want the coverage the hex provides. Not to mention the rope pockets built in the tarp to keep everything tidy, VERY nice feature. 3. Attach carabiners to the either end of the hammock, either directly to the loop (requires removal of the factory wrapping) or knot them to the existing rope. Then purchase an inexpensive set of tree straps with multiple loops for near unlimited configurations. I feel I have put together the ultimate "do it all" hammock camping solution and it wouldn't have been possible without the excellent products Hennessy has made here. This will radically change the way you think about camping, I guarantee it.

I was generally happy with this. I had a Vietnam era jungle hammock before and thought this one would be inferior, but each of them have their strong points. A year later I've only used it a few times, but I'm still happy. It got caught in a rain storm (seriously heavy rain) and everything stayed dry in the hammock. The only thing I would change in the design is to go back to the design I had in the old hammock, which is a bar at each end to make it "wider" (and therefore seem roomier when you are in it). Somehow this seems more comfortable. However, the trade off is how quickly you can take it down with the snake skins. I'm a 6'2" 300LB guy and the hammock has held up. It does stretch quite a bit the first time I get in, and I might work with some karabiners to see if that helps.

I have been hammock camping since the 90s using military surplus hammocks and the faithful blue tarps. But while prepping for a 3000 mile motorcycle trip, I thought I would look into what's available in modern hammocks. Big surprise. There's a lot of people hanging from the trees these days and they're hanging in some really great hammocks. From my research, Hennessy is about the best, so I bought one. Absolutely awesome! I camped my way up Hwy 1/101 along the west coast until it started to get too cold, cut across along the Columbia River Gorge to the 395 and back down to San Diego. Slept like a baby every night. I did have a pad, a heavy duty sleeping bag, thermal socks and a watch cap for the really cold nights but most mornings I would pop out and be surprised at how cold it was and I would only be in a pair of jeans. But the comfort is the big deal. Even after a long day on the bike, I would be refreshed and ready the next morning with no stiffness or kinks to work out before starting off again. The bug screen can be a nuisance when not needed but not major. I hung the fly separately so I could get it higher for a better view from the hammock and so I could stand up under it when I crawled out in the mornings. Hennessy has provided clips to attach the fly to the hammock cords which is a great idea and would be useful in bad weather but I didn't have that experience and just wanted it there to keep the dew and whatever else fell from the trees off of me and the hammock. If you've never camped in a hammock, you are missing one of the great camping experiences. I love waking up in the morning, just lying in my sling and watching the forest come to life again. Woke up once while camping on the Dosewallips River in Washington state and found myself surrounded by a herd of elk. Too f*****g cool. Anyway, the old surplus hammock has a new home in the back yard and the Hennessy is in the pack and ready for the next trip in the spring. I've found that many people are into serious cold weather hanging but it's something you need to look into before giving it a shot. There are some equipment variations that make the whole thing doable. Later.

Wish it came with better straps for the money. Not as easy as many other brands strap system, not even close. Fly could be shaped better, wind can bring moisture in. Hammock itself it nice, love the shelf for flat sleeping. Mine was thick, so got hot under you in summer. Suppose fall camping would benefit. Bug netting works well.

This is a must have for the hiker/camper who is looking for a great nights sleep. Set up is very easy once you learn how to tie up a hammock. I know a lot of knots and the one they show on the web site was new to me. A great knot to add to the tool box. Honestly set up takes 2 minutes if you are moving slow. The longest part of set up is finding what you want to tie off to. My first trip with this hammock I was hiking in the New Hampshire Presidential Range. The first night it rained and the winds were 60 mph+. The hammock will rock but you will stay dry. The second night I tied off to a tree and a big rock suspended over more rocks. When the thunder storm hit I was not worried. Being off the ground is awesome. The take down is just as quick as set up. Aware that the wind would be moving all around me I placed my inflatable sleep pad in the hammock. Wind and the chill of the night were not a problem. Entrance and exit of the hammock could not be easier. There is a dry line on the inside to hang items from. The line will support a pair of boots with no problems. I do recommend a couple of small not-for-climbing carabineers to hang boots with. Being able to turn the hammock into a chair is a big bonus. If you are thinking about the smaller Expedition stop. A friend has that one and as soon as he saw mine he realized he made a mistake. The minimal weight difference is not enough to worry about. I highly recommend this product. Visit the manufactures web site for all of the details. It truly is a great design.

Hammock arrived in 3 days, just in time for a 4 night camping trip. Set up was quick! I added a pair of carbiners to connect the tree straps to the standard suspention system. There was minimal streach to the lines on the first night. I used a jumbo car window reflector as a pad under my military bivi bag and patrol bag. The bivi bag addes another 10 degees protection to your sleeping bag. At night I could not wait to climb into the Hennessy. There was plenty of room to streach out, hang a light from the ridge line that holds up the bug net and read a book. The ridge line has a mesh pouch that is attached so you can store what ever you need handy like a flash light, snack, wallet, book etc. I hung a small blanket over the ridge line and pushed it to the front corner just in case I got chilled before morning. The side entry zipper is heavy duty. I attached a 5 or 6 foot piece of bank line to the 2 zippers on the out side so that it was easy to find and close the zippers without any trouble. Be sure to get the size 4 snakeskines to go with it they make setup and take down a snap. I suffer from degenerative disc disease so sleeping on the ground is out of the question for me. Sleeping in the hennessy was a pleasure you are able to lay very flat on the diaginal. To tell the truth I slept better in the hammock than I do in my bed at home. Over all I really liked the hennessy. The only thing that I would like to see changed is the diamond shaped tarp size on the explorer, it needs to be a foot longer at least. We got some rain, not heavy rain and the hammock got a little wet on the upper side. I will probably replace the tarp with Hennessy's larger tarp. The polyester tarps are heavier than silnylon but, when the tarp is wet and you touch the under side you don't get wet like you do with silnylon.

I have a river in front of my house so we bought 2 of these for there. It’s all woods so the bugs are all incredible, even with bug spray. This allows us to spend time by the river without the bugs. Great set up videos on YouTube! Very helpful. The only thing I don’t like is because of the netting(rightfully so) you have to anchor the hammock on both sides as well as both ends. This means you are simply laying flat, laying still in a tent. For lack of a better term. You aren’t swaying back and forth gently in a hammock. Worth spending the extra for the double bottom too IMO, haven’t had any bum bites yet!

Si le prix ne compte pas ou si vous souhaitez tout simplement le meilleur, il vous faut un Hennessy Hammock. Je bivouaque depuis plus de 15 ans en hamac et j'ai enfin craqué. Je connaissais déjà cette marque car mon binôme de bivouac en possède un. Il faut le coupler avec les Snake Skins car pour 20€ de plus, vous serez beaucoup plus efficace pour le sortir ou le ranger en moins de 3 minutes.

I love this thing! I use it when I go on road trips with my motorcycle or when I go camping with the family (it's my nap hammock). It's much smaller than a tent to carry on the bike, and a million times more comfortable. No pressure points, no rocks on roots to poke my back. If it's hot there's nice air flow to keep you cool, if it's chilly you must put an insulating mat inside because you'll freeze, but a simple thin camping mat will do just fine. It's made with very very tough fabric, I'm 6'2" and 240lbs and the thing holds me easily. All the seams are triple or quad stitched. The rain proof roof will keep you dry and being orr the ground means your floor NEVER gets wet. Really.... I have nothing bad to say about this product. It's awesome.

Its nice overall quality, i like a colour, i dont like straps, im gonna use havier tarp. If You order on amazon You have no snake skin added.

Wish I’d had one of these years ago