HENNESSY
HAMMOCK CAT CAPE PONCHO RAINFLY
Tester
Information:
Name: Pam Wyant
Age: 52
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight: 175 lb (79 kg)
E-mail
address: pamwyant(at)yahoo(dot)com
Location: Western West Virginia, U.S.A.
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Backpacking Background:
I enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, including backpacking,
day-hiking, car camping, and canoeing. Most of my excursions
are confined to weekends, although I try to fit in at least one
longer backpacking trip each year, and have started section
hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT), accruing a little over 300 mi
(483 km) so far. My style varies with the activity, but since
becoming a lightweight backpacker, I've noticed I tend to pack
somewhat minimally even on trips where I have more space.
Still, I don't like to sacrifice warmth, comfort, or safety.
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Initial Report - November 9, 2009
Product Information:
Manufacturer: Hennessy
Hammock
Model: Cat Cape Poncho Rainfly
Size: Regular
Year of manufacture: 2009
Advertised weight: 252 G (9
oz)
Measured weight: 278 g (9.8 oz)
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Product
Description:
The Cat
Cape Poncho Rainfly is a product that I've long awaited - a
rainfly for my Hennessy Hammock that converts to rain gear for me to
wear! I am testing the regular size Cat Cape, which fits those
up to 6 ft (1.83 m) tall. A long for folks up to 7 ft (2.13 m)
tall is also
available. The Cat Cape is made of Silnylon and is the familiar
Coyote Brown in color, so it will match both my Ultralite Backpacker
A-Sym and my Hyperlight Backpacker A-Sym hammocks in color, and is
sized to be
compatible with both.
The Cat Cape arrived in a neat little roll about 11" (28 cm) long, and
2" x 3" (5 cm x 7.5 cm) wide, with one of the fly lines wrapped around
the outside to hold the roll together, as shown above. As I
unrolled the package,
I noticed that the fly had stuck to itself in one small area near the
center of one of the long sides, but I was able to gently pull it apart
and it doesn't appear to have been damaged by being stuck, although it
does appear that there may have been an excess of coating in that
area. The photo to the right shows the wrinkled up area that was
stuck. Having been a long-time Hennessy fan, one thing that stood
out as being different right away was that one of the sides of the fly
has a shinier surface than the other side, which I had not noticed on
my old flys.
As soon as I had the Cat Cape unrolled, I noticed another big
difference - this fly has a seam running along the ridge line, while my
other flys are a solid piece of Silnylon. This appears to be due
to the catenary cut that takes up slack at the ridge line. The
photo at the top of this report shows the nice taut ridge line of the
Cat Cape when it is set up as a fly. The Cat
Cape is also a little more rectangular in shape than my older flys,
with two sides each measuring 62" (157 cm), one side measuring 104"
(264 cm) and the fourth side measuring 103" (262 cm), but it appears to
have approximately the same coverage over the hammock. Like my
other Hennessy flys, it is bound on the edges with a black fabric that
appears to be nylon. Unlike my other standard flys, each corner
is reinforced with a small triangle of the same Silnylon as the main
body. The triangles on the ridge line axis are sewn completely
closed, while the two corners that stake out have a small opening
to allow the fly lines to be stuffed inside when the fly is converted
to a cape.
Each corner has a plastic ring and glove hook, similar to my older
flys. The side points each have a 118" (300 cm) long section of
thin black cord. The cord is the same style as used on my other
hammock flys, and has a silky texture that makes it easy to untangle,
but a little difficult to hold some knots such as a tautline hitch.
The other big difference about the Cat Cape is that the 103" (262 cm)
side has two sections of a 23.5" (60 cm) long separating zipper sewn to
it. The bottom of one section of the zipper is about 16" (40.5
cm) from one end of the fly and the bottom of the other section is
about 17" (43 cm) from the opposite end. There is about 23" (58
cm) of open space centered between the two sections. The open
space forms the face or neck hole, depending on how the hiker chooses
to wear the cape. I found I can wear the Cat Cape up around my
head, similar to a hooded poncho, except there is not a defined neck
line - it simply hangs loosely over my head and down my trunk and back,
as shown below:
Or, I can wear it simply wrapped around my shoulders and leave my head
free, as shown here:
Preliminary
Impressions:
I am really impressed with the Cat Cape Poncho Rainfly so far.
What really amazes me is that Tom Hennessy could come up with such a
simple design that with the proper placement of a mere zipper, I have a
multi-use item that can be both my rainfly and a poncho that can be
worn two different ways. It seems like it will be perfect for
those trips where I might expect a few showers - the type of weekend
before that I was always tempted to leave my rain gear home, yet
afraid not to take it just in case.
At this point, the concerns I have are that the poncho does not have a
brim or much coverage at the brow. I will be experimenting to see
if I need to add a visor or hat to keep water from dripping down my
face and finding its way down my hair and clothing. Another
concern, naturally, is what to do if the rainfly is deployed at camp
and I need to take a bathroom break. I am thinking a light
windshirt may prove a useful addition to my kit, and still save me a
lot of weight over a rain jacket.
One more concern is how much wind will affect coverage, and whether I
find myself needing to secure it in place better. As it is, one
side of the Cat Cape seems to hang at a perfect length for my height,
however the other would drag the ground if I don't tuck it up. (I
expected this from the directions provided). In a short
preliminary trial, it was pretty easy to tuck the long end up under the
poncho and into the waistband of my pants to shorten the length, and it
seemed to stay put. My final concern is whether it will also stay
put during lengthier and/or more strenuous hikes or under windy
conditions.
Summary:
The Hennessy Hammock Cat Cape is my long awaited solution for a rainfly
to fit my Hennessy Hammocks that also doubles as a poncho - perfect for
saving more grams while still being able to enjoy the comfort of tree
hanging!
More to come:
This concludes my Initial Report.
Field Report - January 19, 2010
Field
Locations and Conditions:
A couple of extended illnesses and an unusually cold early winter have
conspired against me and prevented me from using the Hennessy Hammock
Cat Cape Poncho Rainfly as much as I would have liked. I did wear
it on a snowy tramp of
approximately 0.5 miles up the hill and through the woods near my home,
and during a 3-mile day hike on a hiking trail near one of our local
schools. I also carried it in my pack on 3 additional day hikes,
mainly as an emergency back-up shelter, as weather conditions were too
cold for it to have rained on two of the hikes and the third was on a
bright and sunny day.
On the shorter hike, temperatures were around 30 F (-1 C) with about 8
in (20 cm) of snow, and the terrain varied from a short but very steep
scramble to a gently rolling ridge top. I wore a short-sleeve
wool shirt layered underneath a long-sleeve wool shirt and a warm down
jacket underneath the Cat Cape. On the 3-mile day hike, the
temperature was around 50
F (10 C) with a light sporadic rain. The trail has a small climb
near the beginning, and
then is
fairly moderate. On this trip I wore a short sleeve wool shirt
under the Cat Cape. I wore gaiters with mid-height trail shoes
and carried a moderate sized day pack worn under the Cat Cape on both
hikes.
Use and Conclusions:
I did not really have a need to wear the Cat Cape on the
shorter snowy tramp near home, as the snow was not wet or melting, but
wanted to get an idea of how it might perform, and what sort of
problems I might have walking in it, especially on steep sections of
rough trail. Putting the Cat Cape on is very easy - I simply zip
the 2 sections of the 23.5" (60 cm) zipper together and pull the cape
over my head, sticking my head into the open section above the
zipper. I do have to pay attention to which side I place on the
outside, so rain won't collect inside the little pockets that hold the
fly lines to convert the poncho to a hammock tarp.
On this hike I experimented a bit with how best to keep the longer
points of the poncho/fly from dragging on the ground and getting wet
and/or dirty. Simply tucking the ends into my waistband did not
work too well - they would slide out within a few minutes. Next I
tried fastening the glove hooks at the front center (when worn) to
those on the longer points. This resulted in a bit of a loop
effect on the sides of the Cat Cape, which worked sort of okay.
Until, that is, I scrambled up a really steep section when I ended up
stepping inside the loop of fabric and nearly tripping myself.
Oopsie, that wasn't a great solution after all. (The photo to the
right shows the steep section of trail over my shoulder.) What I
finally figured out that worked best was simply to clip the small glove
hooks at the end of the points to the drawstring in the front of the
fleece pants I wore for this hike.
I found the Cat Cape holds in a good little bit of warmth, and I was
soon raising my arms up and down as I hiked to let a little cold air
billow in and cool me down, which worked very well to provide extra
ventilation and prevent me from overheating too much.
On the 3-mile hike overheating wasn't a problem since I wore only a
single short sleeve shirt under the Cat Cape. In the light
drizzly rain the coverage around my head and face was adequate with the
Cat Cape worn up over my head. I am still not sure if the design
is adequate for heavier rain, but I hope to find that out during the
next phase of the test, as I seldom wear a hat while hiking (other than
a beanie when it is cold, as shown above under the Cat Cape). One
thing I also noticed during this hike and the previous shorter one is
that the zipper on the Cat Cape does not extend very far down the
front. To help provide a little better coverage for the front of
my legs I found I could fasten the two glove hooks positioned under the
zipper together, but there is still a slight gap, and I wonder how much
water might find its way in during heavier rains. This is also
something that I hope to find out during the next phase of the test, if
Mother Nature decides to let up on the arctic blasts that she has been
unleashing on our area during most of the winter so far. On this
hike I was wearing pants with belt loops, and the glove hooks on the
end of the points were easily clipped to my belt loops and shortened
the Cat Cape to a nearly perfect length for me to hike this trail.
From my two short uses so far, I have noticed that the Cape has a
tendency to move and slide around a bit as I hike. This hasn't
been a problem so far, but it does create a bit of a fuss factor in
making sure the cape is properly positioned. Another slight issue
that happened during the longer hike is that one of the fly lines
worked its way out of the pocket unnoticed by me, and came unwrapped,
resulting in my trailing the line behind me. It may be that this
was a fluke or I may not have had it deep enough in the pocket to start
with, but it is an issue I will be watching in the future.
Another thing that I experimented with a bit at home in a light rain,
but have not really used in a field situation is trying to deploy the
Cat Cape from poncho to fly while wearing it. One slight issue
with this is that there are no pockets for holding cord at the ridge
line points. Therefore, I need to have a couple of lengths of
cord handy in a pants pocket or accessible pack pocket (such as a hip
belt pocket). I found I could keep the poncho in place, tie a
cord to the o-ring at one ridge line end, and tie the cord around a
tree while staying fully covered. Then I moved away from the tree
until that side of the poncho was taut, unzipped the face hole, and
held the fly tautly positioned over my head, which still provided
decent coverage for my head and torso but left my legs a little
exposed. I then slid my hands along the edges of the fly, keeping
it taut until I reached the second tree, where I tied the second cord
to the o-ring and around the tree. My head and torso were still
fairly protected at that point, but to stake out the fly lines it was
of course necessary to quickly duck out into the rain for a second or
so. While I don't think this would be a big deal in a warm summer
rain, a wind shirt or something similar might be helpful to provide
extra protection when the weather is chillier. Again, this is
something I hope to find out during the remaining portion of the test.
Summary:
Due to the circumstances I've experienced so far, I don't feel I've
really been able to use the Cat Cape for what it is really intended -
an ultralight hammock user's multi-function shelter and rain
gear. I'm still feel it is an ingenious design in its simplicity,
and am excited about the possibility of the Cat Cape being the
solution to shaving a few grams on trips that I don't expect a deluge,
but where a little rain protection might be required.
At this point, I feel like I have the issue of what to do with the
longer points worked out (clip them to my belt loops), and a system
worked out that will allow me to stay at least partially dry while
converting the poncho to a fly. My primary concerns are whether
the front zipper is long enough and the face opening sufficiently
protective for good coverage in a heavier rain.
Likes:
Multi-function
Easy to ventilate
Dislikes:
Zipper seems a little short
Tends to slide around a bit while wearing it
Coverage in the face area is minimal
Long Term Report - March 23, 2010
Field
Locations and Conditions:
I used the Hennessy Hammock Cat Cape as a tarp on an overnight
backpacking trip in southeastern West
Virginia. Temperatures dropped from around 40 F (5 C) in the
evening to around 20 F (-7 C) in the early morning. I had
planned to use it over my Hennessy Hammock Hyperlight Backpacker A-sym,
and set it up that way. Unfortunately, that did not work out, as
my hammock split in two when I was changing into warmer base layers,
and dumped my rear end on the ground! Fortunately, nothing was on
the ground for me to get hurt on when I fell, and the ground was
semi-level, so I was able to just drop the Cat Cape lower and use it as
a tarp, as shown to the left.
I also used the Cat Cape as a rain poncho on a short 3 mi (5 km) hike
on
our local nature trail, with a medium sized day pack under the
poncho. Temperatures were in the mid 50 F (13 C) range and a
light misty rain was falling.
Use and Conclusions:
Unfortunately, a lingering winter with more snow and ice than rain kept
me from really getting the use out of the Cat Cape that I would have
liked, and the two times I was able to use it did not help me draw many
conclusions, since I could not use it over my hammock on the overnight,
and the hike was relatively short. However, I did learn a little
from my experiences, which I will share.
The Cat Cape will work as an emergency tarp when
necessary, however the semi-diamond shape is not ideally suited for the
best coverage when using it on the ground. Since this is not its
intended use, I can't fault the cape for that. It did provide
good coverage in the head and torso area, but my feet and lower legs
did not have much room for error in coverage. Since I move
around a lot in my sleep, my feet and calves ended up outside the
coverage area of the fly by morning, as shown to the right. Since
it was a cold, clear night with no precipitation, this was not a
problem, and the fly did help hold some warmth close to me. There
was a good bit of frozen condensation on the inside of the fly by
morning, but not much on my sleeping bag. If I were in an
emergency situation and wanted to use the Cat Cape as a tarp in the
rain, I think I could manage to stay mostly dry by putting my feet into
my pack and/or a trash bag for extra protection.
The cape worked pretty well as rain gear on my 3 mile (5 km)
hike.
It provided enough coverage in the light misty rain to keep all but my
feet and lower legs dry, and gaiters and waterproof shoes took care of
that. It did have a tendency to slide around a bit, so I was
readjusting it every now and then, but that wasn't too bad when the
weight savings and multi-use factor as a possible emergency shelter are
considered. Fastening the glove hooks onto my belt loops helped
keep the ends from dragging, but I did have one of the flylines fall
out again. I wonder if it might be possible to have the flylines
attached to another glove hook that could be removed when the Cat Cape
is used as a poncho, and clipped back on again for use as a fly.
Summary:
So far I am impressed with the Cat Cape's versatility. Although
the lingering winter and the failure of my hammock body kept me from
using it as I would have liked, I am still very excited about using it
this coming spring and summer. The simple design and multi-use
aspect will help me lighten my pack a little further on trips where I
expect good weather, but don't want to chance not having rain gear at
all, or on warmer weather trips where a little rain is in the forecast.
I expect I will be using it on several trips in the upcoming months,
and plan to update my report at a later date when Mother Nature has
cooperated sufficiently.
Likes:
Multi-function
Easy to ventilate
Dislikes:
Zipper seems a little short
Tends to slide around a bit while wearing it
Coverage in the face area is minimal
Thanks to Hennessy Hammock and BackpackGearTest.org for the
opportunity
to
test the Cat Cape Poncho Rainfly.
Read more reviews of Hennessy gear
Read more gear reviews by Pamela Wyant
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