Reviews > Shelters > Hammocks > Lawson Blue Ridge Camping Hammock > Jodi Cornelius > Field Report

BLUE RIDGE CAMPING HAMMOCK
TEST SERIES BY JODI CORNELIUS
FIELD REPORT
August 16, 2006

TESTER INFORMATION

I have been backpacking for 3 years now and before that I car camped quite a bit. I consider myself somewhat new to backpacking and was on my way towards becoming a lightweight packer.  However, I find that I prefer my little extras and so am trying to move towards being a "midweight" packer.   I tend to use a Hennessey Hammock since my only tent is a bivy tent. I prefer the hammock to a tent as the hammock leaves me swinging gently in the breeze with no hard spot from rocks on the ground. Nor do I need to dig troughs for my hips and shoulders (side sleeper) so I can practice LNT (Leave No Trace) much better.

FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS

I have had the opportunity to test the hammock approximately 13 nights since the initial report. However, other than the one night of rain that I reported on in my Initial Report I haven't had another rainy night.

Most of the trips have been in the 300 plus acres that are behind my house. The weather has been REALLY hot, 96 F/36 C down to 78 F/26 C. Nights ranged from 60 F/16 C to 81 F/27 C. The humidity levels have been around 50 to 60 percent with humidity at almost 100 percent the 81 F/27 C nights.

PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD

One thing I have noticed in regards to this hammock is the fact that the hammock ropes are "springier" than the ones on my other hammocks. This means that I have to hang the hammock at least 4.5 ft/1.37 m high in order to not drag the ground when I get in. This only leaves me a clearance of about 2 ft/.61 m above the ground. When I sit up to get out, I'm almost sitting on the ground. One plus I do see about this, though, is the fact that being that close to the ground I have less air to get cold between me and the ground so it is possible (something I will have to report in an owner's review) that it may stay warmer in the hammock.

Another thing that I don't really care for is the fact I can't tell what direction is up when setting up the hammock. I've set it up quite a few times thinking that it was good to go only to have it flip over when I put the rain fly on. It's not a real pain to unhook it and fix it since I'm using cam straps and all I have to do is unhook the hammock, flip it, and hook it again. But sometimes the strap slips and then I have to start all over getting it set right again. I haven't been able to determine, without putting the rainfly on, how to know whether it's right or not. I will probably mark the hammock rope with some florescent paint to know which way it's supposed to go. But I'd rather not have to do that.

A second thing that's a bit annoying is the fact that when I hang the hammock, it hangs at an "angle". Nothing I have been able to do has stopped it from doing that. It's pretty good once I get in and get settled. It is flat enough that when I get into the center it's ok. It's just a bit of a problem when getting my sleeping gear inside without it sliding down to the door.

On the positive side, I haven't experienced any condensation to speak of in the hammock which really surprised me the nights the temps were in the 80s F/20s C and the humidity was so high. There was some trace moisture on the inside of the rainfly, but nothing that got any of my gear wet.

SUMMARY

Overall, I am enjoying the use of this hammock. I really like the roominess of it, the fact I can keep gear in with me, and the ease of hooking it to my cam straps.

I really like the free motion of the hammock and don't want to stop that, I just want to figure out how to keep it flat.

TESTING STRATEGY

As stated in the summary, I will be testing the use of the hammock as a bivy. And I will also be trying to do my best to figure out how to hang the hammock so it doesn't flip or hang at an angle.

My thanks to BGT and Lawson Hammocks for allowing me to test this hammock.

Reviews > Shelters > Hammocks > Lawson Blue Ridge Camping Hammock > Jodi Cornelius > Field Report