Reviews > Shelters > Shelter Accessories > Jacks R Better Pack Cover Gear Hammock > Jodi Cornelius > Initial Report

Date: October 2, 2005

My Background: 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 am on my way towards becoming a lightweight 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.

Product Information:

Initial Impressions: The gear hammock and pack cover arrived in a tyvek envelope along with a nice "thank you" card as seen below:

The gear hammock, in my test, will be used on a Hennessy Hammock Expedition ASYM. The gear hammock attaches to the Hennessy Hammock (hereafter referred to as HH) via running the side tie-out through the corner loop on the gear hammock and taking the opposite end with the carabiner by the large knot by the entrance as seen in the pictures below:

HH tie out through the Gear Hammock Corner Loop	Carabiner attached to the knot by the entrance of the HH	Gear hammock attached to the HH

Here you can see the Gear Hammock as a pack cover:

Gear Hammock as a pack cover

Test Plan: The Gear Hammock and Pack Cover is made of 1.1 ripstop sil-nylon. It is a single piece of material that has hemmed a 1/8 in/.32 cm shock cord around the parameter of the fabric with a single cord-lock toggle at one of the corners. Attached to each of the 4 corners is a black nylon grosgrain loop. This Gear Hammock and Pack Cover will be used on multiple overnight trips as both the gear hammock and the pack cover. The blaze orange color will be necessary for hunting season so the cover will stay on my pack, a Lowe Alpine Sirroco, until I either stop for a food break or when I make camp. Conditions will be during the fall into winter at which time we have sun, rain, snow, sleet, hail with temperatures ranging from 80 F/27 C to possible lows to -5 F/-21 C. While being used as a pack cover, the cover will be subjected to various wooded "tortures". I will be scrabbling over rocks, through brush and dead fall. So I will be checking to see just how careful I have to be when the pack cover is on. The gear hammock will be used to hold my boots and anything else I want to keep within arm's reach while I'm in the hammock. When using it as a gear hammock, I will be checking to see if having weight in the gear hammock causes my hammock to "list" or pull, making my hammock "lopsided".

I'm also planning on just "playing" with using it as a camp "sink" - I say "playing" because in the winter time, I won't want to normally use it for that function but in the summer, it could be used as a cooling bath. I will also check to see if it will carry as much water as the website claims although I won't normally use that much water - it would be nice to carry that much when wanting to use the item as a camp sink.

I'll also be using this item as a "tarp" when stopping for breaks. I will be taking it off my pack and will stake it out to use to save my butt from getting soaked from snow covered ground. I will also use it to cover wet or snow covered rocks and/or fallen logs that I sit on while resting. No matter what I do with this item, I will be watching to see how well the corner loops hold to the sil-nylon. Do they show any signs of fraying from carrying weight?

Overall, this looks like a piece of gear that will probably be making its home in my gear list!

Reviews > Shelters > Shelter Accessories > Jacks R Better Pack Cover Gear Hammock > Jodi Cornelius > Initial Report