The Hennessy Hammock Supershelter contains three components: an Undercover, an Underpad, and the Overcover. The Undercover is a waterproof, windproof, Silnylon layer that provides another layer of material under the hammock protecting your back from the cooling effects of the wind (9.0 oz). The Underpad is a foam pad (8.3 oz) that is sandwiched between the UnderCover and the Hammock, and the OverCover is a Silnylon layer that covers the no-seeum netting on top of the hammock (with the exception of a ventilation hole), blocking heat loss and providing another wind barrier.
I’ve tested the UnderCover and UnderPad on a number of long backpacking trips in Vermont and New York State over the past year in nighttime temperatures ranging from the mid-twenties to the mid-fifties (F), but I can’t say that I’m completely satisfied with them. I just received the OverCover from Hennessy and will be testing it when temperatures drop in a few months.
The UnderCover, like the Hennessy Hammock itself, has a birth canal style opening that you poke your head through to enter the hammock. To install it, you loop it under the Hammock and thread the Hammock ridgeline through its ends. There are elastic bands at the ends of the UnderCover that you then loop over the hooks attached to the ridgeline and adjust to tension it. The UnderPad shown in the picture below, is a foam pad that you roll up for storage in your pack. To install it, you unroll it between the UnderCover and the Hammock, again attaching elastic bands over the ridgeline hooks. However, unlike the UnderCover, the UnderPad does not have a birth style channel making it very awkward to get in and out of the hammock.
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Hennessy claims you can just simply slide the pad out of the way to enter the hammock, but it is impossible to grasp it once you are inside without putting your hand right through the foam material, as shown in the picture above. Since you can’t reposition the pad, it stays under half of the hammock and you end up getting chilled at night.
After much experimentation, I discovered a solution to this problem. I fold the UnderPad in half and position the upper half that is located above the birth channel split, between the UnderCover and the hammock, as intended. Getting in and out of the hammock at night to pee is easy and I don’t have to fumble with the position of the UnderPad when I get back in. The area under my legs remains uninsulated but my sleeping bag has enough insulation to keep me warm. In addition, I don’t tie-in the UnderPad to the UnderCover using the hammock side guy lines and it stays in place. I’ve found that using the guy line tie-outs is a major contributing factor to UnderCover and UnderPad misalignment and you are better off not using them at all.
This layout works well down to the mid-thirties, except that in the morning, there is a noticeable amount of condensation on the inside of the UnderCover and soaking the UnderPad that you need to let dry or towel down before you pack up for the day. In colder weather, I also slip a small pad that I carry under my sleeping bag inside the hammock and under my back if I need a little more insulation under my core.
The lack of a birth channel and these condensation issues make the UnderPad solution a sub-optimal solution in my opinion. I like the JRB Nest, a down filled under quilt with a birth channel split much better for insulation down to the high thirties. I have not layered an UnderCover below the Nest yet, but plan on trying this later in the year.
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3 users commented in " Hennessy Hammocks Supershelter: Field Tests "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackEarlylite,
Did you use the space blanket on top of the pad as suggested by Hennessy? The only time I have had any significant condensation is when I did not use the space blanket, which also added quite a bit of warmth. Also, isn’t it designed to only cover the right side of the hammock at the foot end, which is all you need with a diagonal position? I just push mine to the right side when entering and it pops right back to where it is supposed to be when I get in, I don’t have to do anything. I have not tried it without the side tie-outs. I’ll have to try that!
I went back to the Hennessey web site this morning and saw the space blanket comment. It makes perfect sense that a space blanket would reduce the condensation. I assume it must be placed over the underpad. I wasn’t under the impression that the underpad required diagonal sleeping and it’s not how I prefer to sleep in the hammock, but I could see the underpad working better if you slept that way. However, I’m still sold on the Jacksrbetter down underquilt Nest as the way to insulate an HH and they’ve also just introduced a Winter Nest http://www.jacksrbetter.com/index_files/Winter%20Nest.htm
with even more fill. Part of the reason is simply compressibility. The HH underpad is very bulky in my tiny ultralight packs, whereas a down underquilt has the predictable compressibility of a 800+ fill down bag. Thanks for your comment. Look forward to more.
I forgot - you should also check out JustJeff’s site on Hammocks and staying warm - http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockCampingWarm.html#Underquilts
I recall reading on his site that he has used an exped downmat 7, this is a downfilled inflatable sleeping pad, as cold weather insulation for his Hennessy hammock. I was going to give this a shot too since I own one. They have as much insulation as a down bag but provide a better vapor barrier than the nylon cover of an JRB nest, and they compress extremely well, down to the size of a down sleeping bag.
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