The hammock is a great ultra-light shelter system for active sports such as biking and kayaking. It'll save you space and weight (a lot!) but without sacrificing comfort. In fact, you'll probably find it much more comfortable than most tent systems you could carry.

It's easy to store in a saddlebag or gear hatch so that it will always be ready for an emergency shelter, a snap decision to spend the night out in the bush or a quickly set-up dry spot for a rest. When you're ready to continue on your journey "Snake Skins" make it fast and easy to takedown and pack.

Bikers and kayakers often find themselves looking for camping spots in places where no designated camping sites are available.

Because our hammocks do not require a flat, level & dry space, finding a site becomes much easier as many a boater can tell you. On kayaking trips, you never know what kind of beach you'll be landing on that night because shores are steep and rocky, often covered with dense underbrush. With Hennessy Hammmocks it's very simple to tie off to two trees above this dense ground cover with minimal damage to the local environment. No more paddling or peddling long after you're ready to set up camp because no suitable sites have been found!

Our hammocks can be used anywhere there are two trees or even pitched as a tent with the use of two kayak paddles and some extra cord! The low key, low impact profile of the hammock disappears into the landscape in keeping with "Leave No Trace" objectives. (LNT endorsed.) You can virtually disappear into the landscape because no one will expect to see a shelter in an area which can't be used for tents.

In camp, you can use your fly alone as a dry or shady area. Alternatively, the hammock alone can be used as a chair or lounger. And when it's time to sleep, the hammock provides a much more comfortable shelter than at tent on the hard ground, some well-earned rest after a day of strenuous exercise.

 Letters from Bike and Kayak Campers

"Dear Tom

I have been using the hammock for roughly a year now and it has grown to be one of the best pieces of gear I own.  I am a mountain bike and backpacking guide out in Georgia and with the limited space I have for my own personal gear the 2 1/2 pound, compact hammock is the most valued piece in my pack.  

Mountain bike trips can be one of the harder trips to pack for because you're on the bike for eight to ten hours per day with only a 4000 cubic inch pack. The hammock is well suited for the job due to it's light weight and small pack size. There have been many times in the winter where I have been backpacking and run out of daylight before finding a good, flat place to put up a regular tent. Not a problem with the hammock. Not only that, I don't have to pack a sleeping pad which takes up valuable space and adds extra weight.  

Thanks Tom for designing a functional piece of gear that I can use.  Often time I find myself disappointed in design and function but the Hennessy Hammock is every bit of both."

D. L.

"Tom
A buddy and I recently purchased a couple of your hammocks. We like to take our mountain bikes to the trails and camp at some of the more secluded spots that you can reach by bike.  In order to do this we need equipment that is both light and compact. Your hammocks wonderfully fit the bill." 

Fine Job — S. Scopano

"By the way, I got my Hennessy Hammock. I was a bit leery about it when I opened the package, but I took it along. Put it up (just for fun) at my daughter's place. I loved it, and slept in it for the rest of the trip, even all the way down the Duck!!! I never set up my tent after that. I owe you one for that tip, Chuck! Best $89 I ever spent. Thanks! The Hammock worked great. It took up virtually no room in the Kayak and was a breeze to set-up. I even dug two posts into the sand on the beach of Hand Island (Broken Island Group) and slept on the beach, under the stars, with no bugs one night—it was awesome."

A panoramic view and comfortable place to nap, rest or sleep the night

Takes much less space than a tent and without the problem of the poles, but that's far from the most important characteristic. The setup instructions, especially the knot diagram on the bag seem confusing and unnecessary, now that I'm used to setting it up. The fact is it takes a minute to set up, oonce you've chosen the trees or whatever you're going to hang it on. After wrapping the flat strap around the tree, several slipknots each end and it's done. It has to be visible horizontal when up for even slim trees are strong enough. It's so fast I often stop in the strangest places, with the best views, even on steep slopes to take a nap and continue the drive when rested. From the start, I've used snakeskins. people who watch as I set up or leave are impressed at the ease and speed, as well as the small size of the packed hammock.

I feel the most important advantage is the view. You can hardly ever pick a place to set up a tent with the kind of views you can when setting up a hammock. Sometimes, if it's close to dark, I'll start looking out for beautiful places, next to some farmhouse or home. I knock and ask people if I can set my hammock up on their land, pointing to whatever spot I like. They always say yes, though they can get curious. Some places here are truly infested with mosquitoes. They can bite even through the cloth, so it is important to have more than one layer between mosquito country outside and your body. Other than that, one is completely protected and still sleeping out under the moon and stars, in view of the sea or mountains. The motorcycle is also dark green and thus makes everything basically disappear from sight.

For motorcycling, camping and travel in warm climates, it seems to me these hammocks are not just a good added component to gear, but more like a travel style transformer. Today I rarely keep driving when tired and thus enjoyt each trip more. It's save me a lot of money on hotels, because it's much easier to stop and camp safely, next to some farm and without affecting nature or anyone.

-Dr. Rolando Montano Fraire

"Sleeping Suspended" by Christopher Cunningham

One of the main advantages of a hammock is that you can sleep comfortably without a sleeping pad, and you can site it in places where there is not enough level or smooth ground to pitch a tent. As long as there are trees, even steep, rocky shores provide a viable campsite for the night. In other regions, a hammock would also provide shelter above ground that is muddy or swampy. A hammock not only turned out to be the best solution to easy-to-carry bivouac gear, it was so comfortable that it is now my first choice for nights on which I plan to camp out.

The Hennessy Hammock

The Hennessy Hammock is very quick to set up; it takes about two minutes to tie the suspension lines to two trees, and to tie the four lines that hold the sides of the hammock and the rain fly out to a pair of stakes.  The hammock has a clever feature, a slit from the center of the hammock to one end. You slip headfirst up through the slit, sit down in the center of the hammock, and draw your legs in.  The tension on the hammock brings the edges of the slit together, and Velcro finishes the seal. It is a very stable way of getting into a hammock.

Once you are in the hammock you can arrange yourself on a diagonal and find a position that is very nearly flat from head to toe. I experienced some difficulty sleeping in the Hennessy Hammock because of the slipperiness of my nylon sleeping bag against the nylon hammock. There was so little friction that I felt that the bag and I were pooling in the center of the hammock.  Rolling over was like doing a space walk; without friction, you can move easily.

In wet weather, the rain fly keeps you dry while you take off boots and rain gear and pull your sleeping bag out of its dry bag and into the hammock. Two light bungies pull the sides of the hammock out, providing more space inside and dampening the swinging that comes from shifting your position in the hammock.  The ends of the rain fly are connected to the lines that you tie the hammock up with, and there are two lines on each side of the rain fly, to stretch it out onto cover the hammock. You can set one or both sides of the rain fly low, for inclement weather, or high, to take advantage of the view.

On one of the Hennessy Hammocks we tested, the fabric pulled through a bit of stitching. It didn't compromise the function of the hammock, and Hennessy promptly sent a replacement in the mail.  For a weight test, I loaded a second hammock with my nine-year-old son and two of his friends, then I crawled into the hammock. Our combined weight was about 435 pounds, 185 pounds over the recommended load. Though we sagged deeper, there was no damage to the hammock, and it was crowded but comfortable.  In a pinch, two adults could take refuge in it.

The Hennessy Hammock is a versatile piece of gear, and its compact size makes it reasonable to carry on a paddling trip. If you get stuck you will have a comfortable bivouac or place to retreat from insects.

The Hennessy Hammock weighs only 2.25 pounds (about 1 kg) and packs into a bag about the size of a loaf of bread. Tucked into a dry bag, it is very easy to pack, and cries out to be carried as standard equipment. It sets up so quickly that I find myself looking for excuses to set it up and crawl in.