This is the first hammock I have purchased, and the first time I have slept in a hammock ever. I knew nothing about setting up, what to do etc so struggled. The hammock didn’t come with any sort of instructions or guides so I was worried to say the least.
It probably took me 3 attempts before I gave up, went for a walk to get some phone signal and found a youtube guide to setting it up from another camping channel… this was a life saver for me! Once I knew roughly what I was doing, it was actually really easy to get going. Simply strapped between 2 trees it felt really secure and comfortable.
I used a OneTigris underblanket with the hammock as it was late October when I used this and quite chilly. Tied in with using my OEX Flux 7r sleeping mat & OEX Fathom EV 300 sleeping bag I was pretty warm from the neck down.
The Hammock has a built in mesh to keep bugs out which is easy enough to sort out as it runs along a built in adjustable ridge line. The ridgeline has anchor points along it as well to tie in the extra “sheet” kind of nylon inlay which is on the hammock. There is a handy stuff pocket at the foot of the hammock to hide the inlay in if you don’t want to use it though. The hammock has 2 guy lines with it, although, with the underblanket you can’t really use these pegged to the ground, you’d need a pole or another tree. The guy lines help stop the hammock swinging around in the wind which is great for people that suffer with motion sickness etc.
The only issues I have with this hammock are that 1) If you don’t know what you’re doing, you have no instructions. I was fortunate enough to be able to get some signal to find a guide but if you’re in an area with no signal you’re going to struggle. 2) With the sleeping mat and bag I used, I did slip around in the hammock a bit so woke up in the night uncomfortable. 3) Guy lines / anchor points. You can’t use these properly if you are using the underquilt as the quilt is higher up the hammock than the guy lines, this could have been thought through better but it isn’t the end of the world.
I am definitely going to be getting some use out of this in the summer. Having never used a hammock before I was hesitant but now I have used it, I can’t wait to use it again.