I have a Hennessy and am very happy with it but at the recent Scottish Meet up I had a look at Sandbender's ecosystem and liked the open feel of it. The Hennessy has the comfort of a hammock but has the feal of being sort of in a tent. However, I felt the Ecosystem was overpriced. I had a look around and bought a Double Hammock from Paradise Hammocks. This is the same size and construction as the Ecosystem. I then went out and bought 2 big carabiners and 10m of climbing tape. I took the original hanging fittings out and put the caribiners through the ends of the hammock. I cut the climbing tape into two 5m lenths and sewed loops in the ends. Total cost about £68 compared to £145 for the ecosystem. Here is a couple of pictures of a friend trying it out.
Now here is a close up of the carabiners. Notice the loops I sewed in the tapes are not what takes the weight. You tie the ends to the trees then take up the slack at the caribiners and tie them off there. This was an aspect of the Ecosystem I really liked.
The Paradise Hammock fits into it's own bag that is attached (you can just see this in the second picture hanging behind Stuart's right elbow). It still fits in with the tapes and carabiners attached. As to being strong, my two girls have used it as a swing and play thing for hours on end with no damage to the hammock. The girls on the other hand have sustained all sorts of brusing etc.
I have ordered the midgie net for the ecosystem and a XXL Basha from Kathmandu Trekking to complete the set up and think I will have saved about £70 - £80, which is enough to buy two spare double hammock. Also I have a bigger tarp, so more living space.
I have slept out in the hammock and definately find getting in and out much easier than the Hennessy. I also really like the fact that you can see what is going on around you much easier. This may not be as much of a difference when using the midgie netting but at least with this set up you have the choice of whether to use it or not. My only concern is that as the hammock is so long the ends are fairly near the edge of the tarp so in driving rain the ends may get wet. This is not going to happen in the middle of woodland but I am generally near the shore at the edge of woodland where this could be a possability. Only time and some experimentation will show if this is likely to be a problem or not.
,any advise on type,manufacturer and models to consider would be most appreciated.Ive never used or even tried one so i do not know what types are available and which to look at ect.Thank you.
