May 16, 2018 Torbay ATV Run & Hammock Test: (16 Photos)

 

16.   Earlier this year I began watching a great YouTube Channel - "Jeremy Rhydes" who does a lot of Adventure Motorcycling, Camping, Snowmobiling and working on stuff. I really liked his camping hammock videos so I started looking into them a little further.

 

 

15.   After a bunch of research, watching/reading reviews, etc I finally settled on an EBay Free Soldier camping hammock which was only $50 CDN shipped to my door. It's a great quality unit with sturdy construction, good materials and a fly screen to keep the bugs at bay. When it arrived I did a test setup in my garage to see how it worked.

 

 

14.   Inside the hammock I plan to use a decent quality closed cell foam pad, you need this or an underquilt to stay warm even with a decent sleeping bag.

 

 

13.   My sleeping bag is a North Face Aleutian which is rated at -7 Canadian which will be fine for the fair weather camping I plan to do.

 

 

12.   In May I loaded up project Foreman with the hammock plus a couple new accessories and headed out in the woods for a real world test set up.

 

 

11.   Outdoor Pros (formally OP Hunting) is now carrying Hennessey hammocks which are also great quality but are considerably more expensive than my Free Soldier hammock. Overall they are still a pretty good value. However I did pick up a couple Hennessey accessories including their Snakeskin hammock covers and a Hex rain fly.

 

 

10.   The snake skins stay permanently attached by sliding them over the main straps before tying the hammock to a tree. If your camping and it starts to rain you can take down the fly screen ropes and slide the snake skins over the hammock to collapse it and keep it dry. They also make the hammock easy to take down as you don't have to worry about rolling/folding up the hammock on dirty/wet ground.

 

 

9.   This hammock is a gathered end design that comes with two long nylon Main straps for hanging which you tie off on two trees about 12-15' apart. Height you have to judge, on this set up my straps were about 5' off the ground and I kept moderate tension on the hammock so it wouldn't sag too low. The fly screen on the free soldier hammock is set up by using 2 sticks fed through bungee loops on the hammock with some Paracord tied to each end & back to the tree just above the main straps. This keeps the fly screen up off you while inside the hammock. You can also choose to use the hammock as a standard open hammock by leaving the fly screen collapsed and lying on top of it like in pic #16.

 

 

8.   The Hennessey Hex fly is made of a great quality waterproof material and includes 6 tie-off ropes which are already attached to the fly and come stowed away neatly in pockets in each corner of the fly.

 

 

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7.   The two main strings were tied off on the tree about a foot higher than the fly screen Paracord. The other 4 ropes can be tied off to other trees, rocks or tent pegs depending on your location.

 

 

6.   This hammock is by far the most comfortable thing I've ever set up to lie in. I cant wait for the weather to warm up a little and stop raining to get out and try it overnight!

 

 

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2.   The great thing for backpacking or even ATV camping is that this takes up very little room compared to a tent, the largest benefit is that the ground can be uneven, rocky or even wet and you can still camp comfortably. I use the top bag for Paracord, the middle bag contains the hammock, the bottom bag the Hex Fly.

 

 

1.   Of course I did mention that this was also an ATV ride which I did eventually get to after taking down my hammock. It was a beautiful leisurely trail ride under a setting sun, pretty uneventful but certainly enjoyable!

 

Cheers, MIKE

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