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Harbor Freight parachute hammock

Shinyribs

Is my bike ok?
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$20 and comes with tree straps. Two 9' straps with steel carabineers, good for 500lbs. Too good to be true, or too good to pass up? Reckon I'm about to find out.

Anyone have experience with these things?





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Is it a hammock or a tent? I don't know about that one , but I've spent many , many nights in a hammock.

I went HF website , looks like a hammock to me.
 
That hammock is only 9' long so all it will be good for is a hanging chair, unless you are only 5' tall or enjoy extreme shoulder pressure.
 
That hammock is only 9' long so all it will be good for is a hanging chair, unless you are only 5' tall or enjoy extreme shoulder pressure.
I really don't know anything about what makes a good hammock but what you said make sense. At the same time, it makes me curious about any of these style hammocks that don't use a spreader bar (?) to keep they open.

At what length does a hammock get around this problem?

Is this something that doesn't affect side sleepers? Can you even side sleep in a hammock?
 
I really don't know anything about what makes a good hammock but what you said make sense. At the same time, it makes me curious about any of these style hammocks that don't use a spreader bar (?) to keep they open.

At what length does a hammock get around this problem?

Is this something that doesn't affect side sleepers? Can you even side sleep in a hammock?

Yeah , you can sleep in this hammock, in my opinion it's long enough. It doesn't have a spreeder , so you sleep "in" it and not "on" it.

I take a 2-5 day canoe every spring, not enough room for a cot in the canoe, so we use a hammocks. We don't sleep on the ground because of snakes .:smile6

I started using hammocks 25 yrs ago while I was working in South America, that's what they were using.
 
Funny you mention cots because that's kind how I got in to hammocks. Guess my body is too beat up to enjoy sleeping on the ground now. First instinct was to add a cot to the mix, but hammock simplifies things altogether.


Plan to string this thing up soon for a test ride.
 
A few pics of general construction and materials. Plenty of strap length after making an extra loop around the trees, and the straps are beefy. Better than most ratchet strap material I've seen lately. Carbiners aren't fancy, but they are steel and strong. Reckon you could swap them out if worried about ounces or rusting. Stitching looks fine to me. Hammock packs back in to the bag in seconds. Takes a minute to wind the straps back up like they came. Not sure that's necessary, but not an issue packing it back up . My 220 lbs didn't make it scream and it was plenty roomy. I'm 6'2".

Even without a pillow, it was easy to konk out for about a half hour. Yeah, side sleeping in a hammock won't be an issue 😁 I'm sure there are nicer hammocks, but for twenty bucks...to my untrained eye...it hammocks 🤷



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Each strap has five of these presewn attachment points on one end.
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Main cost saving measure may be this connection. Simple hem over/pocket on the ends and fish a nylon loop through for the carbiner. I feel like I've seen fancier rigs, but I suppose it's effective enough, just bulkier.

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No complaints as of yet tho.

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Great for naps.. I have a few, one with a screen cover (different brand,same material) light and easy t set up. A must have for multiway rides I use a tent for night time sleeping. But throw a klymit Mat in the hammock and a few daytime hours can disappear easily.
a word of caution though.. use a blanket or air mattress beneath you because the skeeters will bite your ass right through the thing
That is a hard lesson learned
 
I really don't know anything about what makes a good hammock but what you said make sense. At the same time, it makes me curious about any of these style hammocks that don't use a spreader bar (?) to keep they open.

At what length does a hammock get around this problem?

Is this something that doesn't affect side sleepers? Can you even side sleep in a hammock?
That is kind of like asking, "what oil is best' :lol2

I am a hammock camper and find a hammock more comfortable than my bed at home. I can sleep in about any position, yet side sleeping is probably the most comfortable for me in a hammock. Side sleeping doesn't work well when its cold and you are trying to keep warm. Being 6'3" I find an 11' hammock to be just about right. I do want to try a 12'er.

As you found out, even a cheap hammock is comfortable enough to fall asleep in. They are also great camp chairs! I hope you use the hell out of that Harbor Freight hammock :super
 
Thanks for the review. I've wanted to try a hammock for a while now but had no idea where to start w/o dropping $50+ bucks. At $20 this is a great way to try hammock life. :thumb
 
Don't base your hammock experience, especially if using one for overnight camping, on this hammock. It may be good enough for lounging around or an afternoon nap, but it is not what you want for real overnight sleep. This is a good basic place to start for low bucks.$39.99 right now.
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I started off an a Warbonnet Blackbird XLC with a SuperFly tarp.

everything else is inferior.


edit: also, if its anything below 70º at night, you'll want an underquilt. I spent a night in 60º temps; froze my ass off.
 
Don't base your hammock experience, especially if using one for overnight camping, on this hammock. It may be good enough for lounging around or an afternoon nap, but it is not what you want for real overnight sleep.
Thanks for the suggestion. :thumb

Right or wrong, I tend to buy something cheap to try out and get some experience with to help me make a more experienced decision before buying something more expensive. Especially when the original cheap version could still come in handy for other uses. This is a good example because I’ve wanted to try a hammock but haven’t because I didn’t want to spend $50+ dollars just to find out I should have bought something else. :dunno
 
Don't base your hammock experience, especially if using one for overnight camping, on this hammock. It may be good enough for lounging around or an afternoon nap, but it is not what you want for real overnight sleep. This is a good basic place to start for low bucks.$39.99 right now.
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Honest curiosity, because my only hammock experience is with this $20 version, but what's the difference?

You know the saying, you don't know what you don't know. 😁
 
Honest curiosity, because my only hammock experience is with this $20 version, but what's the difference?

You know the saying, you don't know what you don't know. 😁
It gets freaking crazy how far down the rabbit hole you can get into. if you get into weight its even worse.

but how long the hammock is, how it sets up in the tree, underquilts, tarps, if there is a pocket to slide stuff into.

This is my setup:

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It gets freaking crazy how far down the rabbit hole you can get into. if you get into weight its even worse.

but how long the hammock is, how it sets up in the tree, underquilts, tarps, if there is a pocket to slide stuff into.

This is my setup:

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Looks like a levitating tent magic trick.

Thanks for the info. That’s really why I want to try a cheap one and get some idea of what I’d really want if I decided hammocks could work for me.
 
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