So, as I said in the last post, I purchased a new hammock from Hammeck, LLC called “The Netty”.  The Netty is an asymmetrical style hammock where you lay in it in a certain direction.  For me, the direction is left to right, which is considered a “right hand lay”.  In other words, when I am laying in the hammock, the center ridge line is on the right of my face and the left of my feet.  From what I understand, 90% of hammock campers lay this way.

Wanting to make sure I was doing the right thing, I had a ton of correspondence with the founder/owner, David Meck.  I had questions about the lay, the material, what other options I should be thinking about, etc.  David answered every question via email right away, and even related most of my questions to his experiences with the different questions I had.  When it was all said and done, I ordered my Netty in 11 foot length made from HEXON 1.6 material in Brilliant Blue.

I wasn’t going to do anything extra for suspension, in fact, I told David in one of my emails that I already had suspension, and that I just needed the continuous loops, and would ad climbing grade carabiners  to attach to my existing suspension.  It would have saved me $17, but David talked me out of it, and boy am I glad he did!  They are soooooo easy to set up, and combined with a pair of Dutchware Strap Clips, I never have to unbuckle my suspension tree straps.

As soon as I got my Netty in the mail, I set it up in my garage to get used to the lay, set up and take down.  Every night (until Elise told me to take it down because Benny was getting jealous) I would eat dinner, then go in  the garage and hang in my new hammock.  So when it came time to camp with it the first time, I had all the mechanics of setting up, taking down and getting into it down pat.

This past weekend, I camped out with the scouts at Camp Fatima in Gilmington, NH, and was finally able to really put my Netty to the test.  When we got to the camp, the light was really starting to fade fast.  During check in, there was confusion regarding where we were going to be (cabins or woods, etc), and once we got it all sorted out and the troop was ready to set up, it was straight up dark.  After picking a couple of trees that had nice spacing, I had my Netty up and situated in 3 minutes, and my tarp up 2 minutes later!

The Netty worked perfectly with the underquilt that I purchased as well (ArrowHead Equipment KAQ New River), and I used the two shock cord points on the hammock to attach the underquilt to keep it in place.  Worked like a charm.

The fit and finish of the Netty is fantastic.  The HEXON 1.6 is soft and resilient with a weight rating of 325 pounds and the lay itself is very comfortable.  The bug net is “convertible”, meaning that it zips 99% off and stores in its own stuff sack.  I also ordered a cener ridgeline organizer which came in handy holding my cell phone, glasses and knife.  The suspension that comes with the Netty consists of 12′ nylon webbing straps with cinch buckles and are extremely easy to get the Netty off the ground, especially when combined with the Dutchware Strap Clips.

Each night of the camp out I slept peacefully, without waking until 6am, which to me is a win!  I was kept warm by using the AHE KAQ, a fleece sleeping bag insert and a $19.99 Double Black Diamond down throw from Costco.

This is a fantastic hammock, a fantastic “cottage made” hammock company, and I will and have actively been highly recommending the Meck Family’s hammocks to other people.  In fact, I ordered one for my son today for Christmas (shhhhhhhhhh, don’t tell him……..).

Right now my permanent kit consists of:

1. Hammeck, LLC “Netty” with nylon straps, cinch buckles and Dutchware Clips
2. Arrowhead Equipment Kick Ass Quilts “New River” synthetic underquilt
3. Yukon Outfitters Walkabout Rainfly with NiteIze Figure Nine carabiners
4. Sheet of Lowes brand Tyvec as a ground cloth

As the weather changes, so will my top insulation (sleeping bags, etc).