I have seen several complaints already about the metal bars coming loose, and some mods to prevent it. That is not the best design.Originally Posted by JesterC
I have seen several complaints already about the metal bars coming loose, and some mods to prevent it. That is not the best design.
I received my SL Thursday evening and sent an email to SMR customer service indicating that I wanted to return it Friday morning. I spent less than 20 minutes with it and knew it wasn’t going to work.
I totally agree with you on the talon suspension. It seems they knew there was an issue with it coming apart and that’s why they added the red cord hoping it would keep the slider from falling out. Obviously, it doesn’t work.
I can also echo the fact that the weight is considerably more than the KS. I also found the fabric way too stretchy for my liking and I couldn’t even reach the SRL storage since it was 3’ above me. I even adjusted the line to its maximum distance.
I found it interesting that the guy in the gear video on the use of the hammock literally said “...and hop in...”. I feel like this is almost necessary since I needed to hang it so high to keep it from stretching me all the way down to the ground. I also found it interesting that I never saw them demonstrating someone getting out of the hammock...it took a lot of work compared to my WB Eldorado.
Another little niggle was the light blue zipper pulls and large light blue d-rings on my Dark Earth hammock. Zipper pulls can be replaced, but the d-rings were sewn in.
The hammock stitching seemed to be good quality and I liked the d-ring placement near the ends for attachment of my HG Phoenix UQ which accommodated my lay directing well.
I wish SMR the best in all that they are working on; however, the Ninox did not live up to the flat lay that I was hoping for.
...I’m also disappointed all the more since I got the early bird price, which would have been a sweet deal if it had worked out.
Got mine today. Single layer in carrot orange. 29.2 oz for the hammock and 10.7 for the suspension. My Eldorado lightweight double layer without suspension is about 26 oz so not a huge difference. The Talon suspension is not great. When I was first unrolling it one of the little blue metal bars fell out. Fortunately I was on my patio and heard it hit the ground. A daisy chain and carabiner would be better for a simple suspension.
My initial impression was it is like laying in a wide hammock. Although I was impressed that there seemed to be no calf ridge(!). In fact the ripples in the fabric smoothed out as the fabric went under my calves. Really the first gathered end I can say that about. Even my Eldorado has a very slight calf ridge. It did feel a bit tighter around my shoulders though.
I had to put the straps about 6 1/2 feet up the trees that were about 13’ apart. If you had trees 15 or 16 feet apart you might need a step ladder to get the suspension high enough. There’s a lot of “dip.”
The Talon instructional video shows running the webbing through the sewn loop. I did it as per the video, found I had to move a strap higher and had to disconnect the hammock to undo the loop because there was a branch in the way.
Trying to figure out what the hooks inside the hammock along the zipper line are for.
Going to give it a little more time.
I think I'm not adding anything to what everyone has already said here. Overall the Ninox is underwhelming. There's no one terrible thing about it, but it's just one small thing after another. It definitely feels like a rushed product and maybe a 2.0 would be better. If you do buy one of these, do not buy the suspension. It's absolute garbage. The buckle mechanism falls out with no effort. I can see this being a complete disaster on a hike. You take down your hammock hike a whole day and realize at night that you've lost the buckle somewhere. It could ruin a hike. I discovered this flaw within five minutes of unwrapping the suspension. I can't imagine SMR didn't figure this out earlier, but decided to ship anyway because they were already half a year behind delivery. The polyweb strap is fine, so I'll be replacing their buckle+biner with a Dutchware beetle buckle which should work. Albeit a $25 fix.
I will have to say it's comfortable and their "flat lay" promise is not totally unmerited (but definitely overhyped). I'm glad I'm not the only one who had to hang this hammock super high. My initial hang bottomed out and hit the ground. I got the gear sling underneath, I don't know when I'd ever use it because I don't think it's possible to hang the hammock that high.
I've resigned myself that I'm stuck with this hammock, and it was a valuable lesson learned about Kickstarter and SMR. I feel like SMR is very much a hipster company run by slick marketing first people. If they spent half of the effort on the hammock that they did on their videos, they might make a half decent product. I will say this whole experience made me realize why I never see SMR hammocks used anywhere.
I'm thinking of cutting out the nylon webbing attachment points and replacing it with an amsteel continuous loop. JesterC do you think that would be doable looking at your Ninox? Looking at the gathered end, the ridgeline looks independently sewn from that nylon loop. I'd like to get rid of that nylon loop for both weight and durability reasons like you said.
Those who have tried it already: do you think the stretching is more the hammock or more the suspension?
I am pretty sure the kick starter campaign said you have 30 or 90 or so days to try it and love it or you can return it
Let me know how the beetle buckle swap works out as far as use with the existing straps and the weight differential. Thanks!
IMHO it's the hammock. The suspension straps themselves are just regular dyneema/polypro webbing straps, which have very little give/stretch. It sort of makes sense since the "lay flat" secret is just a ton of material in the hammock. So as you sit in it, it stretches out to "lay flat." I'm also a short guy 5'7" so I can only get the straps so high up on a tree.
( I just posted this over at FB)
Richard was just live on FB, he saw the issues some of us were having with the with the Talon "biner", and has already produced a fix and it is about to be shipped out to all new owners of this hammock.
OK, cooled it off a bit and I went back out. I saw (in the set up video) where it said the hang angle did not have to be quite 30* during set up, as long as it was not tighter than that once you get in. Also Richard just indicated on FB that they even tested it with 0 degrees on the suspension, with no problems. So I tightened the suspension up just a little tighter than 30*, and maybe that got me off the ground a few more inches. But I still need about a foot higher.
I tied out the head end tie out, which increased the already huge room. I thought the zipper was torn, but the I realized it is just where TWO zippers meet in the middle.
Many of us have been complaining about the height of the RL. But for the claustrophobic among us: the upside is this is the roomiest hammock I have ever been in, with absolutely enormous clearance between my face and the net. Enough to, if desired, actually hang a gear hammock inside the hammock rather than under it(as one user has already done), and still have more head/net room than most hammocks. Obviously the size of this hammock, as well as it's rated strength, accounts for some of it's weight, which is 29 oz for a single layer. Extremely roomy with extreme net clearance = pros and cons, depending on what you like.
My RL, even after I tightened up a bit more than 30*, was not excessively tight with my 203 lbs in it. I hope the RL is attached to something substantial, but I don't think I am going to have it tight enough to be a problem.
Some people like shallow hammocks with lots of visibility. You can forget that with this hammock, it is one deep hammock, all though visibility seems pretty normal on the head side. OTOH, ENORMOUS net room around and over my head. Pros and cons. I personally mostly just use my camping hammocks for sleep, so I have never been that concerned with visibility, but others will be.
I won't really know until it is cool enough for me to sleep in, but comfort seems pretty excellent. I'm not sure this apparently very stretchy fabric does not also account for cushioning of pressure spots. I have either had zero calf ridge(now that amazed me, that is so rare for me in a GE hammock) or not enough to be an issue, and basically I can get rid of any by just repositioning slightly.
I can not say yet if it any flatter than my fav hammocks, for one thing I never sleep on my stomach. But, I was able to easily avoid both knee extension as well as calf pressure on my back, and was easily able to get very comfy in side positions with both legs straight and moderate to extreme fetal. No problems there. More testing to come.
Last edited by BillyBob58; 08-27-2019 at 19:49.
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