Review of the new Ninox Flatlay hammock.
I’ve had this hammock for a few days now so this is essentially an initial review, but I have hung it and laid in it a couple times so I’m beginning to get a feel for it. I backed Sierra Madre’s Kickstarter for the Ninox back in February of this year. Due to some unfortunate events for SM, delivery was delayed until August. Richard (Rhett), Sierra Madre’s boss, did a good job keeping us informed of the delays. Yeah, it sucked having to wait so long for delivery, but when your primary manufacturer backs out on you what can you do? But now I have a carrot-orange single-layer Ninox.
First I’ll address the elephant (well two elephants) in the room. First, and this is getting a lot a hate over on another thread, the finished product came in about 6 ounces heavier than the Kickstarter campaign said it would. The hammock and its stuff sack came in at 29.2 ounces while the original spec was supposed to be about 23 ounces. (For comparison though my double-layer Eldorado is about 26 oz, a single layer XLC is about 22 oz, a Chameleon is about 23 oz, and my beloved Ridgerunner with carbon fiber spreader bars is about 27 ounces—not counting suspensions.) I don’t ever remember Richard saying this was going to be a lightweight hammock though. There are some tieouts that can be used with the hammock, but I didn’t include those in the weight because the Ninox can be used without them. (In case you’re wondering though the four included tieouts weigh 1 oz.) The second elephant for those that have received a Ninox or heard anything about it is that the Talon suspension that shipped with it, well, was kind of a disappointment. Apparently there were some tolerance issues during manufacture that causes the Talon to, as JesterC, one Hammock Forums member put it, to “spontaneously disassemble whenever the buckle isn’t under tension.” I’m sure SM will remedy this for future buyers. The Talon suspension is also a bit heavy at 10.7 ounces. When it’s not undergoing entropy, it works pretty well.
The design of the Ninox has a unique feature that is supposed to set it apart from other GE hammocks. From what I understand it has curved or scalloped edges. This is supposed to create I assume more space for your head and feet. And it seems to work. My initial impression laying in it is it is like laying in a wide hammock. (So now I want to try a wide hammock again to compare!) There's also an adjustable structural ridgeline made of webbing. Some other standard features that other GE hammocks do have are it has a big bugnet that is removable. There are hooks and D-rings to help keep an underquilt in place. The zipper pulls are a nice touch too. There are some quilt hooks inside the hammock that I haven’t quite figured out what they’re for. All these little do-dads though have helped drive up the weight. The zipper runs nice and smooth. Another unique feature are four small triangular “wings” on the bugnet with D-rings that are supposed to make it so you can attach tieouts to one of Sierra Madre’s tarps. Since I don’t have a SM tarp I won’t be testing this feature.
The interior volume is HUGE! With the bugnet zipped I can sit up inside without my head touching it. That is accomplished mostly by having the adjustable ridgeline so high. I have long arms, but can’t touch the ridgeline when I’m lying down. From my chest to the ridgeline it’s about 38”. If I sit up a bit I can touch it. So if you’re claustrophobic this might be a good hammock for you. When I compared it to the Eldorado the Eldorado’s bugnet was really close (which it is).
The one thing that may be a bit problematic about the Ninox is how high the suspension needs to be in order to get the hammock sufficiently off the ground. It is a “dippy” stretchy hammock. In other words there is a LOT of sag, both unloaded and loaded. And that may be why it lays so good. It’s not a finicky hammock to hang. Mostly get the two ends of the suspension about the same height and get close to a 30 degrees angle when it’s loaded and you’re good. I pull the suspension kind of tight with the hammock unloaded because once I get in I notice I sink quite a bit. If I start with the very bottom of the unloaded hammock about 32 or 33” above the ground, when I get in I’ve only got about 16” of clearance. I think that could make using an underquilt a bit challenging having such little margin. (The solution to this problem I suppose is to hang it higher!) The material from which the Ninox is made seems stretchy. It’d be interesting to see how it did with a less stretchy material. With two trees about 13’ apart I need to get the suspension up about 7’. I’m a bit over 6’ tall so this is pretty easy for me to do, but I can’t see using trees much over 14’ apart and being able to get the suspension high enough without some sort of help. Shorter folks may have a harder time hanging the Ninox. Again it’s because there’s a lot of sag. (If you watch Sierra Madre’s promo video on the Ninox you’ll see it hung over some kind of depression and that the suspension is really high on the trees.)
So, now for the million dollar question--how does the hammock perform? Despite some of its quirks, in my opinion quite well. It’s very comfortable. It’s the first gathered-end hammock I’ve ever used that has as minimal a calf ridge as I’ve ever experienced. For reference I’ve owned a Warbonnet Blackbird XLC 1.7 single layer, a Chameleon, an Eldorado lightweight double-layer, and an Eno. I don’t think it’s truly as flat a lay as my Ridgerunner, but from inside the hammock it seems flat. From the pictures I have I can see my torso is lower than my feet, but it’s not really noticeable. Is it a backpacking hammock? If you’re willing to carry the weight then yes, it is. Will it become my go-to hammock. Probably not. For me the Ridgerunner is still going to be my gold standard of comfort. However, as a car-camping hammock or just lounging around I think the Ninox would do that pretty well. And again to all the haters, kudos to Sierra Madre for trying to bring something new to the market, even if it didn't turn out exactly how they thought it would. Innovation and invention can be a tricky business.
The new Ninox Flatlay hanging without any weight. Bottom is about 34" off the ground
Loaded with 210lbs. Probably hard to tell from the angle, but the lowest part of the hammock is now about 16" above the ground. You can see though how much height there is between me laying in the hammock and the ridgeline. Close to 40"!
The center insert for the Talon comes out. It's not supposed to.
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I guess I'm a "Wildling" now (whatever that is). But at least I'll be a comfortable Wildling!
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