ABES please advise

**Chief Hammock Officer** · 02-02-2009, 13:52

Hey All,

Sorry for the delay! I've been dealing with the winter outdoor retailer and have been past the point of busy, which means i don't have much time for fun (hammock forum), sorry to keep you all hanging...yes, pun intended!

The ABES was originally a special make for REI and has really taken off, so you'll be seeing it on my site soon.

The hammock is 8' long X 4' wide and weighs 19 ounces. It's made from a new material that is a Rhombic Rip Stop Nylon, GREAT material.

The Fly is 8'6" X 8'6" and weighs 23 ounces. Same material as our Funky Forest Tarp.

The confusion came from a misunderstanding with REI where they used the same wording from our Skeeter Beeter Pro hammock and our Funky Forest Tarp, again sorry for the confusion on this.

We have more ABES if you're interested, direct from us. They will be on the site soon, but in case you're interested you can call Michelle at 877-365-2965 and order one from her. Hammock Forum special price is $129.99 + shipping, normally $149.99 + shipping.

If you ever have questions and need to speak with me and i'm off at a show or doing something else feel free to email me at [email protected]

Have a great day!
CHO

**dgmyrs** · 02-02-2009, 14:39

Well, I got my 2 ABESs, and overall it looks like a great product, and will be a definite improvement over my current setup. Haven't had a chance to hang it yet. My only disappointment is the length of 8', as I am 6'5" so was hoping it would be a bit longer. I was upgrading from an 8' hammock, so I won't be any worse off, was just hoping for a little more room. Oh well, I suppose mine can go to one of my kids

I saw one post indicating they didn't get the "Hammock hanging kit includes two 10 ft. pieces of 4.5 mm rope, preknotted for easy hanging". I also did not get that. Wondering if anyone who didn't get it has had success in getting REI to ship them out?

**fin** · 02-02-2009, 15:03

The hanging kits aren't much anyway, just some 4.5mm stiff blue cording, doubled over with a couple of knots tied in them. I would recommend upgrading to tree straps to avoid damaging trees. I have their hanging kit in the trunk of my car for an emergency hang (like my car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, or I am visiting in-laws and am offered the kids bedroom.)

If you can get REI to ship you some free, go ahead - but don't lose sleep over them.

**JonnieBlaze** · 02-03-2009, 13:23

I didn't get the ropes either. I just took the rings off my other hammock, put them on the ABES, and used webbing to hang it.

It's going to take me a while to get used to this hammock. My DIY hammock is 12 ft long and wide enough to wrap around me when I'm laying in it

The ABES is considerably smaller.

**SuprGeek** · 02-03-2009, 14:07

Got my two in, both had ropes and all was as expected and just as CHO described. Looks like an awesome product... maybe could use that extra few inches in the rainfly size if you're out for real weather, but that's all I'd change. It fits me well with all the pads, etc. I'll be packing.

I'm supplementing with tree straps... these are awesome: http://www.gofastandlight.com/Hammoc...nfo/HA-E-TREE/ for $9.39 a set, tiny little bag too. Also loading some extra rope for whatever. All that and STILL saving pack space and weight from my UL tent I used to carry.

-j

**te-wa** · 02-04-2009, 21:40

got my abes today, and within one hour had webbing sewn onto cinch buckles and a structural ridgeline. my first impressions are this: the pleasing blue body and the neutral shade netting is a very cool color combo. The tarp on the diamond was measured @ 12' 2" diagonally. The coverage is what you would expect from a diamond pitch, enough over the top tapering to a point on the sides. This hammock reminds me very much of the Claytor Mosquito, almost exact dimensions, and the construction is great. I was able to find the 'sweet spot' within minutes.
Note that the rain fly is taped seams, and seems durable.
The hammock itself has a nice 2-way zipper and 4 tabs on top to tie out the netting with the generous amount of 1/16 stretch cord. I altered the pitch using an amsteel ridgeline so just looped about 6" of the cord over my ridgeline to hold the netting up.
Im going out this w/e for a group hang to test this little gem.. looks like Im going to enjoy the ABES.
the weight of the hammock with my mods is 19.9oz. (some amsteel, 8' tree huggers on biners, cinch buckles, 12" of 1" webbing thru the channel, a small amount of bungee and some glove hooks all in provided stuff sack.)
More to come later...

**Rushthezeppelin** · 02-08-2009, 19:20

Well I bought the tarp from Mike's ABES and have to say I like it except for one detail. The seam that runs from the tie outs has 3 webbing hoops on the top and underside of the tarp. Unfortunately last night with some good rain I was getting water coming through on these spots. Fortunately only the middle one was really affecting me (dripping on my bag), so I reached down and grabbed some extra tie out line and attached it from the middle hoop to one of the side ones. Worked like a charm but It seems I'm going to have to get some tarp sealer to get those spots sealed up. Other than that though it had great coverage for my Claytor Mosquito and was watertight everywhere else.