Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
I've had one zipper failure on hundreds and hundreds of hammocks.
I can't confirm but it sounded like the guy was opening up his hammock zip with his feet/boots. Basically
putting his foot in the gap and pushing.
I know I see videos of people doing this saying the zip is so smooth. But if you want your zipper to last, this
is the wrong thing to do. It's also something you don't know about if you buy your hammock used from
someone else. How did they treat the zip/sliders.
I trust my #3YKK zip on my hammocks, not a worry and the bugs are bad up here. #5 zips should be darn
near bulletproof.
There are a lot of opinions about gear. Just know that most of what you will encounter will be due to
how you treat your gear. Treat it like gold, don't abuse it and it will last. Ride it hard and put it away wet, well..
it will fail and be moldy.
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
No failure but close.
HG basic netted hammock. Zippers on both sides. There have been a couple of instances where it has snagged under load, meaning I was in the hammock, positioned myself to exit and couldn't get the thing moving. If I had been in more of a rush and didn't have the other side zipper, I would have broken it for sure. Maybe it was a once in a season thing. That hammock allows the user to unzip the net and ball it up at the end; I haven't had it fully connected since late August so it's basically been dead weight.
This whole thread has renewed my interest in net alternatives.
I have the SLD net that’s been mentioned — I appreciated that it comes in a 12’ model. The open end does slide well over an underquilt, and then cinches right down over the end of the hammock. Highly recommended.
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My zippers have never let me down and that is on several different hammock vendors.
Zippedy Whoo Whaa........
Shug
Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven
For what it's worth:
Beyond my general agreement with the UL minded/less things to fail argument against zippers (especially in a bridge).
First- know thyself (which you do). If you know what fabric, size, and RL length you like to use you're less likely to stress a hammock in the same way a newbie still sorting out sleep positions, tension, etc. is likely to do. So other than a sit down type disaster (fluke)... you're probably not going to abuse the zipper.
Second- know thy gear... at least from a 'Practical UL' mindset I'd guess you're looking at this from.
As our friend from up North mentioned... #3 vs. #5 might be all the peace of mind you need as well.
What does failure mean? If your trekking pole snaps the trip goes on... but if your Shoe or pack falls apart or your SUL wonderfabric hammock blows out on the wrong trip then you have different problems to solve.
So does a blown zipper on a bugnet end a trip or just add to the story?
Can a few safety pins or the sewing kit get you through the trip acceptably?
You know the deal... lightest trekking pole you can tolerate until it snaps- then bump it up back to the second lightest, lol.
Likely you'll continue to own more than one piece of gear for one specific slot in your pack that changes with each trip.
If it's bad buggy season and an integrated net hammock makes sense to add to the gear shelf... maybe a #5 zipper on one side only is a nice balance between weight, convivence and lowered risk?
In my mind... even with a #3 zip... worst case you use some safety pins from the repair kit to secure it and one final one you close up at bedtime to get in and out.
Very worst case- you night hike a bit and sleep during the less buggy sunny part of the day if for some reason the bugs drive you insane the night before.
Bottom line- in your case (roughly speaking)- I don't picture this particular issue ending a trip.
But work your own way through it, pick one up for weekends and short stuff until you learn to trust it... and if it works out then add it to the long distance circle of trust.
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
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