Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Therm-a-Rest Slacker Hammock Single Review

The Therm-a-Rest Slacker Single Hammock is a large and comfortable hammock for camping and sleeping indoors or outside
The Therm-a-Rest Slacker Single Hammock is a large and comfortable hammock for camping and sleeping, indoors or outside.

The Therm-a-Rest Slacker Single Hammock is more comfortable than many camping hammocks because it's much longer and wider. It's also made from a single piece of polyester that's much softer to the touch and warmer feeling than hammocks made with thin parachute nylon. When you add these factors together, you get a much more luxurious hammock that nicer to sleep or lounge around it. Best used for car camping or sleeping in youth hostels and dorms, the Slacker comes with carabiners, but you'll still need to purchase tree straps and a suspension system to hang it from trees

Specs at a Glance

  • Weight: 16.5 oz without included carabiners, 18.9 oz with carabiners
  • Packed dimension: 7″ x 10″ / 18cm x 25cm
  • Weight Capacity: 400 lbs / 181.44 kg
  • Material: 100% polyester ripstop
  • Hammock Length: 116 " / 295 cm
  • Hammock Width: 63″ / 160 cm
The Slacker is made with a single large sheet of polyester that is soft to the touch and has very little stretch.
The Slacker is made with a single sheet of polyester ripstop which is soft to the touch and warmer feeling than parachute nylon.

Construction

The Therm-a-Rest Slacker Hammock is a made with a soft polyester fabric that's comfortable and warm to the touch, unlike many other camping hammocks which are made using thin parachute nylon fabric that feels like it's sucking the heat out of your back. Cut from a single piece of fabric, the Slacker doesn't have any seams in the hammock body, making it more comfortable to sleep on, as well as durable, since seams are a point of failure and subject to wear, tear, and UV damage when used outdoors.

The Slacker includes a sewn-on pocket that hangs from the side and can be used to store electronics of items you want easy access to at night. The pocket doubles as the hammock's stuff sack, so you don't have to buy one to stow it in a backpack. The ends of the Slacker are gathered with webbing and provide more width at the head and foot ends than other gathered end camping hammocks that are tightly bunched with cord. It also includes two wire-gated carabiners that you'd attach to a suspension system. There are lots of compatible suspension systems that will work with them, including Therm-a-Rest's Slacker Suspenders or ENO's Helios Whoopie Sling Suspension System, shown below.

The Slacker comes with carabiners but you need to purchase a suspension system to hang it from a tree.
The Slacker comes with carabiners but you still need to purchase a suspension system to hang it from a tree.

Dimensions

Sized at 116″ x 63″, (9'8″ x 5'3″) the Slacker is a generously sized single hammock that is larger than many of the single hammocks sold by other manufacturers. Longer and wider hammocks are almost always more comfortable than short narrow ones because you can lie in them diagonally. This creates a flatter bed-like surface for sleeping (also good for side sleepers) instead of a banana-shaped one where your head and feet are positioned higher than your butt and midsection. See the Camping Hammock Length and Comfort Guide for a more detailed comparison of different hammocks.

Extend your Slacker camping season with Thermarest's Super Slugger Underquilt
Extend your Slacker camping season with Therm-a-Rest's Super Slugger Underquilt

Wrap Up

There are a lot of different net-less camping hammocks available these days and it can be difficult for first time buyers to understand the pros and cons of the options available. If gear weight is your top priority, there are lots of hammocks made with lighter weight parachute nylon to choose from. If comfort is your priority, then the Therm-a-Rest Slacker Single Hammock is an excellent choice because it long, wide, and made from a single piece of fabric without any seams. Therm-a-Rest has also assembled a nice suite of add-ons for the Slacker Single Hammock if you want to use it with mosquito netting, underquilt insulation, an insulated hammock pad or a tarp.

See also:

Disclosure: Therm-a-Rest provided the author with a hammock for this review.

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from Section Hikers Backpacking Blog http://ift.tt/2uo0zI4

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