Review: Hummingbird - Mega hammock

Summer has arrived here in Melbourne ( don't let the rain and storms fool you) and I have broken the hammocks out, because in the afternoon and evenings, our house retains the heat and radiates like an oven.

I've covered hammocks before, with the Eagles Nest single hiking hammock, but I found an excellent Kickstarter for a mega hammock, to suit my burgeoning family needs. The good folks at Hummingbird Hammocks pitched a "Mega Hammock" and successfully funded.

The mega hammock is designed to hold three to five people, and is rated to carry 450kg (1000lbs). I like to sling it in my back yard, and have taken it camping (although we didn't find a good place to set it up, so haven't had the pleasure of sleeping in it, in the wild).  It measures 5.5m x 2.4m (18' x 8) and spreads out nicely.

Three distinct panels are sewn together to form the body of the hammock, and Hummingbird are proud to say that they use construction techniques borrowed from the Parachute Industry Association, and materials that are likewise parachute grade.

Their mega hammock is made out of 1.9oz polyurethane coated ripstop nylon, which is incredibly strong (rated at about 100lbs per square inch.) The edges of the hammock have type 17 nylon webbing sewn in and used for the attachment points to the four corners. This webbing is rated for 1100kg (2500lbs), will not stretch, and is low bulk. The fabric has a lot of give, and the edge seams and the three panel seams are sewn such that you get uniform "give" throughout.

All the stitching is done on an industrial sewing machine using size 69 bonded nylon thread, which along with everything else used to make the hammocks is very strong and is the very same thread used on parachutes.

They offer several different colours, but I jumped at the coyote-brown option, whcih also goes some way to cover up any goopy-hands stains that my minions may present.

In additiontothe webbing loops in the corners, Hummingbird supply soft link attachments instead of traditional carabiners. These are apparently used widely in skydiving today as a means of connecting the parachute lines to the jumper. They contain no hard parts, are stronger than a carabiner of similar size, weigh next to nothing, and are impossible to cross load.

A simple length of high strength cord, with a loop at either end, one end having a tab of webbing sewn in.  You loop it through itself twice, and you have a light, secure and bomb-proof anchor connector. I have lengths of 2" webbing that I use as my attachment to the steel beams, concrete pillars and roofing beams that I sling mine off. I figure the 5500lbs breaking load the webbing means I don't have to worry where I sling this. Perfect for the rafters of an abandoned warehouse, or between Ewok trees.

The hammock comes with its own stuff-sack, and packs down into a small-pillow or sleeping bag sized bundle. It was quite an investment, but thus far, if nothing but the joy of my littles ones is a measure, it's been fully worth it. Having a portable, hardy betting option is nothing to be sniffed at either, and there are many situations where I would want to bunk-down well off ground level.

Especially if I need to watch out for stobor.

The Hummingbird Mega hammock certainly is big, and quite comfortable with a number of people in it. Be sure to sling it high enough to be off the ground when loaded up, but not so high as to be impossible to get in or out comfortably.

Review: Platatac prototype hydration carrier

Here is the hydration pack that I have been using for the last few Tough Mudder events I've done. This is an old prototype from Platatac that I picked up on eBay, and combines elements of both their Bravo hydration carrier that I have, and the MEOP Medic Pack both of which I've covered in the past, and are great pieces.

I found that wearing an extra set of straps was redundant when I was wearing a vest anyway on my Tough Mudder and similar adventures, which is why I looked for an alternative to the Bravo, which has served me well in other situations, and on my first Tough Mudder. When I saw this piece come up on eBay, I was thrilled to give it a go. It follows the same kind of design philosophy I've come to expect from Platatac pieces, with a tough 1000d Cordura exterior, and ITW Nexus hardware. It if "faced" with 6 rows of 4 channel PALLS/MOLLE loops, and features a hook-and-loop secured drag handle. Running down the flanks are nylon D-rings, three to a side, allowing shock or paracord to be run through these, to provide attachment points, or compression.

The wide-mouth of the pouch perfectly fits the Source Storm 3L hydration bladders main cap.

The baffled sides of the carrier allow for quite significant volumes to be carrier, without restriction, or perhaps even storage for other items besides a hydration pack. However, this particular piece lack the zipper-access of the Bravo, which means that the only access into or out of the inside is through the main cap.

This actually posed a problem when trying to run my hydration hose through it, and I bit the bullet and melted a channel in the backside to feed it through.

I also had to melt a drainage hole in the bottom, following the previous Tough Mudder, last September.
I found that the carrier filled up with nasty pond water when I took my tumbles, which really added to the weight I was hauling. No such trouble with a small drain hole melted in this time around.

The back of the carrier offers a variety of attachment options; Zippers paired with the MEOP carrier (which allows me to sandwich these two pouches nicely). It also features female Fastex clip ends top and bottom, tri-glide loops for all your clipping and looping needs. Best yet, the back features two sets of three three channel PALS/MOLLE PLMRS (Platypus Light Modular Recovery System) strips. These gave both a rock solid attachment and also load spreading capacity. I barely felt the 3kg that the full bladder weighed,and certainly not the sloshing side-to-side I might have with a pack-type carrier.

This was just a prototype, bridging the gap between the Bravo and the MEOP, but if you want to see the new production version, check out the Platatac Utility Hydration Cover. Looks like the logical next step.

Review: Ti2 - PB9 parabiner pulley

I seem to be fully addicted to both Kickstarter, and awesome titanium pieces. Fortunately, this means I not only have a bunch of cool kit to play with on a semi-regular basis, as well as helping people get their ideas off the ground and into your hands, but also I have things to write about.

This is one such item, which I've been sitting on for a little while,This is another creation of Mike Bond, creator of the Sentinel s4s cache, the Sentinel X and the EDCPen (link coming VERY soon). This is the PB-9 Para-biner

The PB-9 measures 48mm x 111mm x 9.5mm thick (1.875" x 4.375" x 3/8") and weighs 100g (3.5 oz) and almost the whole thing is made from grade 5 titanium. This is the biggest of three variants, and features 9 tool options, being a very versatile tool.

There are two versions of the PB-9, in Imperial (SAE) and Metric, each offering a range of wrench openings:
SAE: 15/16", 3/4" 9/16", (5/8"), 1/2", 7/16", 3/8", 5/16", 1/4" (bit driver) MM: 24mm, 19mm, (16mm), 14mm, 13mm, 12mm, 10mm, 8mm, 1/4". I bracket out the 5/8" and 16mm wrench options because they sit in where the pulley pin and wheel reside, and I don't thing they are really accessible. the pins, split rings fastening them, the pulleys and whole assembly would need to be removed to have this option used. However, the pulley significantly outweighs the wrench need, in my eyes. Both feature a "hidden" 1/4" bit driver, inside the locking gate.

That gate is 12.7mm (1/2") or so wide, and features a hook-and-pin overlock, giving a really secure structural gate. Instead of a regular spring, the PB-9 features a torsion spring, cut from a piece of grade 5 titanium as well, as rustproof as the rest of the piece. Outstanding.

The PB-9 has two pulley options, both made from high strength bearing grade bronze 544 (The prototype pin was stainless steel, the production version is also titanium)

The single pulley option allows for lines up to 1/2" diameter, whilst the twin pulley was specifically for use with paracord. I found that it would take paracord, 3mm plastic coated clothes line, 6mm nylon sheath cord, and even the plastic coated braided steel cable from a laptop lock.


 Using two PB-9s with twin pulleys in a "double tackle" setup allows for a 4 to 1 mechanical advantage when lifting loads.
The tool also features a wedge shaped "Para-Cinch" notch for quick lashing of paracord (or as a bottle opener)

The non-pulley end also features a flathead screw-driver, whch could easily be used as a short pry-par, Mike even suggests as a box-opener. This tool has it all!




One of the things I loved about this Kickstarter was the engineering that went into it, and how that was shared. Watching the test-to-destruction clips of all three Parabiners was amazing. The fact that the prototype PB-9's broke at 1771kg (3,905lbs) is amazing. That's around the weight of a car! Having these tests, and subsequent improvements described along the way was a real eye-opener, and very heart warming.

Seeing the hooked gate go into the design, as well as the living/torsion spring enter the process really gave me a sense of being part of the experience, and has lead to an outstanding tool.All part of the Kickstarter joy.

If I had a gripe about them, it might be that the gate only opens 1/2" or so, which limits what I could clip them to directly. I certainly made do with braided steel cable, and could have used chain, just something I noted.

These are totally going into my bug-out kit, and I look forwards to being the guy with the pulley when it comes time to lift an obstacle.