The Hennessy Hammock Brand Story
Really useful and good quality things don’t usually happen overnight. This was also the case with the birth of the Hennessy Hammock brand. It took many years for her hammocks to reach their current form. At the beginning was the experience of Tom Hennessy, whose adventurous nature and love of the outdoors, brought to life by his mother, who loved camping and led her five children to it, helped him to create his brand.
When it was Tom was about sixteen years old when he discovered a military jungle hammock, which he bought more out of curiosity. When he first tried it, he was without exaggeration. When we were camping, it literally melted away all the inconveniences associated with sleeping on the floor. He’s already not bothered by all sorts of unevenness, crawling insects, roots, rocks, wetness… another huge advantage of this net was its foldability and negligible weight.
How Tom was able to influence the development of the outdoor hammock
There is a rather banal thing behind the production of Tom’s first hammock. Tom had lent his hammock to a friend when he was at university, who also seemed to appreciate its virtues, so he never returned it. And because Tom had missed this ally on his various expeditions, he took action. He bought the necessary materials and went to his mother, who lived in Florida. There he sewed his own hammock on her sewing machine. It sounds a little unbelievable, but it’s true. There he benefited from his mother’s providence, with which she taught him to sew on a sewing machine when he was ten.
And as it happens, if you are used to something and circumstances force you to put your own hand to the work, you logically try to improve it even more. You know its weaknesses, and when you’re creating something new, why not avoid them. And so Tom designed and built a hammock exactly to his liking and needs. He made it roomier and wider. There was no danger of claustrophobic feelings and at the same time, when sleeping in the diagonal position, the back did not curve unnaturally. The original rectangular shape has been reshaped into a diamond shape, and the mesh part has been enlarged to achieve better air circulation. He redesigned the cover sheet to allow for individual adjustment and eventual removal. The replacement of the side zipper was also a breakthrough. Instead, he attached Velcro to the bottom of the hammock, which solved the issue of a perfect seal. All you had to do was lie down in the hammock. Your own weight was applied to the Velcro on the underside, so you not only automatically fastened it, but also sealed the hammock perfectly.
When work is fun and vice versa
However, this first prototype was far from the end of the story. Actually, that’s what started it all. In the next few years he invented, designed and implemented other networks. Often right in nature. He had a great opportunity to test them in the field. Whatever didn’t suit him, he changed, modified, reshuffled. The moment he became convinced that his hammock was of such high quality that it might not serve him alone, he decided to sell it on. And because people recognize the real quality, it became a hit the very next season. REI and MEC started selling it, immediately recognizing the potential of the product that came to them.
In 1999, in addition to traditional sales, Hennessy Hammock began to be sold on the Internet. This greatly increased interest in them as many more people became aware of their existence. By then, the small family business was expanding. Even so, she has not stopped caring for her hammocks and overseeing the quality of each piece. For example, ropes and important components are still made in the USA, precisely because of the unconditional preservation of their quality. Then everything is shipped to Shanghai where it is assembled. In addition, each individual hammock is carefully inspected before it is sent to its future owner. As Tom says, the safety of our customers always comes first!
Innovation and development of hammocks continues unabated
Tom spends part of the year in New Zealand, where he works in his design studio on what else but hammocks. The studio, by the way, is located on a route that leads to several national parks. Passing tourists often come to take a closer look and some of them share their ideas. This has also led to improvements in the 4-season insulation system, for example. Many more innovations have been made and more are planned.
Tom himself says that the development of Hennessy Hammock and their continuous improvement are his passion, he literally breathes for them. Even though he has dedicated so many years of his life to them, they are still a huge driving force for him. The success he has achieved in his profession and passion is very clear from the success he has achieved in his time in business. His hammocks are still in great demand and popular. High quality, practicality and many innovations play a major role in this. If you want to become one of Tom’s hammock owners, you can pick one up in our shop.