Owner’s Manual

Clark VERTEX 2-person Jungle Hammock

VX-300
www.junglehammock.com

Patent Nos. 8,356,370, 5,913,772, 7627913

Made in USA
Visit us online

Thank you for choosing the Clark Jungle Hammock for your outdoor enjoyment. Please visit our
website at www.junglehammock.com for the latest tips, information and accessories available for
your hammock.

About your hammock

Your Clark Vertex Jungle Hammock should have come with the
following:

Hammock Body (1)

VERTEX Rain Fly (1)
Small ropes bundle (2) (You received two bundles of 6 tie-out cords (12 total), cut to 10 foot lengths.
These cords are only used for the rain tarp)
Large Fiberglass pole (5 sections)
Small Fiberglass pole (4 sections)
Stuff sack
Set of 4 Aluminum Drip Rings (1) (These 4 rings are used to tie up the hammock in an easy adjustable way)

The Poles

Your solid fiberglass poles are designed to allow for the flexibility that is critical when moving
around inside a suspended hammock. Do not attempt to replace the poles with something stronger.

Weight Distribution

The safety weight limit of each of the VERTEX hammock beds (black material) is 300 lbs (136 kg).
The safety weight limit of the storage area between the beds is 150 lbs (68 kg). The hammock is
designed to hold several times the safety weight, but placing more weight in the hammock could
damage it or wear it out prematurely.
150 lbs

300 lbs 300 lbs

WARNING: It is unsafe for more than two people to occupy the VERTEX hammock at one time.
Setting up the Clark VERTEX Jungle Hammock

The most common mistake when setting up

The most common mistake made when setting up the Vertex hammock is tying it too taut between
the trees. This results in the zippers being difficult to open and close. It also results in potentially
damaging the hammock.

How to avoid mistakes:

The Vertex hammock needs three supports: two on the head-end (wider end) and one on the foot-end.
When you set up your hammock the first time, choose trees that are not too far apart. The head-end trees
do not need to be the same distance from the foot-end tree. It is best if the two trees on the head end are
about 13-18 ft (4-5.5 m) from the foot end tree. If the distance is longer, you will have a tendency to want to
pull the hammock tight to keep it off the ground, which can hurt the hammock, make it uncomfortable, or
make the zippers hard to open and close.
How close to tie hammock to trees
It is ideal to find head-end trees that are about 6-8 feet (1.8-2.5 m) apart. It is okay if you tie to trees
that are further apart, but do not tie the ropes out to trees that are to the side of the hammock. Try to
find trees that keep the ropes and hammock aligned between the supports as much as possible.

A sturdy webbing strap connects your head-end ropes together, keeping you from hurting the hammock if the
head-end trees are a little farther apart than the ideal.

When the two head-end trees are close together (diagrams A1 and A2), it is best to tie the hammock closer to
them. This will keep the occupants comfortable by keeping the beds the right distance apart.

When the two head-end trees are far apart (Diagrams B1 and B2), tying the hammock farther away from the
head end trees may be necessary.

NO YES NO YES
A1 A2 B1 B2

The hammock beds may hang By placing the hammock closer to The head-end ropes are
too closely together. This configuration puts far
the head-end trees, the ropes are taking unwanted stress by less lateral stress on the ropes.
properly aligned. not being aligned.

Alternatives for hanging hammock

Diagrams C through E below show three alternative methods for hanging your hammock when you do not
have access to the ideal triangular tree configuration:

C D E

The head end trees do A very large tree or boulder Often, a tree will have
not need to be the same can work for a head end a sturdy branch that can
distance from the foot support if the ropes are tied serve as a second
end tree. together in the back. support.
Considerations for first time set-up Fig. F
1. The knots that connect ropes to your hammock could
have loosened during shipping. Be sure they are
tight and tied correctly before deploying your hammock.
There are white ties on the knots that can be removed
after you sit in the hammock the first time.

2. Figure F shows the proper slack that the hammock should

have to be most comfortable. Notice that the head-end ropes
point down to the hammock from where they are tied on the
tree. We recommend you use the Drip-Ring knot on the
bottom of this page to tie the hammock to the trees. To
achieve the right slack, you may need to tie the ropes as high
on the tree as possible to keep it off the ground. Do not pull
the hammock taut to keep it off the ground. It becomes very difficult to give the hammock the right slack if the
trees are more than 18 feet apart. Find closer trees if possible (13-18 feet between head and foot-end trees).

3. As you tie the ropes to the tree, you will notice that the foot-end has two ropes that tie to the same tree. We
recommend you tie one foot-end rope a few inches higher on the tree than the other so that they don’t interfere with
each other.

4. After you hang your hammock for the first time, the knots that connect your rope to the hammock need to be
tightened. Before you place the pole in the hammock, unzip the netting and sit in each hammock bed to tighten
its knots. This tightening may make it appear that the hammock is stretching. You may need to retie your ropes to the
trees to adjust for the extra slack that may be gained when tightening the knots.

5. If after tying the hammock to the trees you find that the hammock is not high enough off the ground, try to raise the ropes
on the trees rather than tightening the ropes. Only tighten the ropes if the netting or WeatherShield doesn’t sit up
nicely when your full weight is in the hammock (the netting and WeatherShield should be droopy when there is no weight
in the hammock.

6. Insert the poles into the hammock sleeves. The large black pole is inserted into the head-end (wider side).
The smaller 4-section pole is inserted into the foot-end.

The knot below will allows you to easily tie up your hammock and adjust the slack.
Watch a video of this knot being tied at www.junglehammock.com/driprings
FIG 1 FIG 2

ee
Tr
ee To
Tr From Tree
To

o ck Through ring again

mm
ha
ck m
o Fro
m
h am
om
Fr
FIG 3 FIG 4
e
e e Tre
Tr Fro
m
To

o ck
mm
ha
m
Fro Make three overhand loops
Tighten loops against ring
 Clark VERTEX Jungle Hammock
VX-300
Note: The critical points below are referenced Q
throughout this manual.

B L
L
C C
J C
Foot end A
O
I E M
M D N
O F
F G Head end
F

Foot end L Head end

C A
H
J H O C
M
K E
P
G P
M N
F
F D

A - Reinforced No-See-Um netting

B - Sil-nylon waterproof Vertex rain fly
C - 1200 lb. test polypropylene non-wicking rope
D - Mosquito-resistant, breathable nylon bed is water repellant
E - Large fiberglass pole
F - Outside storage pocket
G - Storage pocket located on opposite side
H - Sleeves for inserting smaller fiberglass pole.
I - Small tie-out rope
J - Pocket holds WeatherShield and/or netting when not in use
K - Storage pockets inside hammock between beds
L - Square rings for attaching small ropes to pull up netting when
pole is unavailabe (optional)
M - Independently stable hammock beds
N - Webbing pocket holds the large fiberglass pole in place
O - Main storage area between hammock beds
P - Webbing pockets hold the smaller pole in place
Q - D-ring where two small ropes are connected, one tying to each
head end tree.
Breaking Camp

Remove all items from your hammock and zip it closed. If it’s wet out, you
may wish to pack up your hammock under your rain fly and then take the
rain fly down last. Otherwise, you may place your rain fly inside the
hammock (spread out, not in a wad) before using the stuff bag. Remove
poles before stuffing the hammock into the stuff sack.

Hammock storage, care, sealing

Do not leave your hammock in the sun for many days or weeks. All types
of fabric are damaged by overexposure to sunlight. Do not store your
hammock wet for more than a day at a time. If your hammock gets dirty
from tree sap or dirt, bathe the hammock in a bucket of lukewarm water.
Use a gentle dish soap like Dawn or Palmolive. Hang it to dry in the shade.

Do not seal your rain fly unless you find a reason to do so. Seams can
lose integrity from being jerked or pulled over time. If you find a spot that
needs sealing, use Sil-Net by Mcnett, or another product that is formulated
for sil-nylon fabrics.

There is no reason to seal any other part of the hammock since all fabrics below
the rain fly are intended to be breathable and water-repellent, but not waterproof.

Setting up on the ground

Always use a ground cloth or footprint under your hammock when setting up on
the ground. You’ll need 9 to 12 stakes to set up on the ground. Do not pull the hammock
extremely taut when following any of the directions below or you could harm the mosquito
netting or pole.

Begin by laying the hammock on the ground cloth. Insert the pole in the head and foot
ends to give the hammock its shape. Stake down the hammock where the four base
ropes connect to the hammock. Stake them so that the hammock is tight enough to
keep the poles arched almost to a U-shape.

When adding the rain fly you’ll need two trekking poles or sticks. Place one on each side of
the rain fly to hold up the D-ring at the end of the ridge line (point Q). Then simply stake down
the small ropes to the ground at each point tie-out point. Do not tie the tarp too taut, since
this can damage the tarp.
Connecting your tie-out cords to the hammock

We recommend a bowline knot for connecting the tie-out cords to the eight tie-out points on your tarp.

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 PULL TIGHT

The Taut-line Hitch

The Taut-line hitch is used to tie the cords that are attached to the ridgeline of your tarp to the three trees.
We also suggest using a taut-line hitch to tie out your rain fly to trees bushes, branches and rocks around the
hammock. You can also bring your own stakes if you think you won’t have anything to tie your cords to.
This knot is ideal since you can adjust the length of the rope to get the perfect tautness. It is not necessary
to tie these cords very taut, and if you do so it may damage your tarp over time.

Be aware that you’ll need to attach two small cords to point Q (see last page) so that you can tie one to
each head-end tree. If you use the taut-line hitch, you will be able to adjust each of these lines to center
the tarp over the hammock.

STEP 1
TO HAMMOCK

STEP 2
PULL TIGHT
TO HAMMOCK
 Warning
Failure to follow the following instructions could result in
injury or even death:

Never swing in the hammock. This will only damage the ropes
and the trees they are tied to.

Be sure you use living, solid trees as supports. Be sure they are
at least 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter. Pull on the ropes that you
tie to the trees before getting in the hammock to be sure that
the tree is strong and the trunk is not rotten.

Do not put more weight in your hammock than the safety

recommendation given in the model’s specifications
(page 6).

Always check knots on main ropes to be sure they are tied

properly before entering the hammock.

Always check main ropes to be sure they have not been damaged
or frayed. If they are not in excellent condition, replace the ropes.

Never replace your rope or pole with anything that was not provided by
the manufacturer.

Do not store hammock wet for more than one day. Mildew can form
and damage fabrics.

Never tie hammock taut. Allow a little curve.

Never leave hammock out in direct sunlight for long periods of time
(e.g. all summer in the backyard). The sun can cause damage to
ropes and fabrics.

Never leave young children unattended in the hammock.

Never stand in the hammock. Standing makes the hammock

unstable.

Contacting Clark Outdoor Products

Address: Clark Outdoor Products

4637 South 300 West
Salt Lake City, Ut. 84107
U.S.A.

Phone: 800 468-4635

Fax: 800 592-8835

E-Mail: info@junglehammock.com

Web site: www.junglehammock.com

© 2014 Clark Outdoor Products LLC