Description
The Jacks ‘R’ Better Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock is a true lay flat, sleep straight hammock. It achieves these notable results by departing from the common “gather end” design to utilize a suspension bridge technique. The hammock takes its name from the suspension bridge over the Hudson River that carries the Appalachian Trail. When the Bear Mountain Bridge was completed in 1924 it was the largest suspension bridge in the world. This is the lowest point of the entire Appalachian Trail at 127 feet above sea level.
The JRB Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock is constructed of 70D rip stop nylon material and high strength polypropylene webbing. It will comfortably accommodate individuals up to 6 foot 3 inches tall and up to 250 pounds.
The hammock comes complete with an attached bug net made of no-see-um netting that is zippered on three sides with a double pull zipper. It can be unzipped and tied back if desired when there is no bug threat. There are two personal gear pockets, one on each end wall of the hammock. And for added comfort we’ve included a re-usable, 14″ x 10″, 0.6 ounce, inflatable pillow.
For bottom insulation, use the loops on each corner to attach the Mt Washington or Greylock series of under quilts or any of the standard (78″x48″) JRB quilts as an under quilt (attachment instructions); or the built in 26 inch wide pad pocket that will accommodate most camping pads.
Suspension Options:
No Suspension – Use a suspension you already have or DIY your own suspension solution. The primary ring, secondary rings, and secondary straps are still in place so just attach your chosen suspension to the primary ring and you are ready to hang.
Hammock End Straps and Tri-Glide Set -Ultra-light hammock suspension set. No knots or lashings are required. As simple to attach the hammock to each tree as fastening a belt. Position the tri-glide buckle on the strap. Wrap the running end around the tree and thread the running end through one side of the tri-glide buckle. Adjust to center the hammock between the trees. Then thread the running end through the second half of the tri-glide buckle.
Two 10′ long, 1 inch wide, 700 pound, polypropylene web straps with 1.5 inch loops in one end and two JRB Tri-Glides. Each strap weighs 2.1 oz. Each tri-glide weighs 0.3 oz. Total weight for the set is 4.8 oz.
Reviews:
The Ultimate Hang
CAUTION: The aluminum spreader bars that come with the Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock are intended to withstand the compression force along their long axis caused by the suspension straps when the hammock is loaded. Lateral stresses on the spreader bars, particularly when they are under compression, will cause the bars to fail and bend, ruining the spreader bars. DO NOT try to adjust your body position in the hammock by pulling on the spreader bars. Instead grab the sides of the hammock to adjust your body position. Jacks ‘R’ Better does not recommend hanging packs or other gear from the spreader bar itself as this places unnecessary stress on the spreader bar.
JackM (verified owner) –
I ordered my husband, a BMBH during the Black Friday sale and he absolutely loves it. He has every brand of hammock that is out and he said that the BMBH is the most comfortable hammock he has ever had and slept in it all weekend. Normally he wakes up every couple of hours in his other hammocks to get comfortable but in the BMBH he sleeps all night long..
Thank you very much
Thomas Vickers –
Backpack Gear Test of the Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock
Rick Allnutt –
Backpack Gear Test of the Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock
Chuck Carnes –
Backpack Gear Test of the Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock
Backpacker Magazine –
Backpacker Magazine Video Review
Don Gravatt –
I used to switch to change what I was using for shelter almost every other trip. My basement looks like an outdoor shop with all the tents and various hammocks I have. Then I ordered a JRB Bear Mountain Bridge and none of my other tents or hammocks have been used since 2008! It is a true lay flat hammock that is easy to get comfortable in for sleeping and it is great to sit in while doing camp chores like cooking. This is a great hammock!
John Brandon –
I’m new to hammock camping but I have read a lot about it and chose this product based on what I’ve read and the recommendation from a friend. I don’t usually post until I’ve had a lot of experience with the product but I wanted to get this out because of some of the things I’ve read and seen regarding this hammock. Mostly these are coming from You Tube Video’s I’ve seen on modification. I’m not sure why you would void the warranty for so little gain by doing this. I took the hammock out of the box and hung it up in a matter of minutes. It was as simple as it could be. I had no place to hang it in my back yard and I only had a lunch break to do it in. The place I hung it was over a drainage ditch full of water. My wife was waiting with camera to see the awaiting disaster. It took me only minutes to hang and once I had it adjusted I had to try it and I didn’t end up in the ditch. The Tri-Glides were also very easy to adjust. The key to hanging this hammock is to use the advice that Jack Tier gave me, which is included in the written instructions. You do not want more than 9′ 3″ between the rings of the hammock where it attaches to the tree harness. Once you make that adjustment the hammock worked flawlessly. I thought it was very stable and as described lay flat. As mentioned on other posts regarding Jacks R Better, the customer service is awsome. Jack Tier spent a ton of time discussing their products before and after purchase. Also, I placed my order on Thursday and it was delivered on Saturday. I love a company that will speak to its customers and strives to exceed their customer expectations. I’ll post again once I’ve had more experience with the product but for now I couldn’t be happier.
Nick Crandell –
I have used a lot of hammocks but I always seem to want to go back to the JRB BMBH. It is comfortable and very easily insulated. When I first saw the BMBH I thought it was going to be heavy and take too much time to set up. Why not just get a tent. I was wrong it is light and it only took a couple of minutes to set up. It is faster to set up than a lot of my gathered end hammocks because it uses a great suspension system with the Tri-Glide clips and you don’t need to know any fancy knots. If you want to check out my video review on this product go to http://www.campinghammockreviews.com
C T –
Best hammock ever!
Like sleeping in my bed at home!
I had about 20 nights logged in this before it was stolen from me (long story) but I will get a replacement soon!
Wayne Gilbert –
I came here looking for some information on the Bear mountain hammock. I’ve had one for a while and I’ve used it a few times and I’m actually getting ready to sell it so I wanted to be able to give some ” official” information about it among other things. But coming here I noticed that there’s only nine reviews. The most recent from May 22nd 2021 with the next most recent being 2013. That’s a little bit strange.
First I want to say that out of all the hammocks I’ve tried this one by far lays the flattest. However that does not mean it is completely flat. It’s the best of what I’ve tried and it is fairly flat but it’s not completely flat. Also I’ve used this with a mattress. Specifically the Exped downmat 9. This obviously in the effort to maintain warmth that’s inherently difficult to do with hammocks. Unfortunately this is a fairly thick pad which moves you to the top edge of the hammock quickly. This position makes it feel more likely that you could potentially fall out of the hammock if you’re not careful. Not that you would, just that you could. Something to consider if you plan to use a sleep pad with it. The best reason to describe why I purchased this was an attempt to decrease my carried weight further. A hammock absolutely has benefits over a tent when it comes to uneven terrain or rocky terrain. And that is absolutely probably the best consideration for why you would want to use a hammock in the first place in my opinion. As it is I would very likely keep this hammock if it weighed less. Right now my tent with ground cloth and stakes weighs in at 1 lb 9 oz. I just placed this hammock without its trees straps but everything else on a scale and it weighs in at 2 lb 7 oz with sack. You also need to have a tarp with the hammock. I have a 10×11 sil nylon tarp that weighs in at 1 lb making the entire package without tree straps weigh in at 3 lb 7 oz. If you are a dedicated hammock person, that’s not a bad weight. But if you’re not dedicated and you don’t need a hammock, it’s still too heavy. If the folks at Jack’s-are-better are listening I think you could reduce weight in a fairly dramatic way by moving away from the metal cross-sectional poles into carbon fiber. I know that that would increase the cost and perhaps you’ve already considered it but, I think you should offer a version like that. This is a great hammock for somebody who wants to use a hammock. That’s the best way to describe it. And I’m honestly surprised that there are only nine reviews and I have not seen this hammock advertised anywhere. You guys need to get your name out there. Send some hammocks out for people to review. Get your name out there. I mean this is the best hammock of this type, and the least expensive to boot. It’s just mind boggling that I don’t see your companies named mentioned anywhere. You have to basically look for it by name.
thejacks –
Hi Wayne! Thank you for your review. The Bear Mt. Bridge has been on the market since 2007 and has completed several Appalachian Trail Thru Hikes and continued to experience strong sales up until last year when spreader bar poles became near impossible to obtain. We did consider carbon fiber poles but there is a considerable amount of load that is transferred through the pole and we did not want to risk anyone getting injured via a catastrophic failure. In 2019 we released the James River Bridge hammock which came in at 1 .lbs including the pole. We were planning on releasing a new version of the Bear Mountain Bridge based on the new ultralight design of James River Bridge in 2020 but those plans have been put on hold until things stabilize.