Hello to everyone from Arbora Hammocks and from Estonia! Sorry for writing in English, I hope it doesn't cause too much of a mess. My German is not good enough to write in, although they do teach it in schools here in Estonia 
First of all a great big thanks to all of you for taking the time to test and review our hammocks and especially to Bernd for making the effort of handling the testing hammocks and the topic here! Your feedback has been a great help to us and good support to show that we are on the right track. We especially appreciate the detailed and totally honest constructive criticism.
We will keep on testing and developing the Arbora hammock and taking into account as much of your recommendations as we can. I wish it was easier though, but there's a million factors that come into play and would have to fall in place for things to go smoother and faster, but of course they don't
We'll keep on looking for better solutions, better materials and better ways to make our hammock suitable for anyone and everyone. Of course there will always be many personal preferences so we'll try to find the best common ground in those things.
I have to clarify on the current 2 test-hammocks that we sent you that they are not perfect in detail, they're half prototypes, so some detail is not as good as on the actual selling models currently. But the overall features are as they should.
What I get from the current feedback here (using Google Translate, that doesn't always work well...):
- The net attachment should be easier - already aware and working on it. In our shorter video you see an improvement that we already use on the sales model. Still searching for a better option, but all of the available plastic buckles for this purpose are too bulky and would stick in your ribs when you sit in hammock crosswise.
- The ridge line Well, we started playing with an adjustable option, but sent you fixed ones on the test models in a hurry. We do send adjustable ones on the sales models currently, but do not advertise it, since simpler users don't need the confusion and experienced users will figure it out themselves. It's our experience and research from hammock forums that even a structural ridge line should maintain a little slack when you enter the hammock. This works best with the current net size on our hammock, but we are considering making the net wider to allow for a completely taut ridge line. Although that would add weight and cost to the hammock, that we do not desire.
- I believe we need to add the insulation direction as an option you can choose from when purchasing. We are taking requests on that if someone has a preference, but it should be easier to choose that.
- We have been dreaming of making the fabric part of the cover/net on the 4S model removable, but there is no easy way of doing it so it doesn't add extra weight and cost to the hammock. But we are still working on it and maybe we will figure something out soon. The concept of a "closed cover" on the 4S model works and sells great here in Estonia and also in Finland and Sweden and it does offer a lot more protection in serious minus degrees. Another option is to start offering the choice between either full-length net or the closed cover for the 4S model.
- We will take another look at the shape and position of the insulation to see if it can be improved to offer better coverage for everyone. The problem here is that if we make it even wider, it gains weight and material cost once again and the technology of heat welding the fabrics has certain limitations as well.
- Good to hear comments on the current insulation as well, especially in comparison to other insulation. We are actually very happy with the current Valtherm Zero Down insulation that we changed to at the end of summer. It has amazing loft and compressibility, very good insulation properties and withstands virtually any abuse. We started out with Primaloft in the very beginning (also tried Apex and others), but the problem is that here in Europe it's nearly as expensive as down and it's very fragile. This means it needs twice as much attachment points which is costly to do and which creates "cold bridges" even with the best attachment technology. This actually makes Primaloft an inferior insulation for us. Just trying to point out that it's not a random insulation we use, but a clear technical choice. Most of our customers and hammock users are using sleeping bags in their hammocks still so the pointed our longer heating delay is not a problem then. I hope the situation will be improved a little when we manage to switch to calendered fabrics. We are planning a switch to calendered fabrics for better wind resistance (exactly as was pointed out here!) that will eventually allow to start offering down insulation as well. Synthetic insulation is a preferred choice at the moment since the current high tech insulation is so good and takes all kind of abuse and any weather. It's shitty weather all year round here in Estonia and neighbouring countries so synthetics makes much sense More inland in Germany must be nicer and not that wet all the time, I hope.
- Fabrics - we are planning a switch to 40D calendered fabrics. We believe the best quality 40D hammock fabrics out there are plenty strong enough to use as single-layer hammocks. Would you agree? Anyhow, none of our tests have managed to rip any of our current fabrics within 3+ years of developing and usage. I myself have ripped one hammock with scissors in my pocket once though :). Using the best fabrics for production here in Europe is costly since most of the hammock + tarp cost is the fabric and the logistics is a nightmare, but it has to be done. Would be so much easier is the US and that's why most of the hammock manufacturers emerge there. A perfect fabric switch could save up to 300g on the hammock set (hammock + tarp) which would be amazing and would be more than the actual saving on switching from synthetic insulation to down.
- Suspension options: 1) 6mm ropes + Aero Cleats. Understandably it's bulky and low-tech, but by our experience it's the fastest suspension at reasonable weight out there. Most other systems are heavier. This is intended mostly for beginners and "Sunday-hikers" + frequent testers like ourselves 2) Whoopie slings as the most lightweight suspension. We currently supply a soft shackle for attachment for minimal weight but we are considering using titanium hooks instead.
- The slippery compression sack. Yes, it's tight and slippery, but it's our preferred option still. We haven't made it larger because then it wouldn't pack as small even after compressing. The slippery Silnylon is a better option than other fabrics in our opinion, since it's more durable - elastic and doesn't wear down in time and waterproof. The regular PU-covered fabric for sacks loses the PU backing fast and thus becomes not-waterproof and the regular fabric without waterproofing is not that versatile. We believe a sack must be watertight so you can put it onto wet ground without having to worry, so that when a bottle in you backpack leaks your hammock will stay dry and clean. We feel and hope that it's just a matter of experience using this kind of slippery and tight bag and it is a little difficult for anyone in the beginning but will become easy when you get used to it and it will have it's advantages then
I hope I shed at least some light into the current choices and features. Of course there are a lot more influencing factors that make things more difficult to achieve the perfect result.
Just to clarify, this is in no way an attempt to dismiss of reject any of your feedback or suggestions! It's merely an attempt to start a conversation, to share information and acknowledge and confirm your thoughts
Thanks once again to all of you for your involvement! Please comment on anything I have written and what you think about the Arbora hammock and ways to make it better.
You are always welcome to send us direct feedback and any special requests are always possible with us if you have any wishes or ideas - just send a mail to info@arborahammocks.com and mention Hängematten Forum.
The Arbora Team