Hammock Gear Sappy Strap Sack Review
Hammock Gear's 2.8 g Dyneema Composite Fabric drawstring bag keeps sticky tree straps away from the rest of your hammock kit for $8.99.
Overview
The Sappy Strap Sack is a small drawstring bag from Hammock Gear, sized to hold a pair of tree straps and keep pine pitch off everything else in the pack. It’s made from Dyneema Composite Fabric (the material formerly sold as Cuben Fiber) and weighs 2.8 g. It does one narrow job, and it’s aimed at hammock campers who have already met their first glob of spruce resin on a $40 pair of straps.
Key Specs
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Weight | 2.8 g (DCF version) |
| Material | Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF / Cuben Fiber) |
| Also available in | 20D Silpoly |
| Dimensions | 8.5 in tall x 6.5 in wide |
| Closure | Drawstring |
| Price | $8.99 |
| Intended use | Isolating sap-covered hammock tree straps from other gear |
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Tree sap is a hammock camper’s tax. Straps wrap trunks, trunks weep resin, and the resin transfers to anything it touches afterward: the hammock body, the underquilt, the inside of the pack. Hammock Forums regulars have long debated fixes. Some freeze the straps and peel the sap off, some run hot water through the webbing, and some rub dirt on it. A few have thrown ruined straps away. The most common prevention is a dedicated bag, and that is what the Sappy Strap Sack is.
The case for the DCF version is mostly about weight and toughness. At 2.8 g, it adds almost nothing to a hammock kit, and DCF’s smooth, non-porous surface is a sensible choice around a substance that sticks to everything. Sap that gets on the outside of a Dyneema bag is a nuisance. Sap that gets into a woven fabric stays there. Owners on Hammock Gear’s own product page describe the bag as light and tough. One keeps both his straps and his ridgeline in it whenever they’re not in use.
Fit is the other recurring comment. At 8.5 by 6.5 inches, the bag swallows a pair of ultralight tree straps with room to spare, and buyers say it fits their straps well. One reviewer swapped an old stuff sack for it and noted how much lighter it was. Bulkier setups, such as wide polyester straps with carabiners or a whoopie-sling suspension coiled alongside, will fill it more completely, though the dimensions leave room for a typical ultralight strap pair and little else.
A secondary use has turned up among owners. One reviewer slips a headlamp inside and uses the translucent bag as a diffuser, turning the headlamp into a soft lantern. It won’t replace a purpose-built lantern, but it’s a free trick for something already in the pack.
The limits are the obvious ones. A DCF bag is no more sap-proof at the drawstring than any other, so a heavily coated strap stuffed in carelessly can still smear the opening. The bag also doesn’t clean anything, and it won’t stop sap from reaching the straps in the first place. It contains the mess and leaves the cleanup to the freezer or a bottle of hand sanitizer.
The competition is thin and cheap. Arrowhead Equipment’s long-running Sap Sack lists at $6.50, and a zip-top freezer bag costs next to nothing, if you don’t mind rustle and an eventual split seam. The Hammock Gear bag costs a little more than the Arrowhead option, in exchange for DCF’s weight and durability. The silpoly option exists for anyone who finds the DCF price hard to justify for a bag that holds dirty webbing, but Hammock Gear lists it at the same $8.99.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- 2.8 g in DCF, close to weightless in a hammock kit
- Smooth, non-absorbent fabric suits a sticky payload
- Sized to hold a pair of ultralight tree straps, per owners
- Reported as tough enough to live permanently with the straps and ridgeline
- Doubles as a headlamp diffuser
- Silpoly alternative for those who prefer it
Cons
- Costs $8.99 for a single-purpose bag
- Cheaper alternatives exist, including the $6.50 Arrowhead Sap Sack and a plain ziplock
- Drawstring opening can still pick up sap if handled carelessly
- Contains sap but does nothing to prevent or remove it
- Of no use to anyone who doesn’t hang a hammock
Who Should Buy This
Hammock campers who travel in sappy country, such as pine, spruce and fir forests, and who care about the condition of their hammock, quilt and pack interior. It also suits weight-counters who already use Dyneema stuff sacks and want the strap bag to match. Ground sleepers have no use for it. Hammock campers who camp mostly among hardwoods, or who don’t mind a freezer-and-peel routine and a spare ziplock, can skip it and keep $9.
Verdict
The Sappy Strap Sack is a tidy, nearly weightless fix for a real and messy hammock problem, and owners report that it fits well and holds up. The price is the only sticking point: it costs more than the alternatives for what is, functionally, a very small bag. For hammock campers who care about keeping sap off their other gear, it’s worth buying.