CPSC and 10 Manufacturers Announce Recall of 3 Million
Mini-Hammocks
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 10 mini-hammock
manufacturers and importers are recalling over three million
light-weight, net mini-hammocks that do not have spreader
bars. Without spreader bars to hold the mini-hammock bed
open, the mini-hammocks can twist around children's necks as
they are getting into or out of the mini-hammock, resulting
in strangulation and death.
When a net mini-hammock is attached to trees, decks,
porches, or other areas, it hangs like a thin rope. The
mini-hammock can suddenly become twisted around a child's
neck and strangle him. This can happen when children are
attempting to climb into or out of, are playing on, or are
swinging on mini-hammocks like swings.
Between 1984 and 1995, CPSC received reports of 12
children between the ages of 5 and 17 years old who became
entangled and died when using net mini-hammocks without
spreader bars. CPSC is also aware of an injury to a
seven-year-old girl who suffered permanent brain damage from
a near-strangulation in a mini-hammock. Another near-fatal
incident involved a five-year-old boy who was found
entangled in a mini-hammock but was resuscitated by his
mother.
Mini-hammocks are light-weight, portable, thin net
hammocks that are made without spreader bars. They measure
between five to seven feet wide and seven to twenty feet
long. Sporting goods stores, outdoor equipment stores, Army
and Air Force Exchange Service stores ("PX/BX"), department
stores, and even drug stores have sold the hammocks since
the early 1970s for about $4 to $10.
The following manufacturers and importers are
participating in this voluntary recall of net mini-hammocks:
Academy Broadway, Smithtown, N.Y. Nelson/Weather-Rite,
Lenexa, Kan. Algoma Net Company, Algoma, Wisc. Rothco,
Smithtown, N.Y. Avid Outdoor, Olathe, Kan. Schwarzman Export
Import Co., Brooklyn, N.Y. Coghlan's, Minneapolis, Minn.
Standard Sales, Los Angeles, Calif. E-Z Sales, Gardena,
Calif. Texsport, Houston, Tex.
E-Z Sales, the major producer of these thin, net
mini-hammocks, is offering consumers replacement
mini-hammocks with spreader bars or larger hammocks for
returning their MiniPak Hammocks and Superhammocks. The nine
other manufacturers participating in this recall are
offering a full refund for returning their mini-hammocks to
the store where purchased. Recall notices offering consumers
refunds or replacement hammocks are posted in stores that
sold the recalled mini-hammocks.
Consumers should immediately remove mini-hammocks from
porches, decks, trees, recreation rooms and other
locations. Consumers should return the mini-hammocks to the
store where they were purchased for a full refund or a
replacement hammock. If consumers do not know the retailer
or manufacturer of their net mini-hammock, consumers should
destroy the mini-hammock immediately to prevent a
strangulation death or injury.