Critique my hammock

[hughtrimble]

Good morning fellow tree sleepers,

The photo below is of my DD Superlight Jungle Hammock with additional DD Jungle Hammock tarp over the top, and the included one removed (would hang it beneath if the weather had required it).

This photo was taken the morning after the night before (my first night ever using a hammock) with yours truly asleep within, having set it up in the dark (as was required by the site).

I felt comfortable inside it, certainly superior to lying on my camping mats, but having not tried any other hammock it could have been uncomfortable, as it looks extremely bowed, like I'm lying in the crook of a crescent moon.

Those trees were circa five yards apart (but looking now, I may have paced from the base of the trees rather than taking into account the trees' curvature) and I had the whoopie slings as short as they'd go. I wrapped the tree huggers with the foot end quite​ a bit higher than the head end (30° seemed to be the suggestion) and the hammock is a combination of gathered end/hooped thing, so diagonal lying didn't seem to be an option when I was inside it.

What did I do wrong?

 

[Polar Bear]

I've found my hammock is most comfortable when it's a straight line when you hang it. I would lower your ropes but make them shorter for these trees. Ideally I would find trees that were a bit further apart. I use the ticket to the moon hammock system though. So it's very easy to adjust to different distances.

 

[bopdude]

The only thing maybe would be trees a bit further apart, the hang looks about right but it's personal choice, not sure on the length of the superlight but its possibly too short to get a proper diagonal lay, I'm weird in that I can steep just fine in my superlight hammock when on my back, side or sometimes front, you'll just have to experiment with different set ups.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

 

[Hammock_man]

I still use the supplied tree huggers with my DD so have the ability to have the end of the hammock as close (or far) as I wish. I would have had the huggers much lower down but very tight, I do not find the 30 degree thing that comfy. My daughter has commented in the past about how far down the bottom of my hammock is. I try to get it so my hammock hanging just above my buttocks so its a little effort to get in but gives good clearance below. Also my ( separate ) Tarp ridge line is way higher than my hammock line. In short I try more for a 10 degree than 30 degree hang.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I don't think that's too bad an effort. As mentioned, you'd probably benefit from a pitch where the trees are a bit further apart, as you said the trees are leaning into each other so they'll be closer than you think. I'd probably have my hammock set-up with a little less sag than that, 30 degrees is generally what you want to aim for. You can easily adjust that sag by playing around with your whoppie suspension.

You're quite right to have the head end lower than your feet, stops you sinking into the centre while asleep. I'd suggest that 30 degrees is a little steep though, maybe set it up next time so that you head is only slightly higher than your feet

Remember that you're best off lying diagonally across the hammock as that's where you'll find the flat spot - it's much more comfortable than sleeping like a banana down the centre line. You should still be able to achieve a diagonal lay in that particular hammock, you only want to be laying at five to five (if you imagine it as a clock!)

Check out Shug Emery on youtube, he has a whole playlist dedicated to hammock set-up. He's also a funny guy and his videos are always quite entertaining.

The bottom line is that it's all trial and error. You'll probably spend another couple of camping trips fine tuning and tweaking the set-up until you find what works for you.

 

[PDA1]

You should be really careful about a 10degree hang angle. The physics are quite clear, the weight on each side of the suspension is nearly 3x the weight in the hammock. e.g. for a 150 lb person (68 kilo) would exert 425 lbs on each suspension line. That is stationary. Wriggle and the laod leaps up, possibly to 4 or 5 times the static load. That is why 30 degree is strongly recommended (only the occupiers weight on each side of the suspension. ). for safety, the BSofthe suspension should be 4 or 5 times the stress on the suspension line(or strap)

To OP. If you are bent like a banana, you are probably not in a diagonal lay, you should lie with your head well to on side of the centre line, and your legs on the other. Many find it easier to get a "standard" set up by having a hammock ridge line, a cord going from one end of the hammockto theothet. The lengthshould be about 83% of the lebgth of the hammock flat. When the hammock is correctly set, the line will be straight, but not guitar string tight. you should be able to grip it between two fingers and quite easily twist it through 90 degrees. Explained fully on the site theultimatehang.com, including a stress calculator for hammock angle.

 

[Hammock_man]

I do accept the physics but just can not sleep if the setup is rigged too low. It has to be said that with my weight an empty tight rig still drops to a bend. The exact number of degrees I don't know but the side edges of the hammock are easy above my sleeping bag / quilt. I have also always used "trees" and not saplings. some times Kim and I have used a common tree if they rest are too thin. Difficult to say but holding my hands in the air whilst sat typing, would say an 8 inch diameter minimum.

 

[PDA1]

I agree that when you load the hammock, the suspension lines will increase the hang angle to some extent. IMO, that is even more reason the have a hammock ridge line. Then, while sitting or laying in the hammock, you can reach up and twist the line between your fingers to check for correct tension. You will also have a consistent curve in the hammock, which should allow a fairly flat diagonal lie. The 83% "rule" is also simple maths as the arc the hammock takes will have the ends at 30deg from horizontal.Obviously,when a human is in the hammock, it will not be in a perfect arc, so the final angle will not be exactly 30 degrees. Many people like an adjustable hammock ridge line so it can be varied to allow the most comfortable lie. reports suggest that it only needs to move a few cms either way to satisfy most hangers requirements. It i,perhaps, worth mentioning that the most experienced builders of camping hammocks, Hennessy and Warbonnet, both install fixed 83 degree hammock ridge lines.

Looking again at the OPs photo, the angle looks closer to 45 degrees. SHould still be able to get a good diagonal lie at that angle.

 

[hughtrimble]

Thank you all for your suggestions and experiences - total newbie to hammocks so I really appreciate all your input.

I've just returned from another overnighter, and applied what you all suggested regarding going for a slightly flatter hang with trees further apart. It was very comfortable at first and I think I was lying diagonally, but four hours later when it came to breakfast, I was in a proper banana shape again (according to observers!) and I was in some pretty bad discomfort. I kept trying to move myself into a diagonal, but the hammock just didn't seem to be having any of it.

Any suggestions as to whether this hammock is compatible with a ridgeline? There's a line down the centre top of it with a gear pocket on it, but it's just tied in at each inside end of the hammock rather than running through the ends of the hammock itself.

Any suggestions as to how to go about adding one?

 

[mousey]

This is what my hammock looked like last month in an open woodland, with a steep hill going back to a lake. Tarp is about 4 metres long, and maybe 2 meters to each tree beyond that so a span of approx 8 metres. Webbing straps were stock with the hammock and I'm not sure how long they are but the hammock is 2.8m long, I have my jerven bag around it so it maybe a little harder to see the actual hammock. I managed to stand a little on the bottom of the tree trunks [they had slight bulges] and stretched as high as I could to get my hammock suspension as far up as possible, maybe 2.4meters up the tree trunk, perhaps a smidge more.

And again last week, maybe not so much distance between the trees this time and so the suspension straps were probably 2.3-2.3 m up the tree.

Looking back at these pictures the hammock looks pretty flat to me [most of the bulk dangling down is my underquilt and jerven bag and a few odds n sods I chuck in the underquilt as storage during the day], when the hammock is first put up and there's nothing else attached to it [i.e. no sleeping bag / quilt hanging off it] the hammock slings straight across from the trees at about eyelevel, after I've sat in ithe hammock the first time the suspension seems to sag and stretch a little and it always does, and once I've got all my insulation in / on it's maybe about hip level maybe slightly more. Once I'm in it as well I'll be pretty close to the ground, able to reach stuff and pick things up off the floor / get a brew on from the hammock etc.


It is a very subjective thing laying in a hammock, just have a little play around [should be easy with your whoopies], to find a comfortable spot. I tend not to use ridgelines for my hammock I found it just got in the way and gave no real advantage - it was handy to clip / hang things on but didn't improve my laying quality.

 

[Highbinder]

Your hang angles are too steep, they look about 45degree! Hold out your index finger and thumb like you're about to go 'bang bang', the angle between the tip of your index to thumb is the correct hang angle.

 

[McGruff]

It definitely takes a bit of experimenting to find the most comfortable lay. It's a fine balancing act.

First hang one end of the hammock slightly higher than the other. This will be the foot end. With your head and body slightly lower your centre of mass is at the lowest point in the hammock. This helps to stop you sliding around once you find your best position.

Once you're in the hammock, rotate your body around to the maximum possible diagonal. Scooch down towards your feet and see if you can turn sideways a little more. Repeat this until you've scooched down so far you can feel your body being rolled back the way you came. Now move back a few inches until you feel balanced. That should be the perfect position for the given amount of sag.

You should probably repeat this whole process with different ridge line lengths to find your ideal amount of sag. You can go a lot further than 83%. I can be very comfortable with as much as 77% in my home-made hammock which is about 3.3m long and 164cm wide. I think longer and wider hammocks can work better with more sag, and are the most comfortable. YMMV.

I added a ridge line simply by dropping a plastic D-ring over my whoopies at each end and tying on to these. A cord which can handle up to 200lb should be OK here. I used a midshipman's hitch to make it adjustable.

Occasionally you might need to change your ideal sag according to conditions. For example, I recently had to use two trees which were about the maximum useable distance. The farther apart the anchor points, the tighter the angles get and the greater the tension in your suspension (unless you can physically climb up the tree). In this situation, if you can substantially reduce the amount of sag you are in effect making the hammock longer and therefore, if you think about the geometry, increasing your suspension angle a little thus reducing the tension. It also helped to get me up off the ground, even if only a couple of centimetres. It was pretty marginal.

As others have said, the tension starts to ramp up really fast at low angles. If you compare suspension forces with those at a 30 degree angle (roughly):

20 deg = +50%
15 deg = x2
10 deg = x3
5 deg = x6

Anything 20-45 degrees should be fine. The steeper end of that range is much kinder on your gear.

Of course if it's too steep you'll exceed the amount of sag set by the ridge line. Drop the tree straps down a bit, take in some slack on the whoopies, and the ridge line should tighten up.

 

[McGruff]

PS: here's a pic of my hammock in a standard, saggy kind of hang with the tarp down low to block the wind.