How high should a hammock be?

[TLM]

For anything slithering and crawling to pass safely underneath. I guess this question is for the warmer climates, nothing bothersome in these latitudes.

To avoid any of the larger predators I guess one would have to be impractically high.

 

[Janne]

High enough so you can sit in it and the feet touch ground?

( I only use a hammock in the garden. One of those multicolored jobbies.
Strung up between two Mango trees.
People think Coconut palms are ideal, but a falling coconut, even a small one, can kill you)

 

[Nice65]

For anything slithering and crawling to pass safely underneath. To avoid any of the larger predators I guess one would have to be impractically high.

It’s getting out for a wee that can be a problem. To be honest I don’t expect predators or anything slithering underneath with this set-up.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Whatever height is comfortable for you to get in and out. Don't worry about beasts going under you, they will avoid you like the plague.

 

[Nice65]

Is this a ‘planning’ thread? Warmer climates, slithering and crawling, it all suggests a trip to jungle with snakes and ants. If it is, hammock height is that recommended by Crosslandkelly above. Comfortable, same as anywhere.

It’s such a basic chair and sleep system, used for thousands of years, there is no ideal height.

 

[TLM]

I have never been in a forest in tropics so this was just an idea that happened to pass my mind, just in case ...

 

[Mesquite]

High enough your ar$e isn't scrapping the ground and low enough you can get into it comfortably.

 

[TLM]

OK, so distance from ground is not going to be a problem.

 

[John Fenna]

In the S of France, at Gournier (sp?) camp site on the Ardeche I saw a Wild Boar pass under a mates hammock - with just enough room to avoid the tusks ripping the hammock and his rear end to ribbons.
That was the right height in that case....

 

[Mesquite]

OK, so distance from ground is not going to be a problem.

Only if you fall out

 

[Van-Wild]

In my experience it is best strung with the middle of the hammock level with your bottom rib. Once you get in it will lower under your weight to where you can sit upright with your feet barely brushing the ground. I've found that setting it at this height makes it easy to get in and out of and leaves enough clearance under you for your gear when you sleep.

Don't take my word for it though, you're best learning by trial and error......

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

 

[C_Claycomb]

As said, set at seat height, which happens to work out so that suspension isn't uncomfortably high up the trees when set a little over tarp width.

On the critter and crawly issue...in the tropics everything climbs! Things can get into the hammock if it isn't fully enclosed and some will manage even then. Ants will want to use the suspension as a short cut between trees. Giant centipedes are quite capable of walking down 3mm lines and taking up residence in folds and pockets left open. Leeches don't crawl so far, but you don't want to be up against vegetation.

My friend had a sun bear stick its head under his tarp one night and give him a good sniff! Possibly more height would have been comforting, but sun bears are great climbers too!

Most important thing, once it is dark, stay in the hammock...and don't drop crumbs on the forest floor or you will create an ant carpet to welcome you in the morning.

 

[forrestdweller]

judging from what i've seen in documentaries and amongst the locals (over here they only use hammocks for siesta) i'd say high enough to sit and comfortably get in and out (similar to most beds)
i did have an Olive Python (ca.2m long) trying to get into my bed one night -- i simply asked Monty to move on(which she/he did...; not relavant for the op but we also found venomous snakes dangling from the cable above the bed so some critters could come along the tarp's ridgeline as well (a mozzie net should stop them)...

my main concern are (always) hostile hominids, though...

 

[Le Loup]

Any wild boar in your area? Something to consider.
Keith.

 

[TLM]

Now lets see, bears and wolves are not known to cause any problems to campers here neither are foxes. When a big male elk decides to go somewhere he does not care all that much what is in the way but it would really be bad luck if you happened to be there. Some wild boar but not so far really a problem. The local wild life has not been causing any trouble really. Well, reindeer can be curious and so are cows but not troubling.

I like to put my hammock about as high as still comfortable to get into. The question really was to remind me if I have to take anything I have not met locally into consideration if I happen to be 4k klicks south.

Hostile humans might be a problem but that is somewhat different.

 

[forrestdweller]

I like to put my hammock about as high as still comfortable to get into. The question really was to remind me if I have to take anything I have not met locally into consideration if I happen to be 4k klicks south.

Hostile humans might be a problem but that is somewhat different.

i hope i'm not sounding like a smart**** now but check your clothes and boots before putting them on in warmer climates as well: i once put my boot on in central europe after shaking it out only to find a fat slug inside (YUK!!!), in northern Western Australia i shook out my shorts to have a 5" centipede fall out (venomous...) and a friend here got bitten by a tarantula in his toe when he put his boot on without checking....

and not too long ago i had a scorpion emerging from under my pillow whilst reading...

 

[Janne]

I have had sco4pions lurking in my gardering shoes.
It becomes second nature here to flip stuff before you use.
Wife was unlucky, got stung by a scorpion last year in one of her fingers. Very, very painful, weeks of recovery.

Hammock:
If you put it up to high, the Unicorns might catch you with their horn.

 

[TLM]

If unicorns are the only beasts to worry about I'll just go and happily walk and camp.

 

[forrestdweller]

narwhal ivory was once traded as unicorn horn -- i'd be concerned if one of them cruises along under my hammock...

not putting your hands where you can't see and "snakewise lifting" (=lift objects with the opening away from you to give snakes a chance to retreat rather than the other way around) have become second nature to me -- nonetheless i got stung a few times by scorpions but fortunately after a few minutes i was fine again...