New HammockGear Wanderlust kit - a few questions?

New HammockForums member - first post.

I got a HammockGear Wanderlust kit a few weeks ago, and took it out for a quick overnight shakeout backpacking trip last weekend. Overall, I would give my night's sleep a solid B, but I think I can do better. Looking for some help tweaking things.

1. The HG Circadian hammock ends have a red and a black carabiner. Do these indicate a head and foot end? I was thinking red=head, but can't find anything definitive, and couldn't see any obvious shape differences between the two ends. If it helps, the red end is the end with the mesh pocket for the bugnet.

2. I had a couple issues with the bugnet zipper separating. Does this indicate I'm doing something wrong with my hang? Maybe too tight?

3. The hammock body and underquilt have a series of plastic d-rings. I couldn't find any clear guidance on what these are for, so I played with using them to pull out the head and foot to help with a diagonal lay, and keep the underquilt better positioned under my head and feet. Should this work, and if so, any tips on the best way to do this?

Here's a photo of my setup. Sorry for the crappy pic.

BTW - the groundsheet and blanket under my hammock were for my dog. That needs some work as well, but I'll save that for another post!
https://www.hammockforums.net/galler...hammocking.jpg
thanks,
Chris

Chris,

Welcome.

Give HG a call or email. They are good people with excellent customer service. They will line you out.

Bob

Welcome to the forums, Chris! As Bob suggests, HG will give you great customer service and help out. Here are my two cents:
1. Red is head for that hammock, from what my friend who owns one says
2. When you say "separating" are you referring to it just coming unzipped or an actual zipper failure where the teeth/chain is coming apart from each other without the slider body being what separates it?
3. The small rings are indeed to help with things like you mentioned, although I'm surprised there weren't already other hardware components installed on them if this was sold as a whole kit. For example, if you're using the hammock rings to pull out the fabric to achieve an asymmetrical lay, then the hardware and cordage required to do that would likely be shock cord attached to something like this: https://dutchwaregear.com/wp-content...Tie-Outs-3.jpg

Hit me up if you want to talk about a good setup for the dog - what you have works but you may want to consider creating a "run" between the two trees for it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by iceman857

Welcome to the forums, Chris! As Bob suggests, HG will give you great customer service and help out. Here are my two cents:
1. Red is head for that hammock, from what my friend who owns one says

thanks!

2. When you say "separating" are you referring to it just coming unzipped or an actual zipper failure where the teeth/chain is coming apart from each other without the slider body being what separates it?

Actual zipper failure. Running the zipper beyond where it separated got things corrected, but trying to understand if I'm doing something wrong that's causing undue stress, or if there's a defect in the zipper.

3. The small rings are indeed to help with things like you mentioned, although I'm surprised there weren't already other hardware components installed on them if this was sold as a whole kit. For example, if you're using the hammock rings to pull out the fabric to achieve an asymmetrical lay, then the hardware and cordage required to do that would likely be shock cord attached to something like this: https://dutchwaregear.com/wp-content...Tie-Outs-3.jpg

It didn't come with any hardware for this. I used a couple small carabiners plus some extra guy lines/stakes I had to do something similar to what your link showed, but I think shockcord would work MUCH better than the static line I used, since I had a lot of slack once I got in the hammock. Does it make sense to connect it to both the hammock body and the underquilt?

Hit me up if you want to talk about a good setup for the dog - what you have works but you may want to consider creating a "run" between the two trees for it.

I strung a length of paracord between the two trees, and attached the end of her leash to it with a carabiner so it would slide along the length of the paracord. Is that basically what you're describing?

---

Appreciate the responses! I'll be reaching out to HG directly as well, to get their thoughts.

How tight was the ridgeline while you were laying in the hammock? Guitar string, or could you bend it?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FLTurtle

How tight was the ridgeline while you were laying in the hammock? Guitar string, or could you bend it?

---

Started out more like a guitar string, but while I was tinkering with things, I loosened it to where I could bend it with 2 fingers about 1/2-3/4". Both times I noticed the zipper issue was when the ridgeline was tighter, but I was being more cautious after that, so I wasn't sure if they were related (correlation !=causation). Do you think they're related?

I guess it's possible if you had the ridgeline crazy tight. The bugnet is anchored by the zipper on the hammock body and getting pulled up by the ridgeline...somethings gotta give. I'm guessing in your case, it popped the zipper rather than tearing the net (which could happen).

Check out Shug's video on how to take the load off the ridgeline by adjusting the height of the straps on the tree, in addition to adjusting the strap length. Early in my hammock days, I used to shorten the strap length to raise/lower the hammock. This would usually cause the ridgeline to get tight, but also I would tend to run into calf ridge. When I raised the straps up the tree and add some slack (I use Beetle Buckles), I'd have the right height off the ground, about a 30 degree hangle, and little to no calf ridge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq7fDjH90MU

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FLTurtle

Check out Shug's video on how to take the load off the ridgeline by adjusting the height of the straps on the tree, in addition to adjusting the strap length. Early in my hammock days, I used to shorten the strap length to raise/lower the hammock. This would usually cause the ridgeline to get tight, but also I would tend to run into calf ridge. When I raised the straps up the tree and add some slack (I use Beetle Buckles), I'd have the right height off the ground, about a 30 degree hangle, and little to no calf ridge.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq7fDjH90MU

---

In case nobody has mentioned it, you may also want to consider using Derek Hanson's calculator as a guide for a while until you get used to what FLTurtle is describing. Here's a link: https://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator/

I own that kit. It's great. Don't get too obsessed with calculating hang angles. I went down that rabbit hole and it can be dark. I set the height a little further off the ground because I'm taller, then I look for some sag, then I hop in and make sure the ridge line isn't tight as a metal wire. It should have some give to it.

The side of your hammock has the D rings to pull out the sides and smaller clips to secure your underquilt. Helpful but not 100% necessary to secure your under quilt. Some brands don't offer them at all.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...27d95f83_k.jpg