shoulder squeeze problem

[FLRider]

Well, a soft bed and a stretchy hammock fabric are two different pairs of shoes. A soft bed won't cradle you the way a stretchy hammock does. I'm not saying that the Argon is at fault, but I get shoulder pains / shoulder squeeze from stretchy hammock fabrics but sleep just fine in a soft bed.

A very good point; I find the exact opposite true. I prefer a little stretch to my hammocks, while I need a fairly firm mattress for comfort.

That being said, you don't need an adjustable ridgeline for your ridgeline to be adjustable in the lab. It sure makes things easier in the field, but simply being able to tie quick-release ("slippery") knots will do you just fine at home as long as you have a long enough piece of line. Tie one end normally around the suspension at the whipping end, then tie the other end in a slippery knot with quite a bit of extra length on it (like a foot or three, or, honestly, just leave the roll uncut on that end). You can then play with it to your heart's content and then tie a permanent knot and cut the excess. Just a thought...

Hope it helps!

[soul embrace]

Oh ok. Still want to rule everything else out before I swap hammock.

[OutandBack]

Oh ok. Still want to rule everything else out before I swap hammock.

Hi SE,
13-20ft tree space should be the sweet spot for tree distance on a 11' hammock.
I would remove the ridgeline you purchased and try different hammock suspension angles by raising and lower the strap on the trees
and adjusting the tightness of the hammock suspension to see if you can eliminate this shoulder squeeze.
Just eyeballing the hammock suspension when the hammock is empty try everything between 20-35 degrees.

Be sure you are laying diaginal in the hammock and your head is not too close to the head end of the hammock.

The sweet spot in a hammock is not a tiny bullseye where you have to have everything just perfect or it doesn't work.

All that said, I don't like stretchy hammock materials so argon and 1.0/1.1 ripstop are out for me. YMMV

hth

[silent chad]

+1 on giving a little more sag with an 11' hammock.
Obviously, this is me speaking about what's comfortable for me... so... grain of salt. But I've gotten to where I use significantly less SRL length than the magical 83%.
Shoulder squeeze is an issue with me because of some back injuries but if I get enough sag, no problems at all.

On another note, I've spent many comfortable nights in one of those two-tone blue WM equip hammocks. The lack of stretch in the fabric makes a difference for me. I think Dutch has some fabric ( Poly - D ?) that has low stretch qualities but is a lot lighter than that wallyworld special.... I'm gonna order an 11 footer from him in the next few week myself mainly for shoulder sqeeze reasons.

experimentation is in order. But I bet you can take care of it , best of luck,
Chad

[MadUncleAndy]

Will try the adjustable one also. Have to buy one cause I don't know and not sure I could make one

For a quick and dirty cheap experimental ridgline to test the theory, tie a bowline on one end of 10 foot or so of string and use a tautline hitch on the other. If you don't know those knots, they are easy to learn and I recommend the free website "Animated Knots by Grog".

http://www.animatedknots.com/

If/when you want a permanant adjustable ridgline, look around on this forum for "how to splice" articles. It is *much* easlier than it looks. I learned from what I found here a few months ago, and have been loving life since. Warning...splicing is adictive. My daughter called this summer "The summer of Dad playing with string."

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...cing-tutorials

[BillyBob58]

Ditto on increasing the sag. In my experience anyway- with the hammocks I have used, too little sag= shoulder squeeze. For example, here is a very long hammock that has zero shoulder squeeze, but notice the sag:

Notice the RL is well above my head(I am 6'1"). On another hammock from the same manufacturer, the RL hits me about at my neck/shoulder line.

[h_ngm_n]

Ditto on increasing the sag. In my experience anyway- with the hammocks I have used, too little sag= shoulder squeeze. For example, here is a very long hammock that has zero shoulder squeeze, but notice the sag:

Notice the RL is well above my head(I am 6'1"). On another hammock from the same manufacturer, the RL hits me about at my neck/shoulder line.

This is a good thread. I've been currently dealing with the shoulder squeeze issue on a DIY hammock (first time hanger). I'm well below the 83% SRL and have alot of sag to get alleviate the squeeze. I thought I was still doing wrong as most everything I've seen on line shows the SRL close enough to the person laying in the hammock to reach up and touch it. I still think I have some more dialing in to do, but at least I know that I might be heading in the right direction.

[PapaSmurf]

... and your head is not too close to the head end of the hammock.

Sliding down slightly away from the head end will often decrease the pressure on your shoulders. I'm 5'7", 265lbs and I've had sales clerks nicely refer to me as "torso dominant" At 5ft, 205lbs, you may find the sweet spot with your torso clear down closer to the center portion of the hammock. Since you are in an 11ft long hammock, this should allow more than enough room at the foot end.

[dfscott]

So glad to find this thread -- I was coming to post about a similar problem.

I've been comfy as can be in my ENO DN, but switched to an 11' PolyD for the weight savings. However, I've been very uncomfortable my last two trips. I either felt like I was falling out (when I got far diag), or I got terrible shoulder squeeze when I was in my more natural position. I was running a standard 83% ridgeline (110"), but after reading this now I'm thinking I should go for more like 100-105".

I also noticed that I naturally kept sliding down away from the head end as Papa Smurf suggested, but I kept making myself scoot back up since I was used to having the edge of my UQ sit right above my shoulders, so I might have been working against myself there as well. FWIW, I'm 5'10" and just under 200#.

se, I'll be interested to see how it works for you, and in the meantime, I'll try some more backyard hang experimenting and report back here as well.

[SnrMoment]

Take your ridge line and under quilt off. Hang the hammock so there's a huge amount of sag in it. Get in to test. If not right, start to tighten it up, keeping your foot end higher than the head end and getting in and out until it feels right. When you get there, reset the RL and UQ.

If you feel you're going to fall out on the diagonal, add a Knotty Mod.