A couple years ago when Bridge type hammocks came out, I tried one out and found the shoulder squeeze too confining, so I stayed with my tied end type hammocks. Im a restless sleeper and bend my knees alot, but I was just wondering if the past couple years Bridge type hammocks have evolved to address my style of sleeping or maybe its the nature of the beast to be more like a coffin?
I love my Warbonnet Ridgerunner, and don't get any shoulder squeeze. It has a short pole you can add to the head end poles, and once added there is no shoulder squeeze. When I take the additional piece out I get a little bit of shoulder squeeze, but I have a bad shoulder from an injury years ago, and it makes me more sensitive to the squeeze. YMMV
I love my Ridgerunner, and the views out both sides make it super nice. I put a SynMat 7 partially inflated in a fleece sleeping bag this weekend, and inserted it into the double layer and I loved it. I got a little bit of condensation with just the pad, hence the fleece sleeping bag added. I have an 0* UGQ Ambush UQ coming soon.
"No whining in the woods"
I have two bridge hammocks, a Lawson and a WB. Even though I love my Ridgerunner, the Lawson seems roomier and flatter. I will be posting it for sale soon.
As stated above, shoulder squeeze not an issue with the RR at all. Bending the knees might be an issue for you. I like to start out on my back but right before falling away into REM sleep I always go to my side which is fine as long as my legs are bent only a little. The more fetal you go, the more your knees come up one the side cat cut of the hammock and they tend to get a bit cold there as the are above the UQ. I often go for the half way side lay where I'm sort of leaning back on the opposite side of the hammock with my knees bent somewhat. Very comfortable. Tried to lay in a gathered end the other day and knew immediately why I went the bridge route.
The Ridgerunner, Grizzbridge, hikingdad style of bridge hammocks of the last few years are relatively shallow designs with little shoulder squeeze. They can be a bit narrow for full on fetal position sleeping but allow for a wide degree of bent knee sleeping. They can also be made wide enough to go full fetal.
I have an extra pillow that is small and when I turn on my side, I slide it under my knee that is resting on the edge of the hammock. It was very comfy.
"No whining in the woods"
Shoulder squeeze is a function of fabric width, and spreader bar length. The lower the ratio between the 2, the less squeeze (but higher stress on the spreader bar/fabric). The RR has a ratio of about 1.1 with the 39.5" bar.
I think the JRB is closer to 1.2-1.3.
I'm guessing, now that you've been in a hammock for a couple of years (not continuously, of course), that you may find you can relax a bit more in a bridge. As mention above the WBRR has about a six inch pole "section" that optionally makes the hammock head end a bit wider - so that can be played with for best comfort. My "problem" with the bridge is it requires trees to be further apart and also requires larger tarp-age in blowing rain because it is more difficult to close the ends - but there are tarp solutions (Wilderness Logics Old Man Winter and other massive tarps).
Though I might feel some squeeze at the beginning of the night, by morning, I can curl up in almost any position - with bridge or gathered end. So I judge things by how I feel in the morning, understanding that it might feel a little weird - especially if I haven't been in a hammock for a while - when I get in at night.
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