Double whoopie hook: not usable if the hammocks are different size?

[neokei]

Hello again,

During my tests today with my two new DIY hammocks, I ran some trouble with using the dutch's double whoopie hooks.

Our two hammocks have quite different length: one is 9.5 while the other is 12 feet. We used the whoopie hooks, putting them as close as possible to the hammock, as I read it was better when it was far away from the trees. Thing is, once we were in it, it wouldn't stay horizontal at all, like so:

MyP6VQr.jpg

Now, because our two hammocks have pretty different sizes, the angles are not the same for a given tree distance. The shorter the hammock, the higher the tree strap has to be. So we did our best to have a 30 degree angle on both side, for each hammock. Thing is, once my girlfriend enters her hammock, the angle on mine becomes almost flat, as shown in the picture! So it becomes very difficult to get into my hammock, we could really feel all the elements becoming very tight. Not to mention, the slightest movement would make everything move. The spreader bar is made of two 18 inches tentpoles from questoutfitter, here: http://questoutfitters.com/tent_poles.htm#TENT POLES

So, does anybody have any advice on this? As of now it seems pretty unusable, but I'm not sure what we're doing wrong...

[Dutch]

I have used them with different size hammocks but I keep the head end the same distance from the tree. However a 9.5 and a 12 foot hammock is a greater distance than I have tried before. That said typically greater distance in tree spacing helps keep the 30% angle.

[SilvrSurfr]

I think you hit the nail on the head: the hammocks need to be the same size (or near). I don't think any double hammock design would anticipate that you would use one hammock that is 20% longer than the other.

[SilvrSurfr]

I have used them with different size hammocks but I keep the head end the same distance from the tree.

Don't you end up with one suspension that is shorter than the other if you do it that way?

[daverr]

I've used my 11 footer with my son's 8 foot 9 incher before. Works fine you just have to hang the shorter hammock a bit higher. And as Dutch says, make sure the end of the hammock on the head-end is equidistant from the tree.

[neokei]

Thanks for all the advices. We did try to have the head ends equidistant to the tree, but it didn't work that well. We're building a new 12 feet hammock, we'll see if having two hammocks of the same size helps. Will keep you updated!