First hangup, tips to make it better?

[RustyP]

Hi folks,

So, I was out at a local county park today and hung my double hammock for the first time.

It was generally successful. No one got hurt, and both my wife and I spent a restful few minutes in the hammock, but one at a time.

Here are some particulars.

The trees were about 21 feet apart. Each tree was about 5 feet around.
My double hammock is about 10.5 feet long.

maybe you're beginning to spot my issues.

At first I was having trouble getting the suspension/hammock to reach.
I have ten ft straps attached to end loops with biners on to the hammock.
At first, I had just enough suspension to make the connection, but the hammock seemed way too tight, at least the edges seemed so. i didn't try to get in.

I had two extra straps around, so I lengthened the suspension and, after a few attempts, was able to get in without bottoming out.

the thing is that, even though I moved the straps up as far as I could reach, about 6.5 or 7 feet up the tree, when I got in , the sides still seemed pretty tight and I was swallowed up by the hammock. My wife laughed saying that it looked like i was swallowed up by a giant pea pod.

We weren't uncomfortable, just hanging really low and the sides were up really high.



Is this just the case with doubles, high sides? And, if we want to not hang so low, does it just mean that we need to put the straps up higher? I weigh 180 and she weighs less.

I'm sure we were doing well to get it hung with such large trees and so far apart.

Any suggestions for the next time?

thanks!
Rusty

[johnspenn]

Your trees were definitely too far apart. 12-15 feet is typically the standard, and you want to try to get about a 30 degree angle on your straps where they part from the trees. This will allow your hammock to sag the proper amount and should eliminate the "pea pod" effect. It should look like the smile portion of a smiley face, basically.

Once you are in the hammock you can adjust your lay at an angle i.e. head to the left and feet to the right or visa versa, and this will help you achieve a flatter more comfortable lay.

If you want much better and more comprehensive details go to ultimatehang.com and check out his "Hammocking 101" series for beginning hammockers. It's a great tutorial for beginners. Happy hanging!

[dkurfiss]

Here are a couple of tips for you:

1) Read all the sticky posts at the top of each section here at Hammock Forums. You will find all of your questions answered plus questions you have not thought of yet.

2) Go to You Tube and watch all of Shug's videos. He will also answer all your questions but make you laugh. Leave lots of times to watch these

3) Google The Ultimate Hang and read Derek's The Ultimate Hang pages. He does a great of explaining things you did not even know you needed to know. He also does great diagrams so it's easy to understand.

While most of the information above is gear toward camping with your hammock, it is applicable to a Sunday hang in the park too.

[Bizzz]

The hang calculator was very helpful for me. Using your approximate info it looks like you needed to hang your straps about 7.5 ft high.

http://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator/

[laghang]

Agreed with all the tips provided. I like the advice from the Ultimate hang of 6 steps or 3 paces between trees.