Spreader bars, help me figure out what to get

[jellyfish]

The recent explosion of ticks in my area has me thinking I don't want my dog in the hammock with me again until cold weather.

I thought I'd make Stuart his own hammock to hang underneath my hammock (with his own bugnet) using spreader bars, like I've seen other people make here on the forums.

Also, I'd like to experiment with side-by-side hanging with my niece this summer.

It would be cool if I could use Stuart's bars for these experiments.

What should I get?

I'm confused by sizes and the various body parts.

[Dutch]

I prefer 32 inches which isn't a direct option at this point. It is on the todo list. The poles come in 18 inch versions. You get one male and one female with tips. If you put in the comments at check out that you want 4 inches cut off the female we will do that for free. If you get the 18 inch with tips you can try wider and cut down to where you prefer it. The wider it is though the harder it is to tarp, the more stress you are putting on the pole and more seesaw action you will get. I find with 32 inches you are not quite touching. .665 poles work for all but the heaviest hikers.

[jellyfish]

I prefer 32 inches which isn't a direct option at this point. It is on the todo list. The poles come in 18 inch versions. You get one male and one female with tips. If you put in the comments at check out that you want 4 inches cut off the female we will do that for free. If you get the 18 inch with tips you can try wider and cut down to where you prefer it. The wider it is though the harder it is to tarp, the more stress you are putting on the pole and more seesaw action you will get. I find with 32 inches you are not quite touching. .665 poles work for all but the heaviest hikers.

Sweet, thank you. 32" it is. Awesome.

[Treeshadow]

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ighlight=pooch


Maybe you have viewed this but just in case thought this may help.

[jellyfish]

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ighlight=pooch


Maybe you have viewed this but just in case thought this may help.

I like this. Thanks!

[jellyfish]

I prefer 32 inches which isn't a direct option at this point. It is on the todo list. The poles come in 18 inch versions. You get one male and one female with tips. If you put in the comments at check out that you want 4 inches cut off the female we will do that for free. If you get the 18 inch with tips you can try wider and cut down to where you prefer it. The wider it is though the harder it is to tarp, the more stress you are putting on the pole and more seesaw action you will get. I find with 32 inches you are not quite touching. .665 poles work for all but the heaviest hikers.

How wide should my tarp be for this type of setup? I am thinking my tarp wouldn't be wide enough.

[kitsapcowboy]

How wide should my tarp be for this type of setup? I am thinking my tarp wouldn't be wide enough.

For spring and summer (relatively fair-weather) camping, a tarp 10 feet wide is good, but one 12 feet wide is much better...

Also, FWIW, the stock 36" two-piece spreader bar is not really too bad at all, although you can use a pipe cutter to take the female side down a couple of inches at a time (or the male side, if you order them without the tips installed). Here's what the 36" setup looks like on two hammocks I made last week.



HTH...

[Billy Goat]

The wife and I frequently hang together and one of the last times we were out, we realized that under one of our standard (everyone in the family has one) 11ft hex tarps, the CLs of our hammocks would just stick outside the tarp. If we were to get into any appreciable weather, we would get soaked. So I made us a 12 footer with doors and it's a non issue now. The extra weight is plenty worth it to me in the cold or possibly wet. We can/do/have hung separately, but if it's not super hot out, we like to hang together. Also, we started out using spreader bars and after one weekend decided to ditch them. We hang head to foot and it works for us without the seesaw and without too much contact pressure. YMMV.