Full-time hammock sleeping problems

[hutzelbein]

You wouldn't be taking a full-length UQ on hiking trips would you?

Sure I do. Why wouldn't I? If I would be cold and uncomfortable at night, I wouldn't go hiking / camping in the first place. Most people need something under their legs when they are using a partial underquilt anyway. I don't want to fight with my sit pad to stay in place all night. I got an underquilt to get away from pads. And a full-length underquilt really isn't that much heavier than a partial underquilt. I'm not a weight weenie. If the choice is 100g more or being miserable, my decision is clear.

[AyeJay]

Well I just assumed there was a reason why most here deal in partial UQs instead of full-length ones. Out of the dozen or so UQs I've heard of hammockers using so far, all of them were using partial. You're the first person I've come across using a full. But it's nice to learn a full-length UQ works in the field and isn't significantly heavier.

[hutzelbein]

There are plenty of people using a full-length underquilt. Just have a look at the small descriptions under the forum handles. Partial underquilts are a great way of saving weight as long as you don't sleep cold, carry a sit pad (or something similar) and don't open the footbox on your top quilt. But they are always a compromise in comfort. The weight difference between e.g. a 20° Incubator Standard (78") and a 20° Phoenix (52") is 6.57oz. That's about 2 bars of chocolate. I don't think that that much additional pack weight will keep anybody from hiking.

[ChrisJHC]

I agree with Hutzelbein that the warmth and comfort of a full-length UQ far outweighs the marginal increase in weight. After I've been hiking for 8-10 hours, the last thing I want to compromise on is sleeping comfort!


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[AyeJay]

Well the full-length UQ option has given me food for thought. Thanks a lot!

[Time to Hang]

I need a full time hammock sleepers help, but first let me give you the details-

For hang details: I am very short and very small. 5'0 tall and 105lbs. The hammock dimensions are 12 ft by 4.9 ft. It is hung 6ft high and the walls are 11ft apart hung at an angle.

I have slept on my stomach and side for my 27 years of life, and I am absolutely addicted to it, but it hurts my entire body. I have tried many methods to train myself to sleep on my back in a bed, and I always wake up on my belly any way. So I bought a hammock, because I heard they would force me to sleep on my back, while at the same time being amazingly comfortable and relieving pressure points. I also just wanted a new lifestyle and to get rid of my unhealthy western style of sleeping. I don't want to be a hunch back.

So I studied all about hammocks, and researched how to hang, and it's hung loose. I lay diagonally. I had 50$ on an amazon card and bought the best brazillion hammock I could afford at that moment (or so I thought). It's a very large double hammock. Here it is:https://hammocksky.com/collections/h...ant=6561447491

but the strange thing is that the person who sells them only has one type of hammock on their website, and offer nothing else. There were tons of bad reviews but I assumed these people weren't laying diagonally or hanging it right, so I tried to have hope, and when it came it looked pretty normal.

Here it is in my room: Attachment 154500

The hammock stunk like old dust and mildew. I aired it out and got over that problem. At first it hugged me too tight so I kept loosening it. Solved that problem as well..

So here are the problems I can't solve =[

1. It is very hard cloth, and kind of itchy like wool. Even hung loosely it still feels stiff. (Is this normal? Is it optimal for full time sleep?)

2. When I lie down to sleep I feel like my body from my shoulders down feels amazing, and my back feels like it's lying on a cloud, but my shoulders and up to my head feel extremely uncomfortable and I can't find a comfortable place for my arms or head. I have scooted up and down and nothing fixes this problem. I have tried a small pillow, no pillow at all, and a neck pillow. Still the same. Also my head points down and squishes my chin down to touch my neck. I don't want my chin and my neck to touch all night, it makes my neck hurt.

3. This is the biggest problem and what I want to solve most. I wake up every few hours tossing and turning like I would on a hard floor. It just feels like I can't get comfortable. It gives me the strongest temptation in the world to drag my bed back into my room and sleep on it at 3am but I ignore this urge and keep fighting it with no prevail. I want to stay on my back all night and not move an inch.

4. If I do happen to sleep on my side and stomach it hurts my spine and internal organs extremely bad. Is this normal?

5. My last and final problem is that I feel extremely cold even if I wrap myself in thick blankets and wear socks and long pajamas. It feels like I'm outside in wintertime naked.

I can't go back to a western bed. I will sleep on a tatami mat before I do that. I want to solve these problems so I don't have to. I feel like I have changed my entire life by doing this and it makes me feel so good. I just can't go back =[

Am I doing something wrong, is it a bad hammock? or is this all because I am deeply programmed to sleep on my stomach? Any advice at all?

Thank you very much and sorry for the amount of words.

TLDR version: My hammock is hung correctly, and loosely. I am deeply programmed to stomach sleep and want to stay on my back and I toss and turn all night and can't get comfortable, waking up with spine and organ pain. What do I do?

I think you will be fine once you get it figured out. I sleep in a hammock most nights, but what works for me may not for anyone else. Fist off, the sag looks to be too much, like others have said. I currently sleep in a Dutch hammock that they made "custom", it is a 12' 72" Hyper D wide. At your height, you could get away with an 11' IMHO. Secondly, it's a double layer, that is important because I use a pad for warmth. This isn't your normal "camping" pad. I went to my local "Wal" store and in the bedding department, I got a memory foam pad, and cut it to fit my hammock as best I could, you have to make sure you cut some triangle shaped cuts so that the pad fits the curve(important). The pad then slips in-between the two layers and because of it's construction, doesn't move at all ! It's easily removable for washing, as is the entire hammock. The pad makes it soo soft and comfy too; it also adds the necessary insulation factor so you won't get cold. Two other things I do: as is normal for a GE nylon hammock is to hang the foot higher than the head end. I do this around 8" to 10". A small pillow helps when I lay on my side(right) and I lay head right, foot left. I find it very comfortable to lay on my side in this manner. I can lay on my left so a certain degree, but it works better the other way for me. Lastly, you still need some kind of blanket or top insulation. I use either a poncho liner or a lightweight sleeping back unzipped in top quilt fashion.

This is what works for me. I don't seem to sleep well in a normal bed either, my wife describes it like an alligator "spinning" ! I will end up on my stomach with my feet a foot off the bed. Must be kind of comical !

Good luck and hope this helps.

[hutzelbein]

Fist off, the sag looks to be too much, like others have said.

The sag looks good to me - for a traditional hammock. If you hang a Brazilian with a 30° angle, it will feel like a bathtub. Traditional hammocks are often hung with a 45° angle or even steeper. But they are also longer than 12', usually. The 30° rule was "invented" for camping hammocks of a specific size. Go shorter, and a more shallow hang angle is more comfortable. Go longer, and it's more comfortable to hang the hammock with a steeper angle.

[Time to Hang]

The sag looks good to me - for a traditional hammock. If you hang a Brazilian with a 30° angle, it will feel like a bathtub. Traditional hammocks are often hung with a 45° angle or even steeper. But they are also longer than 12', usually. The 30° rule was "invented" for camping hammocks of a specific size. Go shorter, and a more shallow hang angle is more comfortable. Go longer, and it's more comfortable to hang the hammock with a steeper angle.

I have a Paradiso Hammock Double made by Byer of Maine, which I guess could be termed a "traditional" hammock. Had it for some time and used it a lot and for ME, it's more comfortable a little tighter. Maybe not quite 30* but definitely not 45* or steeper. Maybe if it was longer that would work.
As always, experiment to see what works best for you and enjoy.

[hutzelbein]

I have a Paradiso Hammock Double made by Byer of Maine, which I guess could be termed a "traditional" hammock. Had it for some time and used it a lot and for ME, it's more comfortable a little tighter. Maybe not quite 30* but definitely not 45* or steeper. Maybe if it was longer that would work.

By "traditional" I was referring to hammocks like Brazilian, Mayan, Nicaraguan etc. hammocks. These are usually not made from synthetic fibers, but these days most often from cotton. I don't know if it is the cotton or the weaving technique, but all traditional hammocks I have tried had a distinctively different lay. When I hung my Brazilian with a 30° angle, for whatever reason the result was not desirable.

As always, experiment to see what works best for you and enjoy.

Absolutely. But several people in this thread mentioned that the hammock in the picture was hung with the wrong angle. While the Brazilian hammock pictured is only 12' long, I think it probably wouldn't get more comfortable if you changed the hang angle to 30°.

[Time to Hang]

By "traditional" I was referring to hammocks like Brazilian, Mayan, Nicaraguan etc. hammocks. These are usually not made from synthetic fibers, but these days most often from cotton. I don't know if it is the cotton or the weaving technique, but all traditional hammocks I have tried had a distinctively different lay. When I hung my Brazilian with a 30° angle, for whatever reason the result was not desirable.



Absolutely. But several people in this thread mentioned that the hammock in the picture was hung with the wrong angle. While the Brazilian hammock pictured is only 12' long, I think it probably wouldn't get more comfortable if you changed the hang angle to 30°.

I'd like to try one of the Mayan hammocks, they look very comfy, but don't want to end up looking like an aged ham if I stay in it too long! The Brazilian I have is made of cotton and seems very durable, but the fabric isn't nearly as soft as you would think cotton would be. Maybe that could account for some of the OP's discomfort???
Enjoy