How do y'all do it?

[Petros]

A little Tylenol PM at the end of the day can do wonders as well ;-) Couple that with a side-sleeper's dream hammock like an Amok and you'd be visiting the sandman in no time!

[Mr. Gillam]

OP here, still working on sleeping in a hammock. It's slowly getting better and more normal to me. I was out this weekend to test my new HG Incubator. I was comfy and warm but, found that I had to use the restroom way more often than usual. What's up with that?

[cmoulder]

OP here, still working on sleeping in a hammock. It's slowly getting better and more normal to me. I was out this weekend to test my new HG Incubator. I was comfy and warm but, found that I had to use the restroom way more often than usual. What's up with that?

Fluid intake?

Seriously, what might be happening is that as the weather cools we keep drinking water at the rate we did when it was hot but don't sweat out enough of it, so at the end of the day we're a bit over-hydrated. Just one scenario that makes sense... to me anyway.

And people are different. I have a friend who needs a lot of fluid. He's a big guy and sweats a lot. One day this past April when we were doing the Allegheny Front Trail in PA he drank 7 liters of water for the day, while I drank about 1.5 liters (plus about another .5L for dinner). He didn't get out of his hammock even one time to pee, but I was up twice during the night, and I don't have any medical or bladder volume problems.

However, I don't think there's any relationship between sleeping in a hammock and having to pee more often.

[Gregori]

Comfort in a hammock takes some practice. A number of variables can make or break your sleep comfort.

As a new hammock camper (18+ months), I found the learning curve to be something that just time in hammock and fiddling with all the adjustments, moving around, finding the best spot in the hammock will take care of. But it takes time, and changes, and a little thinking about what is NOT comfortable.

And just learning about all the different gear options. In the end, your gear closet will grow, and you will become much more comfortable, know your perfect hang adjustments, and just relax and sleep better.

Adjustments being hammock angle, diagonal angle, ridgeline, height above ground, quilt snugness, clothes to wear in hammock, your gear setup outside of hammock, height/angle of tarp, and more.... All these little things add up in the end.

Biology breaks are natural, especially for older campers. Holding it for any length of time is NOT comfortable. You learn to get out of hammock, and back in with minimal fuss, time, effort and get all cozy again.



G

[Grumpy Squatch]

I had to use the restroom way more often than usual. What's up with that?

Several threads discuss that here. Not aware of anyone that has a definitive cause, but there are some physiologic changes that heppen with temperature, including what's known as "cold diuresis" which is poorly understood, but generally involves several reactions to a drop in body temperature that scrub fluid from the circulatory system. Although certainly present in actual hypothermia, some believe milder forms may cause more frequent urination just through exposure to cooler than normal temperatures for your body.

[Floridahanger]

Fluid intake?

Seriously, what might be happening is that as the weather cools we keep drinking water at the rate we did when it was hot but don't sweat out enough of it, so at the end of the day we're a bit over-hydrated. Just one scenario that makes sense... to me anyway.

And people are different. I have a friend who needs a lot of fluid. He's a big guy and sweats a lot. One day this past April when we were doing the Allegheny Front Trail in PA he drank 7 liters of water for the day, while I drank about 1.5 liters (plus about another .5L for dinner). He didn't get out of his hammock even one time to pee, but I was up twice during the night, and I don't have any medical or bladder volume problems.

However, I don't think there's any relationship between sleeping in a hammock and having to pee more often.

Still hot here and when it does get colder, there seems to be no difference in how many times we get up . Although it's not scientific, many years with many hammockers can help in understanding this issue. Liquid intake doesn't seem to be the issue.

OP here, still working on sleeping in a hammock. It's slowly getting better and more normal to me. I was out this weekend to test my new HG Incubator. I was comfy and warm but, found that I had to use the restroom way more often than usual. What's up with that?

This is an issue most, if not just a whole lot, of us have also noticed when we started hanging.

My personal opinion is that the body looks for a happy medium and laying in a hammock seems to relieve most pressure points and allows the body to relax enough for all the cells to work more efficiently enough at removing toxins. Therefore causing more times to pee at night. At home in a bed or couch, it's not very comfortable and I don't pee all night. Free advise and you get your money's worth.

Enjoy the ride.

[Hotlips]

When you sleep, your kidneys work to filter out the fluid that gravity has settled into your lower extremities during the day. Usually we hang with our feet elevated, and we may tend to drink more when out in nature. This is the cause of the increased nature visits at night when in the hammock usually. As for ridge line pain, foot pain, and restlessness, I use a long pillow under my knees. I use L-tryptophan tablets for restlessness and foot problems, and if I get those awesome leg cramps when I get out of my hammock I have 2 packs of mustard within reach that I tear open and suck down so I can actually walk. There is always a solution somewhere. We just have to keep looking until we find it.

[scrope]

When you sleep, your kidneys work to filter out the fluid that gravity has settled into your lower extremities during the day. Usually we hang with our feet elevated, and we may tend to drink more when out in nature. This is the cause of the increased nature visits at night when in the hammock usually. As for ridge line pain, foot pain, and restlessness, I use a long pillow under my knees. I use L-tryptophan tablets for restlessness and foot problems, and if I get those awesome leg cramps when I get out of my hammock I have 2 packs of mustard within reach that I tear open and suck down so I can actually walk. There is always a solution somewhere. We just have to keep looking until we find it.

For myself, I've always been told to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate while hiking -- which I do. However, I've come to the conclusion that I drink way too much water if I'm forcing myself to hydrate. I've started just drinking when I get thirsty and I noticed that I get up to pee much less (if at all) during the night.

I also have a theory that frequent peeing is flushing out toxins but also valuable minerals, etc. because I noticed that when I stopped drinking so much water I also had less cramping. Supplementing my food with banana chips as a snack increases my Potassium levels which I believe were being depleted by the frequent peeing. My instances of cramping have dropped to almost zero.

This is working for me and I put it out there as anecdotal evidence.

[fivefreds]

What is the widest 11' hammock with a single width piece of fabric, I.E. No stitching?

I'm 6'4" x 320 lbs, a side sleeper, & I switch sides 2-3 times at night due to old back problems. I tried an Amazon 3-panel hammock (similar to ENO), but the seams created pressure points at my neck & calf. Per the recommendation of Randy (aka "Papa Smurf") at Dream Hammock, I ordered a extra-wide (72") Sparrow. Randy was terrific via email & he let me know which fabrics were available in extra-wide.

I LOVE MY SPARROW!

Still, with tree spacing and other factors in the woods being inconsistent by nature, sometimes it takes a few tweaks to get the hang dialed-in. Last weekend with the scouts I was hanging from trees located on a bit of a slope, producing an optical illustion of sorts which made it harder to eyeball keeping the foot end higher. I finally ended up laying in the hammock and closing my eyes in order to "feel" what adjustments were needed, insteaded of trying to do it by sight.

7304a.jpg

[<-Pointer]

OP here, still working on sleeping in a hammock. It's slowly getting better and more normal to me. I was out this weekend to test my new HG Incubator. I was comfy and warm but, found that I had to use the restroom way more often than usual. What's up with that?

If this is happening after a long day of heavy exercise then it may be exercise induced hyponatremia. There have been a number of studies that show some people have a tendency to retain water in response heavy exercise (despite heavy sweating they are still taking in more fluids than they are sweating out and often stop urination completely during the activity.) I don't think that anyone fully understands the pathogenesis but it's likely just an evolutionary adaptation to drive you to increase water reserves within the body in response to heavy activity that could otherwise cause dehydration. When you stop the activity and begin to recover your body will release those excess fluids, causing you to urinate excessively the night after the activity. The good news is that you're probably staying well hydrated but in extreme cases hyponatremia is actually a dangerous condition because your electrolytes can become imbalanced and cause organ shut down.