How do asym hammocks and side sleeping affect each other?

[upfromtheashes]

I've only ever camped with a WB Ridgerunner, but I'm thinking about picking up a Blackbird right now while they're on sale.
I've never attempted to sleep in an asym hammock so I'm not sure which direction of lay would feel better to me.....but I have this question:
I do some amount of side sleeping, almost exclusively on my right side due to a bum left shoulder.
Would the fact that I only sleep on my right side suggest that I should go with one particular direction of asym lay over another?
Like if I laid head right and then slept on my right side would my face be pushed all up into the fabric or does it not play out like that?
What have been your side sleeping experiences in asym hammocks? Thanks!

[sidneyhornblower]

In a gathered end, on occasion I've side slept a bit, usually in the same direction I use when I'm on my back. For example, I lie down head left, feet right diagonally. When I turn, I turn to my left and settle into a position where I'm on my left shoulder more or less. My head is still on the left and my feet on the right and I'm diagonal. My face will either be facing into small amount of fabric there, or if I'm really slid over close to the edge, it's facing up and over the edge of the hammock fabric. My legs may be straight, but more likely bent a bit, maybe as much as a semi-fetal position, but I'm still more or less diagonal.

It's not a position I adopt very much in any hammock. Mostly I just stay on my back. To see if it works, I'm afraid it's just going to take some practice and shifting around in a gathered end. I'd suggest a netless hammock that's NOT asym, so you can try both diagonal directions and both sides to see what works. Since I know I prefer head left, feet right, I could get away with an asym at this point but that's not what I'd choose if I wasn't certain.

[hutzelbein]

You would have to try it yourself, since this is very individual. The WB hammocks are the only GE hammocks I can sleep on my side at all. I lie regular and can sleep on both sides, but I usually have to put in some effort to find the right spot. Also, I find it easiest to lie on my side in the 70D heavyweight DLs. With the other fabrics and combinations my hip sinks in too deep for a comfortable lay. It's possible, though, that I simply haven't found the right spot. GE hammocks feel different depending on where and how you lie in them. That doesn't make it easier

[bigdisgrace]

If you get the XLC version of the Blackbird, flipping the net will allow both L or R lays.

[Shug]

This may give some insight.
Carry forth.
Shug

[Tikker]

I tend to do everything backwards to what I see everyone else describe, lol

in a gathered end, I sleep head right, feet left

when I sleep on my right side, I have my face to the outside, aka still head right, feet left

if I flop to sleep on my left side, I completely shift over again, so my face faces outwards, and I'm head left, feet right

it's such a personal thing tho, it's almost impossible to recommend a best/correct way to do things

[rodentface]

These days I'm most comfortable head right and on my back all night long. I occasionally turn my body and head slightly left or right but I'm still predominantly on my back. I definitely wouldn't call it side sleeping.

I have been and continue to be a hardcore side sleeper in a bed.

But, when I started hanging in a gathered end I initially slept on my side for at least part of the night, both head left and head right, and facing both directions in each orientation.

A surprise to me, I found all of those options more comfortable than sleeping on my side in my Ridgerunner.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[cmc4free]

A surprise to me, I found all of those options more comfortable than sleeping on my side in my Ridgerunner.

I agree with you on that. For me the RR is a back-only hammock, just like my gathered ends. The Amok Draumr is the only one I've found that I would consider comfortable in other positions, though I think that one is also more comfortable sleeping on my back than in other positions.

I'm rarely able to sleep all night on my back in a bed, but in a hammock it's the complete opposite. Go figure.

[No-sage]

I sleep every night in a gathered end. No asym though.

Like above, I sleep on both sides. Right shoulder down is head right, left shoulder down is head left. On my back, either way, I don’t care.

[OlTrailDog]

In a bed I am probably spend 66% of my time on one side or the other and the rest on my back. In a GE it is probably more like 20% on my sides and 80% on my back.

That is one reason, like the fellow who owns a Draumr, I find the 90 degree Hammocktent more comfortable overall than a GE. This is, I find a 90* far easier to side sleep than the nuanced art of side sleeping in a GE. That is not to say I don't enjoy using my GEs too. Personally, the WBRR was too narrow for me to comfortable for either side or back sleeping and I passed it along for others to enjoy.