Legs & calves

[HillbillyHanger]

I've found I get some calf cramps in the hammock. This weekend. I loaded up on water and it seemed to help. I've noticed that my outside ankle (the one against the hammock edge) sometimes feels like it's got a stiffness. I've experienced this in my XLC and other simple 11' gathered end. Not painful, just feels stiff in that one ankle. I've switched lays and it follows the outside ankle. Anyone else experience? Any ways to reduce? I wondered if it was my underquilt suspension, but I used a 3/4 this weekend and made sure it was over the top of my foot/ankle. Thoughts?

[TrailSlug]

Maybe give a bridge hammock a try but I've never experienced the ankle thing. Now leg cramps, I have this issue every time I hike but that's because I'm never in good enough shape.

[SilvrSurfr]

I would guess you're unconsciously pressing against the outside edge of the hammock. I did that when I first started hammock camping in an HH Expedition Zip. It doesn't happen in my Dutch netless hammocks or my Dutch Chameleon.

[Misterk]

Helps to put something under your knees. I use my motorcycle jacket

[Phantom Grappler]

Try any or all of following guesses
Use a less pronounced diagonal lay—lay more down middle but with some diagonal—just less.

Try a full length underquilt

At a local hang try hammocks that are a little wider—although your hammock is generous width.

I had same thing with a hammock about 5 feet wide and switch to a 12 x 6 and foot scrunch and calf ridge pressure are greatly reduced or eliminated.

[leiavoia]

Try my knee pillow hack.

I sometimes get a stiff ankle, but i attribute it to hiking. It is not always the ankle against edge of the hammock.

I've not advocating drinking, but honestly a shot of alcohol of your choice help relax those muscles instead of fixating on it which makes it worse.

[Tikker]

I get the same thing in my short sunroom hammock but never in my amok draumr

[Grumpy Squatch]

I've noticed that my outside ankle (the one against the hammock edge) sometimes feels like it's got a stiffness. I've experienced this in my XLC and other simple 11' gathered end. Not painful, just feels stiff in that one ankle. I've switched lays and it follows the outside ankle. Anyone else experience? Any ways to reduce?

Yes! The outside ankle pressure is the main reason that I have trouble sleeping in hammocks. No amount of position changes (lying on my back anyway) help - the angle across the ridgeline changes nothing for me. (Note however that I am a bit of a The Princess and the Pea sleeper - the slightest thing can disrupt my sleep.)

The pressure comes from two areas, so solutions need to address these: the hammock body itself, especially if it has an integrated net or cover, and from an underquilt where the primary suspension pulls towards the ridgeline, pulling the side in.

For me, fixing the former required a longer and wider hammock. Like so many here I started with a 9.5' moved to an 11' then moved to an 11' wide hammock. Each was better than the last as far as outside foot pressure. So that's my first advice - go long if can and wide if needed. SilvrSurfr is right as usual that the problem is more pronounced when there is a bugnet or cover adding ridgidity and structure to the hammock, so whenever the insects or weather cooperate I go coverless. Tie-outs can be helpful too of your hammock has them. Adding tension pulling outward can reduce the foot pressure you feel.

As far as the quilt contributing, some way of redirecting the tension of the primary suspension is helpful - like Triangle Thingies or ridgeline quilt hooks, though pulling up and in is only marginally better than just pulling inwards. A 3/4 length quilt was better for me as far as this pressure was concerned, but then I ended up with a foot pad in any season other than Summer that was even more annoying :-). Most of the time I can adlust the UQ so that the foot end is high enoughthat my foot fits in a "pocket" of soft material underneath the suspension shock cord. That's usually enough to help.

Leg positioning helps. Sleeping in a figure-4 position with your outside leg tucked under or over your inside leg helps a little, but I can't really fall asleep that way. It works while reading though. Lots of people talk about pillows or putting their pack under their legs ... not me though. Anything like that in my hammock and there's no way I'm sleeping.

For me the final answer was to sleep on my side the way I do everywhere else. Problem totally solved and I fall asleep every time like this. I usually lay on my left side and it's the most comfortable position by far for me.

Good luck.

[HillbillyHanger]

Thanks. I don't think the underquilt suspension was contributing. I might be wrong, but the suspension cords were way above my feet and ankle. I will have to try the side sleeping. I sleep that way at home, but have always slept comfortably on my back in the hammock.

[rweb82]

I know it has been said many times before on the forums, but raise the foot-end of the hammock 8-12" higher than the head-end. This will allow your legs/feet to rest in the wider part of the hammock. That helped pretty much eliminate the ankle pressure for me. Also, my 3/4 length underquilt works better because it ends about mid-calf for me- thus no underquilt suspension adding extra pressure on my ankle. I also recommend Phantom Grappler's advice about a slightly less diagonal lay. I've personally found that the most diagonal lay is generally not the most comfortable, mainly due to the added pressure on the feet/head/shoulder.