Hi from South Central Montana

[Owly*]

65 in 6 months, I've been an outdoorsman all my life. I have back issues that make sleeping on the ground miserable, and in fact have driven me to sleeping in a recliner for many years, the result being that I cannot sleep well in a flat bed, tossing and turning and aching all over. As a result I mostly day hike these days, but for me a day hike tends to be between 10 and 20 miles in the mountains. In my teens, (late 60's early 70's), I often took trips on the PC trail that were as long as 120 miles, with the usual minimum being 50, and I miss the long stretches in to the wilds. In those days the PC had virtually no traffic. We would often go days without seeing a single other person, except in popular areas, which we tended to avoid. Summer of '70, I was involved in an NSF project in the Mount Hood NF, and slept in a net hammock (pocket size) all summer (several months), with a ridge line supporting a cheap "tube tent", which I pulled over myself if it decided to rain....Not the best system, but it worked. i quickly figured out drip knots on suspension lines. I found no difficulty sleeping in a mummy bag in a net hammock back then.
That was then, this is now.... 50 years later. Last summer, I took a lady friend on one of my favorite hikes, 16 mile round trip, 8 "shoe removal crossings" each way, 3000 feet of gain. Knowing that she probably had about 1/4 of my range, we planned for two nights. It was a good trip for me....... a hard one for her, making only about 5 miles the first day. Found a good camp site, and I completed the trip the next day easily, leaving her about a mile from the summit.......... I suspect that she will think twice before going with me again ;-)............ I did not sleep well at all due to being flat, and concluded that hammock camping is for me, but what kind of hammock? What kind of hammock will allow the upper body to slope upward slightly, and the legs buckle at the knees a bit and slope down?

H.W.

[OlTrailDog]

Howdy from the Bitterroot. I would make several suggestions. My personal favorite hammock is a Hammocktent 90 degree that I have modified to provide more lift under the knees as well as other modifications. However, I would not recommend this hammock for you since modifying it is more than you want to do and it is more expensive than the Draumr noted in your other thread. There is a for sale forum (FS) FS here on HF that is one of the best ways to pick up a quality hammock at a reasonable price. You might pick up a Draumr on the FS forum or even put out a Wanted To Buy, because it seems like the Draumr's ability to adjust into a recliner could be ideal.

Next, I would suggest try lowering the foot of a 11 foot gathered end (GE) a bit, use a horizontal pillow under your knees, and maybe a body pillow under your torso and head. This might work with a bridge hammock too, probably a Big Bill's Towns End hammock. You should be able to pick up a GE hammock as the least expensive option to test this out.

I lived over in Bozeman until 2017, and moved over to the Bitterroot after my wife passed away. I would suggest trying out one of my hammocks. But you really don't want me anywhere near that gal friend of yours because even though I'm a few years older than you, it would very hard for her to resist my extraordinary good looks and charming ways. There is another golden aged hammocker over near you, Old Gringo, who might be a good resource, and I can guarantee you your gal is plenty safe around him.

[Shug]

65 in 6 months, I've been an outdoorsman all my life. I have back issues that make sleeping on the ground miserable, and in fact have driven me to sleeping in a recliner for many years, the result being that I cannot sleep well in a flat bed, tossing and turning and aching all over. As a result I mostly day hike these days, but for me a day hike tends to be between 10 and 20 miles in the mountains. In my teens, (late 60's early 70's), I often took trips on the PC trail that were as long as 120 miles, with the usual minimum being 50, and I miss the long stretches in to the wilds. In those days the PC had virtually no traffic. We would often go days without seeing a single other person, except in popular areas, which we tended to avoid. Summer of '70, I was involved in an NSF project in the Mount Hood NF, and slept in a net hammock (pocket size) all summer (several months), with a ridge line supporting a cheap "tube tent", which I pulled over myself if it decided to rain....Not the best system, but it worked. i quickly figured out drip knots on suspension lines. I found no difficulty sleeping in a mummy bag in a net hammock back then.
That was then, this is now.... 50 years later. Last summer, I took a lady friend on one of my favorite hikes, 16 mile round trip, 8 "shoe removal crossings" each way, 3000 feet of gain. Knowing that she probably had about 1/4 of my range, we planned for two nights. It was a good trip for me....... a hard one for her, making only about 5 miles the first day. Found a good camp site, and I completed the trip the next day easily, leaving her about a mile from the summit.......... I suspect that she will think twice before going with me again ;-)............ I did not sleep well at all due to being flat, and concluded that hammock camping is for me, but what kind of hammock? What kind of hammock will allow the upper body to slope upward slightly, and the legs buckle at the knees a bit and slope down?




H.W.

The AMOK Draumr will do that. It is a 90% hammock dependent on a pad for support.

Shug