Recliner sleeper's Hammock

[Owly*]

For me to sleep comfortably, I need to be in a sort of recliner position........ Upper body sloped slightly upward, a bit of a "land" or butt shelf to the knees, and lower legs sloped downward slightly. I just discovered the Amoc Draumr yesterday on the internet, which seems to fill the bill.......But they are beyond pricey!

I've been toying with a different concept. It would have two load bearing side panels, and a separate bottom sewn in so as to give me the sleeping position of a recliner laid down. I sleep like a baby in a "zero gravity" recliner outdoors, but that is hardly a backpacker's device. The hammock would have a lateral tube air mattress in the bottom to keep the bottom spread and avoid the cocoon thing, and would use spreaders at each end. It wouldn't be tippy like a yard hammock with a spreader because your weight would be well below the spreaders. An overquilt would complete the package other than for bug netting and a fly.
The side panels & bottom panel concept is one I've never seen done, but would suit my needs, allowing for a true three dimensional hammock. The "butt shelf" or seat area, would allow me to sleep in the upper end without sliding to the center, and in fact it might even make sense to hang on an angle instead of a straight line. With the spreaders designed to merely keep the top open, it might make sense to attach only one end of each spreader so you could pull the other end toward the center and close the hammock up. The air mattress would make a nice wide bottom allowing you to move around. There are lots of questions.... like how deep should the bottom be, how much of an issue is the stress on the seams? There definitely are high and low stress areas, and the design needs to take this into account. What materials to use?
This is just at the idea stage, and I'm considering building a prototype. Considering the fact that an air mattress would be used, it would not be unreasonable to simply use lacing as a bottom using some very strong cord,, but lacing calls for high stressed grommets with reinforcing around them...... ultimately a simple sewn in bottom is probably the best option for weight and strength. With the separate sides and bottom panels, it would be fairly simple to make a double bottom, the lower panel being very light material, spaced an inch or so beneath the load bearing bottom. This would create a dead air space, and some batting such as is used in quilting could even be inserted between forming an additional layer of insulation......... Ideas and thoughts come quick and fast, are examined and discarded or set aside for later review.

The Amock Dramur which I discovered just last night on the internet looks like it solves a LOT of my issues......... for less than I could probably build a hammock for......... It has tension straps that allow you to convert it to a chair, or anything from that to a flat lay. I like the huge open space with lots of stash pockets, etc.

Draumr.jpg

https://www.amokequipment.com/collections/hammocks

H.W.

[cmc4free]

The Amok Draumr and Draumr XL are quality hammocks for sure. They have a pretty strong following around here. Welcome to the forum!

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...rinkers-Thread

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...Kool-Aid-Again

[WV]

See my recent post about the Peoples Bridge Hammock (hereinafter "PBH"). It does what you describe.

[Draketake]

Hey Owly,

Welcome.

If you havent done so, Youtube some of Shugs videos. He does a very thorough review of the Amoc Dramur.

[Shug]

Might be what your looking for......
Shug

[leiavoia]

If you like the recliner position, a regular gathered end hammock with giant knee pillow will do that, while still being backpacker friendly. See here and here.

[Owly*]

The problem with the knee pillow is that you are still in a banana position. The standard 20 deg "zero gravity" position where your shoulders and knees are the high point is optimal. Your heels about level with your butt, knees at close to the same level as your shoulders.

Thinking about my idea for the separate panel between two sides some more, it wouldn't work, as the bottom would have to be sewn in to take into account the curve of the hang. As long as the hang point distances were the same AND the tension the same, it would work, but that is not realistic. However perhaps if the side panels were on the bias, instead of the warp being longitudinal and the weft vertical, the increased stiffness of having the fabric strands on a bias (45 deg) would give it a larger working range........ I don't know but I doubt it

A butt shelf / knee pillow combination would need to be attached so you lay in the upper part of the hammock so your legs were not sloping upward. Perhaps some creative things with the hang such as hanging very close to the tree on the head end, and much farther on the foot end, but gravity would probably still make your butt the low point, with everything sloping upward in both directions from there. Perhaps straps to deform the hang.... I'm not sure, but it probably could be done. I'm inclined to try things on a very cheap backpack hammock from Amazon or Ebay.

zerogravity.jpg

If you look at the lady in the photo, and imagine the hammock hanging from the head end normally, and the tension for the foot end running in a line to her caboose. Imagine a hammock cut out where her knees are so she rests in the natural pocket, and a sort of pocket sewn in for her lower legs that is below the main body of the hammock. I think it could be done somehow.

I've also toyed with the idea of hanging from the corners, putting a wrap around the trees such that there are two straps separated by the width of the tree trunk, attached to the corners of the hammock to naturally keep it spread by that amount. It wouldn't swing significantly, which would not be an issue for sleeping comfort, but perhaps for entry and exit............... Hammock design has not changed significantly in thousands of years aside from the materials used. I'm trying to think outside the box a bit to achieve what I want. I've toyed with using treking poles in helping to shape it..........They aren't being used anyway, though I never use them except for creek crossings... I find them a nuisance to walk with.

H.W.

[Shug]

Tighten the knee shelf and feet will drop in the Amok.....
Shug

[leiavoia]

Then let me share this idea, which i have not seen anyone else using: sofa-mode whipping.

I did some experiments with different gathering patterns for whipped gathered end hammocks. What i found is that if you leave one side long and the other side short, it creates a weird shape that isn't good for general hammocking, but turns the hammock into a lovely "sofa" if you sit in it perpendicular (as if it where a chair). Top view of hammock blank, in ASCII:

 --------------------
 \                  /
  \----------------/

You can go a bit further by adding a wobble in the gather so that it hits all the notes of a typical recliner:
- high back
- low butt
- elevated feet
- raised knees

You need a wide fabric to do this, but it does work. As i said, it doesn't sleep that well, but it makes an excellent chair.

[OlTrailDog]

In your other post I suggested using a combination of lowering the foot suspension, a knee pillow, and a torso pillow as the least expensive experiment. Followed by acquiring a used Draumr.

I use this set up when I am watching Netflix on my computer screen at times when I don't want to sit at the computer desk (except lowering the foot suspension). I actually call this my "couch". This is done using a DL DH Sparrow hammock laying on a standard diagonal angle, i.e. it is not a banana lay. Of course this is the simplest and least expensive solution and you probably can throw a bunch of money experimenting with other options and that is what HYOH is about.