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  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by MikJW View Post
    I appreciate the comments telling me to go for a long hike and you'll get used to it, or It takes time to get used to it. Not for nothing, but could you imagine a mattress salesman telling you that? We would all walk out the door. After watching some YouTube videos, I was led to believe that Hammock sleeping was the best sleep you could have. So I jumped in with both feet. Wish I had known that this is not for everyone. Nothing against you guys (and gals) that love it, but if I was going to introduce someone to hammock camping I would make sure to let them know that this is not for everyone. At least forewarn them.
    I get it and I guess most folks here do too. They're not the same people that made the videos you saw, I suppose.

    Everything has to have a car analogy, so I'll try one. Bear with me. If you went car shopping and you went to a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and a Porsche dealership (the videos) and one of them managed to sell you one of their cars and then you went home to the family, wife and three kids, with your sports car to find that you can neither fit the family in the car nor even do simple grocery shopping with it and you regret that you remortgaged the house to buy the car as well

    Now you're telling the Dodge dealer that wants to sell you a Grand Caravan that you won't even do a test drive with the family, because you're so disappointed by car salesmen.

    I'm sure you can actually make that $350 hammock work for you (though I personally have a WBBB XLC but I definitely had a learning curve - see Shugs video) with that as well. And that was _after_ I fell in love with hammocks in a cheap $40 CAD Amazon hammock (I fell alseep in it by accident). This only to show you that the first impression one has might have a huge influence. I definitely was thinking about sending the XLC back too when I got it but in the end it was just that it was _different_ from the other hammock such that I had to learn what to do differently with it.

    Hang in there (pun intended)!

  2. #32
    New Member PirateDude's Avatar
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    I agree with Shug & the gang, hope you try a bit more! And I too am one of those who dove head-first into the deep end. Over the last 3 1/2 months I’ve been sleeping in a hammock 99% of the time. The first two weeks were outdoors in a southern climate. I got lucky, big time, best sleep ever. But when I returned to Nashville and set up indoors it all fell apart. Shoulder squeeze, some neck pain, calf ridge, you name it. But I stuck with it and continued to climb the learning curve. Finally I feel I’m beginning to get it dialed in. Still haven’t reached those first two weeks of bliss. But I know Utopia is on the horizon and don’t think I’m ever looking back again!

  3. #33
    TallPaul's Avatar
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    Post a pic of your setup. That might help us see if anything looks strange.
    I also still think you should try some place other than your indoor setup. That isn’t to say indoor setups don’t work, it’s just that trees allow you to move your straps up and down and you get different width of spans between trees. I’d say all hammocks do some fiddling with the height of their straps to get a good lay. Anyway it doesn’t cost anything. Course it may be cold outdoors and not sure if you have the gear for that.

  4. #34
    SilvrSurfr's Avatar
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    Are you using an underquilt, or a pad? What is your top insulation?
    "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson

  5. #35
    New Member PirateDude's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr View Post
    Are you using an underquilt, or a pad? What is your top insulation?
    I don't believe insulation is the issue here when he is sleeping indoors..

  6. #36
    Senior Member
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    I’d think of it this way - you are working with a top hammock from a top hammock maker trying all sorts of advice from (present company excluded) top hammockers.

    So, if it turns out that hammocks are not for you, then I’d say that you’ve given it a pretty good go and perhaps they simply are just not your thing. No big deal. I gave up tent camping for the same reason a long time ago - I could never get a good nights sleep in one.

    Also, it seems like folks here move gear pretty quickly without too much of a loss $-wise.

    Knowledge it power - no need to buy more hammocks in may opinion. I have yet to meet one that I couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep in.

  7. #37
    New Member
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    For me - I fixed my restless sleep by taking a magnesium supplement - This does not show up in doctor tests unless they look for it explicitly. Just a thought - but I took it for 1 month, and it really helped.

  8. #38
    SilvrSurfr's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PirateDude View Post
    I don't believe insulation is the issue here when he is sleeping indoors..
    The OP says he doesn't have any insulation in his profile. I have a hammock in my house but have never tried sleeping in it without insulation.
    "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson

  9. #39
    SilvrSurfr's Avatar
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    To the OP: So you have a hammock in your house? I'm curious how you have it hung. That could be part of the problem. Have you seen the Hammock Hang Calculator? It tells you how to achieve a 30* angle.

    https://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator/
    "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson

  10. #40
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tonopah View Post
    Well, I have a son-in-law and a grandson who would like to get their hands on a couple of them, so all is not lost. I really really gave the chameleon a good try. Slept in it 5 nights in a row hanging outside my house and then hung it in the trees about 4 miles away for the big test. Comfortable for a while but no real sleep. I think I am just not made for a gathered end hammock and the ridgerunner (bridge hammock) was ok but like sleeping in a culvert and I could not draw my legs up enough to be comfortable on my side. The Amok Draumr promises to be a different beast entirely so I look forward to trying that if USPS ever gets it together to deliver it.
    I have not tried the Amok yet, but I have a HammockTent 90º, which I suspect will have similar advantages. And I certainly have zero issues drawing my legs up, best hammock I have used for that, with or without a pad. (Amok, of course, requires a pad) I also find it has abundant shoulder room. Probably in those 2 ways it is the best hammock I have used. I hope you find the same for the Amok.

    Quote Originally Posted by ChrisJHC View Post
    I bit the bullet and set off on a week-long hike with only my WBBB XLC the first time I slept in my hammock.

    Prior to that, just a couple of goes setting it up to make sure I knew how to do it.

    Sleeping mat and sleeping bag because I already had them.

    Found I adjusted quickly (the long days I was doing probably helped). My record one night was 10 hours sleep!
    That is the same way I broke into hammock camping. Long hikes and exhaustion. After the first miserable night- I froze - I experienced the best sleeps in my life. But once I got home and started testing in the back yard, it was a different story. Still just as comfy, but sleeping was usually a struggle. Although once, at 10F, I decided to get up at about 0130 or so pee and to go in and go to sleep, figuring since I just was starting to feel slightly cool, I had established the lower limit of my Pea Pod. No need to suffer anymore not being able to sleep. I turned on my headlight to check my watch and it was 0530! It would seem that I had been dreaming that I could not sleep for at least 3 hours, or so I thought. But no, at least 6 or 7 hours had gone by! And I must have been asleep for a good part of that, since I had to pee like a racehorse, and I was shocked that it was close to day break. So I crawled back in, and closed the pod up almost completely with no vent, which warmed me right up, and I slept to 0730! Imagine that, dreaming I could not sleep. I was convinced I had been wide awake from 11PM(2300) to the give up point at 0130! But in reality, it was almost time to get up and start the day!

    Quote Originally Posted by MikJW View Post
    I appreciate the comments telling me to go for a long hike and you'll get used to it, or It takes time to get used to it. Not for nothing, but could you imagine a mattress salesman telling you that? We would all walk out the door. After watching some YouTube videos, I was led to believe that Hammock sleeping was the best sleep you could have. So I jumped in with both feet. Wish I had known that this is not for everyone. Nothing against you guys (and gals) that love it, but if I was going to introduce someone to hammock camping I would make sure to let them know that this is not for everyone. At least forewarn them.
    I can see your point. But there are a ton of threads around here with folks complaining about "can't sleep", the vast majority at home, especially outside. Have we already asked this: are you comfy in your hammock? If you are comfortable, then not being able to sleep raises some interesting questions. I mean: I'm comfy in my bed, and the couch, and in my recliner, and I can sleep in all of them. But in my hammock in my back yard, I probably can not. (I've only tried it in the house 1 time, I think I could sleep, but so long ago I'm not sure) The first thing that comes to mind is: I am hanging in the air. My subconscious knows that this is not normal and maybe not safe. The tree or my suspension could break or slip, the fabric could rip, etc. I have always suspected that this extra level of alert has worked against me for backyard testing. I'm thinking that 90+% of my backyard testing has resulted in a bad nights sleep. Of course, outside also has a lot going on as far as a very surprising level of noise. Noises that tend to wake me up. Cars, and dogs barking and lots of other stuff. Even in the woods, there are often lots of noises from animals or the wind, etc.

    But in the woods, not only am I normally much more tired than at home, but there is nothing else to do and no where to go. If we(my hiking group) all sack it as late as 11PM, that means we have been sitting in the dark- except for campfire- for hours. Lots of dark is much more conducive to sleep than lots of light. Except for the first night of the first trip 14 years ago, and maybe possibly the very first night of some other trips- again, MAYBE- I do not recall ever having trouble sleeping in my hammock at a campsite deep in the woods. ( One exception: in a public camp ground with noise from fellow campers and barking dogs etc. But even then I usually finally drift off) What I remember instead is the sleep ended up being one of the most delightful parts of the trip. A really deep, profound, restorative sleep. But at home, in my backyard, it is not happening. I might be super comfy, but I aint sleeping, NOT gonna happen. If I would stay out there no matter what and give it a week, it probably would happen pretty soon. Exhaustion would over take me, my subconscious would forget that I am hanging in the air from a stand and if anything gives I am going to get hurt, and I would drift off. And once asleep, that would be it. And the next night would be easier than the previous. I'm pretty certain of that. But, that is usually not how it works. Most likely, after a few hours, I am out of there. And the next night, still tired from my lost sleep the night before, I am in the bed early. The only time I force myself to stick with it is when I am testing to see if I can make it at a certain temp. And if I don't sleep good, I am back in the house the next night. I am fairly convinced it is not the hammock or the lack of comfort, it is my subconscious mind that is fighting me, it just won't shut down under weird sleeping conditions. It knows something aint right, and it keeps me alerted to that danger.

    So, when you say it would be ridiculous for a mattress salesman to say "you need to go on a long hike before you try and sleep on this mattress", you are right, that would be preposterous. But getting a new mattress, we are only changing one thing: the mattress, and it is still a mattress! And it is still possible that small change might lead to a poor nights sleep, especially at first. But let that mattress be swaying in the air, or even in a different place, and it might require either a lot of getting used to, or some exhaustion. Throw in a bunch of noise or distractions ( as in the back yard) and that will be a double whammy. Still, just like a soldier in an uncomfortable ground sleeping situation, at some point exhaustion kicks in and he is out as soon as he lays down. And after that, he is always quickly asleep. The difference with us is: once the exhaustion overcomes our subconscious, we are also extremely comfortable. That is: if you are comfy? Are you?

    I know you are in some fairly big $, but you can always recoup a fair amount of that selling it here or on ebay, I would guess. People do that all the time when they just want to try some new gear and can't afford to keep the older gear. Sorry you are having so much trouble!
    Last edited by BillyBob58; 12-20-2020 at 10:42.

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