Tonight is the night

[BillyBob58]

One more "can't sleep" story: In 2006, my bud from NC talks me into trying hammock camping. 4 of us head into the Rockies, my bud and me inhammocks, 2 others sharing a tent. I pass out quick the first night, but wake up freezing 0200, dog cussing hammocks. But despite my 2 tenting buds laughing at me, I get the insulation right(HHSS) and enjoy heavenly sleep the rest of the week. By the last night they are both miserable(rocks and rolling down hill and cold all night) and I sleep in, nice and warm to 0900.They have to roust me out.

Next year same group hikes into Olympic National Park for a week, 2 of us in hammocks and 2 on the ground. Two of us really enjoying our comfort and sleep, 2 not so much.

Next year back to the high Rockies, but the 2 that were laughing at me on that 1st trip have decided to go hammock. Said they were tired of seeing us looking forward to getting in our hammocks, and they were tired of trying to find a rock to sit on. This was all them, I did not try to influence them at all. First morning it is in the 20s, one of those 2 comes out of the hammock/Pea Pod saying "hate it, hate it, hate it", he had a miserable freezing night. Not only was he a stomach sleeper, he was very claustrophobic, and could not stand to have the Pea Pod vent hole anywhere near closed, and did not bring anything to layer around chest/neck to allow him to close off that area when he opened the vent as wide as he needed, had nothing for his cold face, etc. So he froze, when he opened that vent all his cold air would rush out. Next day we all worked with him to try and find solutions. He later said "it was a bit better" but would not admit it was actually good, and not as good as his pad on the ground which he longed for. But, we all noticed that he was spending the same 12 hours a night- plus long afternoon naps- in the hammock as we were. So we wondered if he was maybe refusing to admit comfort because he was still so pissed about that 1st night. ( BTW, the other new hanger- or all 3 out of 4- slept great every night)

Now comes the next year: no one goes except the 1 hammock hater, he and his dad go back to the exact same place, ONP. Both in a tent on the ground. When asked how the trip was, he said it was great, except for that tent and ground thing. If he went back again, he was probably going to use a hammock. So, admit it or not, I think after that 1st night he was sleeping pretty good.

[Tonopah]

BillyBob58: post #40: excellent, well reasoned post. Thanks for your insights. Rings true.

[KingMob]

I had a local guy sell me a “warbonnet XLC”, quilt set, tarp, etc that he said he just couldn’t get comfy in.

After buying it I took it camping and he was right, worst sleep ever. It had huge sag, I couldn’t lay flat, and the ridge line drapped on my face.

After that depressing camping trip I took it home, took it apart and measured it. It wasn’t an XLC, it was a ten foot warbonnet hammock. but it did have an 11’ hammock’s ridge line, causing the terrible hang. I tied down the ridge line to the correct size and set the hammock up again and it was fine, albeit a bit short for my tastes. Now my kid has a nice hammock set up when we go out together

I share this to say that if there’s a group hang in your area, perhaps you could go and chat with folks irl and get a few tips. Maybe it will turn out to be not for you after all (if so, someone here will gladly buy your rig on the sale section). But maybe you’re making a small mistake that is ruining your experience, like the guy who Sold me this warbonnet rig.

[BillyBob58]

BillyBob58: post #40: excellent, well reasoned post. Thanks for your insights. Rings true.

Hey, thanks, Tonopah! I see you are in Glendale, AZ. I lived there 1970-73 while in the USAF. First in a trailer park near the intersection of Grand Ave and Olive, and later on Olive, right across the street from Glendale College where I took night classes, in the brand new (in 1973!) Cimarron Apartments. Then in 83-85 I lived in Flagstaff, a very different environment than Glendale, to say the least, LOL! But, I loved both places, and have a lot of good memories of AZ, especially outdoor related.

[mich1jon]

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.

Yes! Definitely worth checking out.
I've recently started using a magnesium supplement per my chiropractor's recommendation (it's called Calm- comes as a powder which you mix with water and consume). Falls into the electrolyte category.
Taken daily it helps with a lot of issues including promoting relaxation and better sleep. Nothing nefarious about it.
I wish I had known about it years ago.

[8675309]

BillyBob's post #40 rings true for me. I've done a fair bit of testing in my backyard and gotten very little sleep despite being warm and comfortable. There is some hyper-awareness going on, so the goal of the backyard testing has been to figure out how to stay warm enough for the given temperatures instead of sleeping through the night.

[MikJW]

Thx Everyone. With all this encouragement how could I quit now. I will post a couple of photos with me or my daughter hanging to see what you think. A lot of replies talk about being tired after a long hike, however, I bought this hammock mainly for motorcycle camping. I plan on doing a cross country trip in the future and I want to do at least 75% camping. It would cost a small fortune to pay for a hotel each night for a one night stay with no reservation. While I might not be as tired as you might be after a long hike, after a long day of riding in hot weather I am pretty tired. There have been a number of days where I was so tired I would find a bench or even some grass in the shade to take a nap. Since I learned about hammocks its been on my mind that I wish I had a hammock to take a nap. Next season I plan on taking my hammock and see if I cant at least get a good nap in it. I'm hoping that this is a mental block right now and maybe after I experience some restful sleep I might just overcome this problem. If I can fall asleep on a bench or in the grass I'm sure I should at least get some sleep in my hammock.

I used the Ultimate Hang App to calculate the height and length of my hang in my house so I would think the the hang is ok. I so hope so if I'm using my Ultimate Hang app. Shug might be on to something when he asked what kind of fabric i'm using. Im 250 lbs right now and mentioned that to Dream Hammock when I ordered it. They chose the fabric. Maybe this heavier fabric has something to do with it. I will say that I feel the tension of the fabric when I lay in it. And I somethings feel that that tension projects into my body preventing me from relaxing, I dont know. Anyway, hopefully someday I'll get used to this.

Thanks
Mike

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Home Hammock Hang.jpg

[arutha]

Awesome to see you continuing your quest to find hammock bliss MikJW! Merry Xmas too!

You mention tension in the fabric and with the photos you included I wonder where you feel that tension? Is it under you feet, under your legs, bottom, back, neck/head?

In the first photo the ridge line looks very straight to me. The second one looks more like the foot end might be hung slightly higher than the head, which would be better. I don't know your hammock specifically but since I literally just had to do this myself it might help you: the foot end is supposed to hang higher and sometimes significantly higher. I just felt "calf ridge" after setting up my hammock (pressure from the hammock fabric under the calf/lower leg area) and simply pulling the foot end higher with my suspension solved that issue and now I can relax and read hammockforums. There's a Shug video about it too: https://youtu.be/cFHvX56ZKNs

[MikJW]

Tried again last night and once again, reverted to the bed. I know, as many have said, that going back to the bed is the worst thing I can do, but I have to get some sleep too. Anyway, I will hold on to this hammock and use it for taking naps after a long day on the bike. I'm hoping that if I can get passed the point of NOT going to sleep in it, if I can experience some deep sleep in it, even if its just a nap, maybe I can get passed this.

As far as the tension I feel, its mainly in the calf area. I raised my foot end and still feel it. When I first get into the hammock I feel good. I think to myself that I can't see why I dont fall asleep. But after a while, I feel the pressure on my calf, (especially my left calf, and this is a right lay hammock) and I need to change my position. From there on, I feel like i'm wrestling with this hammock to get into a comfortable position. Its just a constant struggle. Also, I dont know if the hammock is too wide of not, but very often I feel a flap of material over my face. The only way I can deal with that is to lay my face on the very edge of it so its not laying over my face. All-in-all, its just a constant struggle. Oh well, we will see what happens down the road.

[cougarmeat]

MikJW, apologies if it has already been mentioned/tried, but you might try using a small pillow/pad under one knee. I use a small REI camping pillow - not all the time - when I want to change things up a bit. I seldom use a pillow at my head in a GE hammock because it puts too much of an angle on my neck. The hammock alone supports my head just fine.

It sounds like you’ve done your homework with respect to the technical aspects - approx 30 degree angle, ridgeline 83-86 percent of hammock length, diagonal lie. So the pillow (or jacket in a stuff sack, etc.) under a knee might do the trick. Can’t tell you which knee, but if you are a normal person, there aren’t too many choices. When it works, you will know.