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  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2020
    Location
    Ventura County CA
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    DW Chameleon
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    Tarpless
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    Whoopie's
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    146
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    12' Hammocks more comfortable?

    im 6'1" tall. Im going to add a 2nd hammock to my setup and am debating what to get. Another Chameleon in Hexon 1.2 is tempting me, but 1.2 is not offered in Wide and I require Wide.

    So if I'm not getting a lighter hammock maybe I go heavier/larger/12' for car camping with my wife. The 12' trail lair is most tempting. Also the absurdly wide (72") 12' sparrow sounds interesting, but I'm not in love with the non-wide 11' sparrow so dont know if its the hammock or just the width.

    I'm not uncomfortable at all in my 11' Chameleon, but it just looks like the 12 footers allow an even more diagonal and flat lay. How much difference is there between 11 and 12'? If I get a 12'er I'll need to get a 12' tarp too, so its hammock + tarp cost to go to 12'. Worth it? or am I wondering about nothing since I'm quite comfortable in the chameleon.

    I know it depends and is personal, but give me pros/cons/opinion anyways.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Albany, ny
    Hammock
    SLD 11'
    Tarp
    11' HG w/ doors
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    DIY or HG
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    Webbing/Beckett
    Posts
    347
    6'3 for reference. Wider is always better, but you get diminishing returns over 60". Same with length, longer is better. But with longer comes a longer tarp, fewer hang sites and more sag. That means your hammock actually sits lower compared to you tarp vs a 11'.

    For a cheap comparison, order 4-5 yards of fabric to try. No sewing/hemming needed. Just larkshead some loops to the end and go hang. A forgotten relic of old, tablecloths from tablecloth factory make awesome car camping hammock blanks.
    The more ridged a fabric is, the more important length/width is to me. Hexon 1.6 I like a wide 11'. For softer fabrics, like hex 1.0 or cloud I can get by with normal width 11'. 12' makes either more comfortable, but its not worth the trade off that comes with longer hammocks for me.

  3. #3
    Member Danimal9's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Buffalo NY
    Hammock
    DIY
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    Dutch Dyneema Rect
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    UGQ/Warbonnet
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    Becket hitch
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    72
    I made myself a 11'6" x 66" hammock and that's just right for me. I'm 6'2 for reference. I put a knotty mod in mine at the foot end. I like that it gives my feet a distinct place. My most comfortable yet.

  4. #4
    cougarmeat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Bend, OR
    Hammock
    WBBB, WBRR, WL LiteOwl
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    OES, WL BullFro
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    HG UQ, TQ, WB UQ
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    Python Straps
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    3,758
    Note that if you move into a 12 ft hammock you may need to review your tarp choices/sizes.
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  5. #5
    OlTrailDog's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Corvallis/Stevensville, MT
    Hammock
    Hammocktent 90*, Sparrow, WBBB XLC
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    light & waterproof
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    Ongoing experiment
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    Ongoing experiment
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    1,873
    I picked up a 12' SLD Trail Lair off ebay. Really like the hammock DL with all the bells and whistles. I ended up selling it for the reason that my other hammocks fit under the tarps I own and since some are expensive tarps I didn't want to upgrade tarps to accommodate the 12' and I sold it. Regarding the wider the better comment, I don't think that is necessarily true. It reaches a point that the extra floppy hammock material is superfluous as well as adds extra weight. I am 6' 170 lbs.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Hammock
    12' Superior Hammock
    Tarp
    Kammok Kuhli
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    Superior / UGQ
    Posts
    200
    Generally I think the feedback thus far in the thread is probably more valuable than mine-- sounds like others have done a lot more experimenting / dialing things in, and likely get out way more than I do. I also don't really backpack... with those disclaimers in mind:

    I'm 6'4", I started with a 11' Hexon 2.4 from Dutch (before the Chameleon was a thing). I found 58" too narrow for me.. trying to get diagonal my feet were just about out of the hammock. (Could be there was some adjustment I could have made to sag or something to help with this... this was when I first started trying out sleeping in a hammock).

    I did at some point move to a wide (probably 68") SLD 12' hammock and haven't looked back... I have a few of them now in different fabrics-- the one I've slept best in has been my single layer Hexon 1.6. Personally I find a bit more sag to be more comfortable, so that's a feature and not a drawback for me, but as I said... I'm not backpacking really, especially not more than a few miles if I do, so the little extra weight for longer tarps and wider hammocks isn't an issue for me.

    How long is your current tarp? the 12' Kammok tarp I use for most campouts (which I had prior to moving to 12' hammocks) has been sufficient, but I haven't seen much rain in it. For my 4 season tarp, I do think I'd like a 13' tarp just to cover my tensa 4 stand a bit better, but the 12' SLD Winter Haven I have has been sufficient. Again, haven't been in any serious weather in these so I can't say if there'd have been issues in much more severe conditions.

  7. #7
    Member ebrianschmidt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Dallas, GA
    Hammock
    11 foot
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    Old man winter
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    83
    While I’m only 5’6, I own or have owned hammocks from 8’6 ish to 12 feet. Now I own an 11 and 12 footer from Dutch. The 12 footer is really nice for in my back yard and non backpacking situations. But I always take the 11 foot in the woods. The 12 footer as others mentioned would require a longer tarp pitched higher up, so wouldn’t offer as much protection. But the 11 footer really seems to be the sweet spot for practicality and comfort.

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2020
    Location
    Greensboro, NC
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    Warbonnet Ridgerunner
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    Ah, the benefits of having 12' tarps... Either will work
    Iceman857

    "An optimist is a man who plants two acorns and buys a hammock" - Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (French Army General in WWII)

  9. #9
    bonsaihiker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Northern Kentucky (Greater Cincinnati)
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    WB Ridgerunner or a gathered-end
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    I think that, though gathering opinions is great and can give you a general feel for what to expect, you really just need to try different options to see what works FOR YOU.

    I've found that a change of only a few inches can make a huge difference, or hardly any difference, depending on the lengths.

    For example, my DIY 12' is supremely comfortable compared to 10' or 10.5' hammocks, but my DIY 11' is almost that comfortable but a few ounces lighter. Only way for me to notice the difference in comfort is to compare them side- to- side.

    On the other hand, I recently got an 11' Dutchware netless that was significantly less comfortable than my DIY 11' but found that the Dutchware hammock is 4" shorter. All else is equal-- same fabric, style, width, whipping.

    I have never found wider widths to be worthwhile-- just irritating, with more fabric flopping around-- while others (some posting above) find that it makes all the difference.

    Look at this as a journey and try a few different options. You can always gift or sell those that don't work out.

    Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
    --Scott <><

    "I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful... because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience...." --Robert Traver

  10. #10
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Kelowna, BC
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    50
    Quote Originally Posted by mcimes View Post
    im 6'1" tall. Im going to add a 2nd hammock to my setup and am debating what to get. Another Chameleon in Hexon 1.2 is tempting me, but 1.2 is not offered in Wide and I require Wide.

    So if I'm not getting a lighter hammock maybe I go heavier/larger/12' for car camping with my wife. The 12' trail lair is most tempting. Also the absurdly wide (72") 12' sparrow sounds interesting, but I'm not in love with the non-wide 11' sparrow so dont know if its the hammock or just the width.

    I'm not uncomfortable at all in my 11' Chameleon, but it just looks like the 12 footers allow an even more diagonal and flat lay. How much difference is there between 11 and 12'? If I get a 12'er I'll need to get a 12' tarp too, so its hammock + tarp cost to go to 12'. Worth it? or am I wondering about nothing since I'm quite comfortable in the chameleon.

    I know it depends and is personal, but give me pros/cons/opinion anyways.

    I'm wondering the same thing - and even wondering about a 13' hammock.

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