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  1. #1
    Senior Member kayak4water's Avatar
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    That 83% ridge line “rule”

    When I hiked the PCT in ‘15, I started with a Bridge hammock, switching to a gathered end hammock after about 800 miles, the first a diy with a ridge line = 83% off the hammock length and then in a Warbonnet Blackbird with a longer ridgeline (by %). Can’t recall why I changed my sleeping furniture, but since then, I’ve slept at home in both gathered end hammocks. More recently my tolerance for them has plummeted—various issues played roles, eg, calf ridge, heel pressure, hyperextended knees, shoulder pressure.
    I reduced the last by increasing the sag, which saw my 83% ridge line going slack and the hang angle going from 30°to 45°. I added a pillow under my knees for the first three.
    . The take home lesson: do a search on Google (many answers on this forum) and play with the sag. If the sag works, ignore the 83% ridge line and hang angle “rules.“

    Happy hangs!

  2. #2
    LowTech's Avatar
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    My standard sag is also deeper than the 83% in a wide, 68", hammock. I've never had an issue w/ calf ridge or the other issues you mentioned w/ that combo. Now when I had a short and narrow Brazilian getting a flat lay was almost impossible. That kept me using a big Mayan for decades.

  3. #3
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Constantly adjust my sag. Mainly due to tree spacing.
    83% is just a starting place as a lot of folks need some sort of reference. Sorta like having a $100,000 in order to retire well.
    Just a good round #.
    Shug
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  4. #4
    PopcornFool's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shug View Post
    83% is just a starting place ...
    Bingo!
    I too prefer prefer a shorter ridgeline and more sag. But it's never the same with any two hammocks, even if the hammocks are the same length. Hammock width and fabric stretch come into play too.

    Many folks who make their own hammocks will attach a long UCR or whoopie sling instead of a fixed length ridgeline which allows them to easily adjust the ridgeline while they try out different lengths to get that perfect sag. Some will leave that UCR on permanently. I typically will leave it on for a few hangs until I'm confident I have the length just where I want it, then I'll measure the length, splice a fixed ridgeline at that length, and replace the UCR. You can apply the same trick to a purchased hammock too. I don't know of any cottage vendor hammock that has a ridgeline that is not removable/replaceable.

    That's not my idea, btw; I learned that trick here on HF.

    If you don't want to purchase or splice your own UCR or whoopie sling, there are other ways to temporarily shorten your ridgeline like using a carabiner. Naturally, Shug has a video for that (skip to about 5:30 into the video if you want to go right to it):
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq7fDjH90MU
    I wouldn't suggest that for a permanent solution though.

    You can temporarily lengthen a ridgeline by adding a dogbones to one end. You can adjust the length of the dogbone by doubling it up on itself once or twice or more, but again, I wouldn't suggest that for a permanent solution.

    I'm sure there are other ideas, but I always found a UCR (or whoopie sling) in place of a fixed ridgeline provides the easiest and quickest adjustments.
    ~ All I want is affordable, simple, ultralight luxury. That’s not asking too much is it?

  5. #5
    Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by PopcornFool View Post
    I always found a UCR (or whoopie sling) in place of a fixed ridgeline provides the easiest and quickest adjustments.
    I wondered whether folks might consider a UCR for this application. I tried the whoopie sling idea but I must have made it too long because it's always dangling down. Seems like a UCR would be a better solution, especially if I didn't make the tag end so long.
    Iceman857

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

  6. #6
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    I used to use a lot of sag. And more diagonal. More sag helped with any shoulder squeeze. But, if I was going to have a bad problem, it was going to be calf ridge. At some point, I noticed that my GE hammocks that consistently had the least, or even no calf ridge, also had no RL. They were all 10 ft or less. Though the shortest one, the Speer (maybe 9 ft?) might have some knee hyper extension problems, and was a problem side sleeping with legs straight for my 6'1" self. But, very comfy on my back, or in fetal, and no calf ridge. So, of the 3 of the shorter length, ( 2 being 2 Claytor and Switchback which were also more narrow than most), had NO RLs and no calf ridge.

    I did sometimes experiment with RLs on all of them. And I always felt, and 1st and most often noticed it with the Claytor, that they were quite tolerant of a wide range of hang angles. But, with the 2 narrow hammocks(Claytor and Switchback), they actually seemed at their very best, with the least calf ridge, with a tighter than 30º hang. I.E. less sag. And I never got shoulder squeeze with the <30º hangs because the hammocks were more narrow and less deep.

    Any way, along comes my newer Superior Gear. Available in 10 ft(like my Claytor and Switchback), but I chickened out and got 11 ft. It has an adjustable RL, but I have heard that the designer thinks this hammaock does best with less than 30º. So, I have mostly used it with the RL at maximum length. I.E, less sag. And just like the reports I have heard here, I either had zero calf ridge or not enough to bother me, depending on positioning. From the first night of the 1st 4 nights in a row that I slept in it, I had no calf ridge problems and slept well. Hmmmmmmmm.

    So, it occurs to me that there might be an advantage to less sag, rather than more. And in fact, all of my hammocks with the longest(relative to the hammock) RL - and the hammocks with no RL which I hang with less sag (and probably depending on the hammock), have the least calf ridge. Could be. And is, for me and the hammocks I have used.

    Anyway, always worth experimenting with. HYOH. YMMV. Etc.

  7. #7
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    Sounds like it might be fun to just have an 83% of 11 ft cord with a small S-biner on each end to temporarily connect to the hammock and use just as a “measuring stick” - a starting estimate. Then get in the hammock to try it out and refine with little adjustments. Doesn’t seem like going deeper (in sag) is much of a problem if that’s your jam. But going shallower - too shallow - can really stress your suspension, stitching, and fabric.
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  8. #8
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Hammocks with integrated net are designed with a specific SRL length, so only a small amount of tinkering can be done to the SRL without stressing and potentially damaging the net and/or zippers.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  9. #9
    Herder of Cats OutandBack's Avatar
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    I have never had success with the 83% I have always needed more sag to eliminate calf ridge heal pressure and shoulder squeeze. Moving to an 11' hammock also made life better.
    I have also never had any success with trees too far apart and tried to rely on the ridgeline to keep the proper sag.

    I wonder who came up with the 83% in the first place? Maybe it's just the % of length when you have your hammock tree straps at 30 degrees?

    I've been hammock camping since 1970. Back then our ridgeline wasn't attached to the hammock it was for added support for the tarp in high winds or snow load.
    162993_143914212332835_4812796_n.jpg
    Last edited by OutandBack; 03-30-2022 at 15:58.

  10. #10
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    I don’t know where 83% came from but I know why people use it. Think of the hammock hanging as an upside down triangle instead of an arc. At 30 degrees, the ridgeline of the triangle would be cosine of 30 degrees which is 86%. Since the hammock actually hangs as an arc, the ridgeline would actually be a little lower than 86% which sounds a lot like 83%. It just represents a 30 degree hang angle.

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