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  1. #1
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    Just bought a Ridge Runner.... did I make a mistake (lower back issue)

    I pulled the trigger on a Warbonnet Ridge Runner....... Mainly because I wanted a way to use my Big Agnes decently in a hammock. My "El Cheapo" gathered end hammock from Amzn, which I've had for a number of years now sleeps me surprisingly well.... but I have to have an air mattress to make it work for me. They just do not work all that well in a gathered hammock. I just sold my Amock Dramur.... my dream hammock, along with rain fly, etc for about what I paid for it......... I absolutely cannot sleep in it without waking up with a sore back........ No place for my butt (butt hole?). I don't have a big butt at all, but any butt is a protrusion that puts pressure on my spine. I'm in my 60's, and back in my teens learned to dig a hole for butt and shoulders. I could not make ANYTHING work with the Dramur unfortunately. Back issues and reflux issues long ago made chair sleeping ideal for me. I toss and turn and hurt in a bed........ any bed I've ever slept in, but I'm not in the Temperpedic class ;-(. The ONLY reason I still backpack is because I have a hammock. If the Ridge Runner gives me the ability to lay decently, it will be the proverbial "cat's meow"....... I've never seen one in person, and suspect that if it works out well for me, I'll have to buy another rain fly...... I have a Hennessee rain fly I picked up cheaply that I use with the El Cheapo. Even with it's odd shape, it seems to work well, and I seem always to get caught out in the high Rockies in wild thunder and hail storms. Didn't go out last summer due to the tinder dry conditions. I carry NO ELECTRONICS in the mountains........ they do not belong in wilderness IMHO, but it would be easy in the places I go to end up trapped by fire. One would not get reception anyway most of the places I go except perhaps with an In Reach. I'm nearly always solo. I am however planning on cheating this summer or next summer and carrying my Ipad Mini with me for mapping and navigation in one of the lower Montana mountain ranges (I live in South Central). The plan is to create my own trail, and the timber is heavy enough that it makes sense to have some nav / satellite images. The idea is to avoid 13 shoe removal creek crossings (or water shoes). I'll flag it in with surveyors tape, and then look at "improving" it. Year before last I spent time in the Flint Creek Range (Phillipsburg area), and it was brutally difficult due to bark beetle deadfalls. Few people go there because of that. In many areas you do not dare venture even in a vehicle without a chainsaw........ A bit of a storm and you are afoot stranded many miles from help. When you are afoot it doesn't matter, except that you have to go around, through, and over more trees on the way out than in, and watch where you camp....... "widowmakers" are a real concern!

  2. #2
    TrailBlaser's Avatar
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    I had lower back problems that prevented me from sleeping comfortably when camping; it didn't matter what I tried - a variety of sleeping pads and even cots; it didn't matter I always slept poorly and woke up with a painful back. Four years ago I purchased a RR and have slept comfortably since then. Over the past year or so I have lost 30 lbs., which has also made a difference in how well I sleep. On a two-week canoe camping trip starting next week, I plan to do a combination of hammock camping and will try going back to the ground with a cot and pad. It won't be a problem if the tent/cot don't work out; I will still have my RR to assure me of a comfortable, good night of rest.
    "Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing."
    - Henry David Thoreau

  3. #3
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    owly*, might I gently suggest paragraph breaks.

    I looked in the body of your post, but did not see a question, or reported problem, you had with the RR.

    Are you just asking if people with back issues have a problem with the RR ahead of your actually using it?

    For me, there have been no "absolutes" with hammocks. Different bodies mean different results. With the ridgerunner, as with a GE, you have a distance between ends adjustment. Some like 13 ft between apex points (recommended), others are more comfortable with a 12-foot separation. That distance influences user experience. You didn't mention if it was a single layer or a double layer. As with firm vs soft mattresses, a DL in both GE and Bridge designs will usually be firmer than a SL.

    It's kinda tough for someone to predict if you will have a problem with the way you hang the RR. And it sounds like you've already bought it. So it seems a little late to ask the question. Unless I'm missing something. Which I do.
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  4. #4
    dakotaross's Avatar
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    The RR lays flat with a pad, mostly. I went back to a regular hammock because side sleeping in the RR didn't work for me, whereas I can mostly make that happen in a GE hammock.

    p.s. my view on electronics is NO to bluetooth speakers, and mostly NO to expensive gadgets that make you feel safer. But I love using my phone to check scores while I'm immersed in moonshadows and catching up with my sweetie as I reach my hiker midnight.
    "I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
    - Kate Chopin

  5. #5
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Maybe you'll get used to it. Maybe not.
    Another having option is the Haven Tent.
    Really flat.
    I lighten mine up adding whoopee slings and using my own tarp for better and lighter coverage.
    Shug

    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  6. #6
    New Member VanillaPoltergeist's Avatar
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    "I absolutely cannot sleep in it without waking up with a sore back........ No place for my butt (butt hole?)."

    Hahahaha something to wish for! Come try our new Amock Dramur 5.0 with spacious Butt Hole™ for a super flat lay.

  7. #7
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    Lots of good replies......... Unfortunately it's a gamble... for me at least. I pretty much have to buy a hammock to try sleeping in it. There seems to be a consensus that a flat lay is good, but it's NOT ideal for me. I sleep best in a recliner ... a good one modified for what I want and need. The pad takes me between a banana lay and a flat lay on a gathered end hammock, and that seems pretty ideal for me... my butt can project just enough downward to give me the lumbar support I need. What I shoot for is a bananna lay modified / moderated by the pad to a fairly flat lay with a bit of a butt hole. In a perfect world, my upper body would be somewhat elevated, and everything else sloped downward with somewhat bent knees. My knees want to be that way, and tend to stiffen if straight..... I need to move around in the night to avoid stiffening.
    For most people "lay flat" is the holy grail...... If it worked for me, I'd be sleeping in a bed at home instead of a recliner.

    The Draumr is unfortunately OUT for me.... I thought the recliner position would work for me...... but it doesn't due to fabric cross tension.

    H.W.

  8. #8
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    I think I sleep like you do - can't stand a flat bed with pressure on my butt and my heels. The People's Bridge Hammock fixes that for me. It's a DIY option only, though, but more people are starting to make them.

  9. #9
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    owly* I might be misinterpreting what you said, but it seemed you have identified a "banana lay" with a gathered end (GE) hammock. If you lie parallel with the GE hammock, you will have that banana lay. But that's your choice. The usual way to lie in a GE is on a diagonal, with your head/shoulders over to one side and your feet to the other. That flattens out the GE experience. So each person, by adjusting their diagonal position and the sag in the hammock finds the best fit for them.

    The RR is a different critter - but also has some "feel" adjustment by changing the distance between apex points - where the two dogbone suspension lines come together.

    One thing beginners may try to do is reproduce that same situation they have at home - in a regular bed. But in a bed, during the night you develop pressure points - like on your shoulders and hips. So that may cause turning about, sleeping nearly on your stomach, etc. But in a hammock, most of your body is gently suspended, so for me, there is no need for a pillow (except under my knees for variety) because my head is already supported. A pillow under my head would cause too much tilt.

    I'm mentioning this because it sounds like you are endeavoring to mimic the environment of your recliner chair. Of course, the chair works for you at home and if they made an ultra-lite version of it you could carry, or inflate, in the woods, you'd be golden. I'm hoping that you'll find you don't need exactly the same body position in a hammock that you have at home. That the hammock will allow a little more variety.

    The RR isn't a bad choice. And it isn't a good choice. It's just a choice. You'll find posts that say the RR has allowed them (with back issues) to go camping again. You'll find posts that say a GE has allowed them (with back issues) to go camping again. So it boils down to, "What works for you."

    But one suggestion is not to judge by just one night's sleep. I sleep in a hammock three to four nights a week. if I've been out of a hammock for a while. The first night back in it feels a little strange. My body has to re-learn that it can relax differently than when in a bed. And even without that adjustment, just being away from home causes a higher level of alertness. So that first night out isn't really a fair comparison to what you are familiar with at home. Just Say'n.
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by cougarmeat View Post
    owly* I might be misinterpreting what you said, but it seemed you have identified a "banana lay" with a gathered end (GE) hammock. If you lie parallel with the GE hammock, you will have that banana lay. But that's your choice. The usual way to lie in a GE is on a diagonal, with your head/shoulders over to one side and your feet to the other. That flattens out the GE experience. So each person, by adjusting their diagonal position and the sag in the hammock finds the best fit for them.

    The RR is a different critter - but also has some "feel" adjustment by changing the distance between apex points - where the two dogbone suspension lines come together.

    One thing beginners may try to do is reproduce that same situation they have at home - in a regular bed. But in a bed, during the night you develop pressure points - like on your shoulders and hips. So that may cause turning about, sleeping nearly on your stomach, etc. But in a hammock, most of your body is gently suspended, so for me, there is no need for a pillow (except under my knees for variety) because my head is already supported. A pillow under my head would cause too much tilt.

    I'm mentioning this because it sounds like you are endeavoring to mimic the environment of your recliner chair. Of course, the chair works for you at home and if they made an ultra-lite version of it you could carry, or inflate, in the woods, you'd be golden. I'm hoping that you'll find you don't need exactly the same body position in a hammock that you have at home. That the hammock will allow a little more variety.

    The RR isn't a bad choice. And it isn't a good choice. It's just a choice. You'll find posts that say the RR has allowed them (with back issues) to go camping again. You'll find posts that say a GE has allowed them (with back issues) to go camping again. So it boils down to, "What works for you."

    But one suggestion is not to judge by just one night's sleep. I sleep in a hammock three to four nights a week. if I've been out of a hammock for a while. The first night back in it feels a little strange. My body has to re-learn that it can relax differently than when in a bed. And even without that adjustment, just being away from home causes a higher level of alertness. So that first night out isn't really a fair comparison to what you are familiar with at home. Just Say'n.
    Good advice all............. Obviously as I sleep well in a gathered end hammock with a pad, ("banana lay") that tells me that the ideal hammock would be to achieve the same lay in a hammock that has sufficient space for a pad..... I'm hoping to see the RR within a few days. It will either work or it will not as it is....... a gamble as before.

    Thanks again. H.W.

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