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  1. #1
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Shoulder squeeze solution for bridge hammocks?

    I occasionally feel shoulder squeeze as a pain in my left shoulder. It seems to correlate with cold damp weather, so take a wild guess.
    Fortunately, it's only occasional, and I can sleep through it or adjust position. I have started experimenting with a pad made by sewing the edges of disposable hospital pillows together. I bought a box of them, originally thinking I could use Kam Snaps on the edges to try different configurations, but as a hasty first trial I just sewed three together. I got the small size pillows, 10.25" by 14.5". I connected them in a T shape, with the head pillow crosswise to the two pillows under my back. With three pillows, the pressure of my full weight on the bottom one deflated it during the night, so I removed it. The two-pillow version is a definite improvement, but may not be the final solution. It has one advantage: it's easier to position under me in the hammock, because I don't need to lift my butt. I just pull the two bottom corners down behind me while sitting up, then lie back to test, and make small adjustments to get the head pillow where I want it. The smaller size pillows were hard to find. The larger size might work just as well or better. They're available from Jacks-r-Better.
    DIY pad for shoulder squeeze.jpg

  2. #2
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Hey Dave...could be that maybe you have a shoulder rotator cuff injury. I has surgery on mine in 2018 but prior to that I was having some shoulder pain whilst in my hammocks out of the blue. Just something to consider.
    Shug
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  3. #3
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    David,

    Looking forward to seeing the results of your experiment! I was thinking back to my old experiments with DIY bridges and the thing that helped most was making the head speaker bar longer resulting in a flatter side to side curve. I don’t remember whether it was my Cloud hammock or the Cirrus version. I think I saw an old spreadsheet I had made when trying different versions in my hammock storage tote. If it has the information I think it does, I will send it to you for your consideration. Granted I was never skilled enough to makes a netted version and I didn’t make end caps, so making the head spreader longer might create additional headaches in this regard.

    And I’m guessing shoulder arthritis as it bothers you more when wet/cold. But what do I know?

  4. #4
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    David,
    Here is my spread sheet I referenced from way back when.
    IMG_6896.jpeg

    I found my optimum for minimal shoulder squeeze with a head end fabric width to spreader bar ratio of 1.15. The PBH you sent me measures ~54” wide with spreader length of 42” (ratio 1.285). Not saying you should go that direction. It just resulted in some comfy back yard hanging for me.

    Notes regarding spread sheet:
    Triangle length refers to the suspension at each end, and arc depth was the cat cut I put in the fabric sides from head to foot (maxed at 6” at midpoint)

    Since it has been years since my last bridge, I’m not sure whether I sent you the cloud or cirrus. But if I remember correctly, I used polyester rather than nylon fabric (don’t remember the weight but probably ~1.6oz/yd2), and really liked that fabric for its lack of stretch.

    Sorry. It has been so long since I experimented with building hammocks. I’m not sure any of this is actually helpful. Just getting back into it.
    Last edited by BER; 04-09-2023 at 19:37.

  5. #5
    OlTrailDog's Avatar
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    My first hammock was a WBRR. I parted company with the bridge hammocks in favor of a 90* hammock style partly because of the lack of shoulder squeeze common to the bridge hammocks and the improved side lay comfort.

  6. #6
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Well, good news, bad news, good news, etc. The weather has cleared, and my (likely) arthritic shoulder slept just fine last night, but that means I don't know if the pillow prototype would have helped with the shoulder squeeze, which comes and goes with the weather. I do know that I need to experiment with different amounts of air in the pillows, because halfway through the night I decided they were too firm and tossed them overboard. Awoke refreshed this morning.

    I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. BER's table is especially helpful, as I had fallen into the habit of using similar proportions for two ratios: (1) triangle suspension length/spreader bar, and (2) spreader bar/fabric width. It's nice to see Grizz's Rhino Bridge in this table. It reminds me to read between the data given and factor in the benefit of using a recessed head spreader specifically to counter shoulder squeeze. Reading "beyond the data", I'm reminded that Just Bill's wider hammocks place the recessed head spreader comfortably higher overhead. I had stopped using a recessed head spreader to make attaching a bugnet easier, but now that I've gotten the bugs out of zipper attachments (pun, sorry), I'll likely go back to it, armed with BER's data and everybody else's good ideas. I agree that right angle hammocks can do a better job of preventing shoulder squeeze, but they remain complicated to build. (Others have made improvements since my 2011 version, seen at 13:00 in MacEntyre's video. See Post #6 in this thread.)

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