Roy_OKC. You could use some measurement - a cord. height of some body part - but your eye gets train pretty quickly. And there is no rule that you have to hit the mark on the first try. In some endeavors, there’s a phrase, “First make it work, then make it pretty.” For hammocks, first I put it up - that means suspicion lines on the tree, tension on my hammock riddgeline about right. Then I make it pretty by either raising/lowering the straps on the tree or slight adjustment to the suspension length. That sets the height above ground.
If you have a comfortable chair, stand next to it and see where the seat height hit’s you; inches above/below the knee. So you have a built in measuring stick. That’s a visual perspective.
Another is just working with the numbers. Spend some time with the hammock calculator -
http://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator - an for your hammock length, and your preferred height above ground, you could write down a table of various tree distances, suspension connection height at the tree, and suspension length. You can measure the distance between your hiking poles - set at some length (like 120cm) - when held between your outstretched arms. You can use that to estimate tree distance.
So once you pick your trees, and you know their distance, then your table will give you the connection height at the tree and suspension length. After a while you will just “see and know”. But it’s all approximate. And for me, an adjustment after the hammock and/or tarp go up, is just part of “finishing touches”.
Note that in some circumstances, low to the ground can’t be helped. But “low to the ground” is not “On the Ground”. And anything off the ground is good (though sometimes awkward - cue the video of the baby giraffe.)
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