questions why my hammock experience sucks so far

[BillyBob58]

well duck... I measured the hammock spread out. it is rectangular, but it is 287 cm (9.4 feet) short and 180 cm (70 in) wide. Now I feel stupid not measuring it earlier... well I guess I will have to make my own hammock becuase europe has fairly limited options and I am cheap. extremetextil.de has hammock fabric but the roll width is listed at 59 in. that seems narrow, or is it?

Sorry to hear about your struggle. I own and have camped in many hammocks over the last 14 years. As usual, my opinions differ a bit from most. Which is probably because I have always felt that hammocks are sort of like a pair of shoes or pants. What works for one is by no means guaranteed to work for another. I have tried a few hammocks that had a lot of rave reviews by most people, only to find out they were not the hammocks for me.

Also, at 6'1" and 200-226(up and down, 203 at the moment) I am very close to your height and weight. One of my all time favorite gathered end( end channel actually) is a measly 10 ft long by 4 ft wide. ( Claytor No Net) It is also pretty inexpensive. There are a few other folks here who have also found this to be an excellent hammock, along with it's cousin Claytor Jungle Hammock, roughly the same size. So, that goes against most recommendations right there. But I have no way to guess what might work best for you. You just never know until you try it.

However, based on my personal experience, I'm fairly certain that the "extremetextil.de has hammock fabric but the roll width is listed at 59 in." would be just fine for me. Especially if you are going to make it on the longer side. However, looking at your picture of how you like to sleep, if that is what you need in a gathered hammock where you must try and lay across the diagonal, you have some significant challenges ahead of you. Again, strangely, the gathered hammock I have had the best luck with side sleeping and almost stomach sleeping is that 10X4 Claytor. Still, no gathered hammock I have tried is optimal for that.

Hands down, a bridge or 90º hammock is the best for me for when it comes to side sleeping, and would be for stomach sleeping of I ever did that, which I don't. As well as avoiding the dreaded calf ridge. Not trying to lay across the diagonal just seems to make many things much easier, though of course many people still prefer gathered hammocks for over all comfort and weight(no spreader bars). Others, it is bridge or 90º hands down for overall comfort. What would work best for you? I don't know.

But a problem with these non gathered hammocks is expense. Maybe not compared to other high end gathered hammocks, but compared to what you have already done or are planning to do. For example, the Hammock Tent 90. Ultra light, huge shoulder room, extremely flat, zero calf ridge, no spreader bars etc. But expensive, the recent models only have a 200 lb rating, assuming you can even get one, I don't know if they are always available. But an Amok is similar, higher weight rating, might cost less, but still cost a good bit. Then the various bridge hammocks, not cheap. (though maybe the REI bridge costs less? ) Good luck to you on figuring this out.