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Keeping in mind that one has a finite length of hammock suspension material, is there any other consideration for the maximum distance apart of the trees?
For example, does having the trees be a long distance apart cause the hammock to become more unstable and apt to flip? Or does it change to angle at which one can lie in the hammock?
To keep the proper angle, the farther the trees are apart, the higher the suspension must be hung. So what is more likely to get you than how far the suspension will reach, is how high up the tree you can reach to hang it. Hope that makes sense.
Perfectly. Thank you! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Southernfan6885
The deciding factor is on the height in which you will be able to hang the suspension. A 30 degree to horizontal suspension angle is considered to be normal. So the longer the span the higher it will need to be hung. Mathematically it would be the Sine of the angle times the length of one end of the suspension and that would yield how high above the hammock end the suspension would need to be hung from.
If you, like your avatar, use trekking poles, one way to check for optimal distance that some folks use is to stand between the two trees you are considering with a pole in each hand. Extend you arms as far as you can so that the poles are parallel to the ground and pointing towards each tree. If you are just nearly hitting the trees, you're probably about right. YMMV
Check out this hang calculator for details:
http://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator.html
Plug in your numbers (distance between trees, for example) and see how high you'll have to hang your straps to get the right angle, etc. One thing to note is that this is just mathematical. In real world terms, you'll also have stretch. Even with amsteel Whoopies and low-stretch polyester straps, the further apart you hang, the more sag you'll encounter, so the higher you'll need to go above what the calculator spits out.
I've had some forum members comment to me that they feel 12 feet is the perfect distance, accounting for tarp and hammock size. 15 is almost too wide and is probably less ideal.
Here's another graphic I put together that talks about this method:
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=20780
Seems more line would be more stretch, so it would also need to be higher off the ground.
The answer is on this page.
UncleMJM....that's the method I use. I've found I'm pretty lousy at estimating or pacing off the distance. A little too long is OK but I set up my hammock first then went to rig my tarp at last years FL hang. Each end of my tarp ridgeline was touching the tree, oops.
If you use a structural ridge line to get the same sag angle each time (thus partially solving the problem of not being able to reach high enough on the trees), the limiting factor becomes upper body strength. The multiplying force on the main suspension ropes gets so high that it's very difficult to tighten them enough for distances over 25 ft. Also, after you've struggled mightily to tighten your suspension enough, you'd better have a marlin spike in it somewhere, or you'll never get it down without using a knife.
In my situation, I have the Funky Tarp, which I really like. The only negative with it is that it is very long and so I have to actually calculate with my tarp distance and then hang my hammock. I'm tall, and also prefer my hammock to be up a bit higher, so I haven't run into any problems yet.
Thanks, everyone!
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...e1/photo-2.jpg
HF Member Rip Waverly hanging between two trees about 30-35 feet apart.
The straps attachment points to the tree are maybe 7 feet off the ground.
This was just for giggles but I'm sure you could hang from this distance with no real issues.