New Hammock, searching for flat lay

I have been lurking around here for the last two / three months and have finally purchased a hammock and some gear and gotten the chance to hang out on my back porch for a couple of nights over the last few days. This was in central arkansas and I think the temp got down to 25 early sunday morning.

I bought a Hennessy Explorer with the side zipper last month, immediately replacing the stock suspension with whoopie slings by following Ken's directions. Between Hammock Gear'sWinter Incubator and an Exped Wallcreeper 650 20degree rated bag (and the sweater and pants that my lady had knitted for me) I was toasty, if not too hot on occasion. And VERY comfortable. (although I did have some vertigo when my feet were too high while I was gently swinging.) I can't seem to find the elusive flat lay, though, and I think my knees felt this. Do I need to stake out the hammock? Or is the sleeping bag sliding around in it making this impossible? Or could I have screwed up the ridgeline (making it too short) when converting to whoopie slings? Or was it too short to begin with? I am 6'4" and 190lbs. I laid in it only briefly on it's first arrival using the stock suspension. Or something else?

I also purchased a Mat Cat Deluxe tarp in sil-nylon and some other accessories such as tree huggers, dutch clips and made some nacrabiners along with the whoopie slings using either and both 7/64 and 1/8 amsteel blue. I'll make a ridgeline somehow with either zing-it, or the excess rope that came with nite-ize figure 8's, and tarp tie outs over the next week so that I may try out my rig camping maybe next weekend when the weather clears up. I am really impressed with the quality of the Winter Incubator and the Mat Cat Tarp.

Anywise, this forum seems to be a great resource and I am already getting addicted (passionated(?)) to knots. My lady is actually impressed with the nacrabiners with the diamond knot!

sorry for the long first post.

Ted

For the knee pain most people I have seen talk about. The recommendation is to put a pillow or something under your knees.

re: your lady: beware the head fake.:D

Okay, on to serious stuff. You don't say how you arrived at your ridgeline length, so here's the deal...83% of the oal, and that's a very big ballpark...the wild card here, is the advertised length of a hammock. It rarely is anything like the finished length, so...measure. Stretch it out, and measure from the points where the suspension and the hammock meet, then do the math.

Having said all of that, I hung in hammocks for over a year before curiosity got the best of me, and I got out the ol' tape measure. My advice? Forget the numbers, make or buy an adjustable ridgeline, and start tweaking. It takes awhile, but you'll get there.

You can try different lengths of the ridgeline to alleviate the knee hyper-extension, but I use a piece of clothing of a stuff sack full of clothing under my knees to stop it. This also helps to go between the knees when I flop over to my side to help relieve the strain on my hip.

Sounds like you're getting it dialed in.

In every hammock I have I find that some sort of knee bolster is required. At home it's a pillow. In the field it's a stuff sack with a jacket inside. Without a bolster the knee is slightly hyperextended. When side sleeping, I put the bolster between my knees.

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Originally Posted by Knotty

In every hammock I have I find that some sort of knee bolster is required. At home it's a pillow. In the field it's a stuff sack with a jacket inside. Without a bolster the knee is slightly hyperextended. When side sleeping, I put the bolster between my knees.

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Knotty,

Not every hammock... Only gathered end hammocks...Bridge hammocks are flat.

Pan

Roger that on the bridge. Otherwise, what every one already said re: something under the knees. ( However, even on a flat bed, a pillow under the knees increases lower back comfort during local anesthesia/sedation cataract surgery)

If you side sleep, try this: on right side, full fetal, with knees/feet against right side of hammock, at a pretty significant diagonal. Works fantastic for me in the HH UL Explorer, Safari, Speer, maybe others. The hammock seems to form a ridge that provides support under my right side, kind of like I put a pillow under there. Prevents any side twist. Otherwise, most side positions in the Explorer are somewhat challenging for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter_pan

Knotty,

Not every hammock... Only gathered end hammocks...Bridge hammocks are flat.

Pan

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You almost got me on that technicality Pan but I said "in every hammock that I have". :lol:

Of course you are correct about the bridge. :D