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I am completely new to the hammock world, so hopefully y'all will go easy on me.
Well, I plan on making the turtledog hammock stand with a 10 ft ridgeline. I found a hammock I planned on getting but, before I get it I want to make sure it isn't going to be too small and won't hang correctly. It is 55 inches wide and 95 inches long. Is that too small, or will it work perfectly fine? If it is too small, what size hammock should I be looking for?
Thanks in advance.
That's a little on the small size... With hammocks longer is usually more comfortable... But that hammock is a little smaller than a grand trunk ultralight... Which is what I use... I'm 5'10" and 180# and it fits... But my table cloth hammock that 132x60 is more comfortable without a doubt... Not that I'm uncomfortable in the grandtrunk... But the sweet spot is a lot bigger in my table cloth hammock...
It will work, but may not be as comfortable as possible... The turtle dog stand works awesome... I built mine longer than what your saying but I wanted to be able to use my tarp without issues so I made it 14' ridge pole...
Waffle, welcome!
The turtledog stand uses a ridgePOLE, not a ridgeLINE ;) If you use a ridgeline then you're going to pull the tripods over.
One of the benefits of the ridgepole is that you can actually attach your suspension at any point along the pole, so I don't think your stand will dictate a minimum size for your hammock. I've not actually built a turtledog stand but it's very similar to my turtlelady stand and the ridgepole idea is identical.
However, that is a pretty short hammock. I've used ones that short, but I prefer longer hammocks. My current setup is a BIAS WW which is an 11' hammock and my ridgeline is about 9'. When set up inside, I hang pretty close to the ground because I'm using my loft in place of one tripod... but it works and isn't any problem at all when I can get both tripods set up.
Alright you guys, thanks a lot for all the info. And ridgepole makes much more sense than a ridgeline now that I think about it, lol. I decided I'm gonna go a size up and get the hammock that is 59"W x 118"L, just so it will be more comfortable.
The usual rule of thumb for comfort in an hammock is your height + 4 ft. So, for a 6' tall person, that'd be a 10' hammock body.
However, longer is generally considered more comfortable, as well: I'm 6', and I find my 11' DIY much more comfortable than my 9' Hennessy. That's not to say that I can't get comfy in the Hennessy, just that it requires a little more work.
Since you're going to be putting your hammock on a stand, I'm going to assume that you're not backpacking with it. If so, why worry about weight? I mean, if all you're doing is setting up the stand and hanging the hammock from it, the extra pound (at absolute most) that you might rack up through materials and length in the hammock won't be even close to the weight of the stand.
Anyway, just a thought.