Tall people...different rules?

[Knotty]

Lying in the HH Explorer the other day I got to wondering about some of the accepted ideas for comfort.

It's generally said that a HH and many other hammocks are more comfortable when not strung to tight.

But as I lay there on the diagonal it seemed to me that a tall person might run out of room sooner with more sag. Am I getting my spatial thinking right?

[gargoyle]

Yes, Knotty, I feel you are right. At 6'-5" I need more room obviously, than someone who is 5'-4". The same holds true with pack weights. My clothing alone will weigh more than someone wearing a small or medium, my clothes are bigger, thus heavier.

I do find some sag more comfortable, as far as the hammock goes. Not sure if my degree of sag is as extreme as some of the photos I've seen here on HF.

[Roadtorque]

At 6'2 I have ran into a bit of a problem with my ENO. In order to avoid the banana shape I turn on the diagonal. However, due to my height I begin to get the banana shape, although less pronounced, and begin to get uncomfortable. That is why I have a bridge hammock now. The ENO is a large hammock and I figure if I cant get flat enough in that while laying diagonal I wouldn't get flat enough in anything else except a bridge

[Frawg]

I'm 6'2" and my double layer DIY is about 49" wide x 96" long. I lay on a slight diagonal and am generally comfortable. I may try going a little longer and wider because I've discovered that my feet tend to slide out the side when they're wrapped in my TQ's foot box. I guess my lay is way off the norm compared to the "name" hammocks. Maybe I can get to one of the hangs some day and check out what I'm missing.

Edit: Forgot to address your question. I think your thinking is correct, at least IME. I have to hang with a fairly shallow sag to be comfy in mine.

[bonsaihiker]

Knotty, I've been wondering the same thing. How tall are you?

I'm 6'4" and I've been enjoying my Kalisto ($17 from WM) in my back yard, with a very flat lie and comfortable knees. Last weekend I strung up my HH Explorer and realized it caused some significant knee stress that I was missing in the Kalsito, but didn't realize before then. Turns out the Kalisto is about a foot longer, and that made a big difference in comfort for me.

I did think I was able to lie flatter when I shortened the HH ridgeline by about 2 inches last year, but I've begun to wonder if there's a law of diminishing returns on doing that, based on overall hammock length?

I'll follow this thread with interest.

[Knotty]

I'm six foot two or there.

Taking the idea to the extremes...
- A totally slack hammock, hung like a "U", would create a flat lie only on the perpendicular. It would only fit someone shorter than the hammock is wide.
- An impossibly tight hammock would allow you to lie down the center line and still be flat. A tall person could use the maximum available length of the hammock.

[Roadtorque]

My thinking is that with a lot of slack and laying perpendicular to your suspension you would still wouldn't get flat due to the cut of gathered end hammocks. I suspect that unless the hammock is unusually wide you might sleep more in a banana shape laying perpendicular rather than at a diagonal

[Knotty]

My thinking is that with a lot of slack and laying perpendicular to your suspension you would still wouldn't get flat due to the cut of gathered end hammocks. I suspect that unless the hammock is unusually wide you might sleep more in a banana shape laying perpendicular rather than at a diagonal

True. Only place that wouldn't be so is in hammock with spreader bars.

Maybe its that in a "U" hung hammock the diagonal for a flat lie would be fairly extreme and thus fairly short.

[Knotty]

Slept in the basement last night with the Explorer hung VERY slack. There was probably 10" of droop in the ridgeline.

Oddly enough, the hammock didn't feel any shorter. Different, yes, but not shorter. Hmmm?

[hugo]

For me being 6'10" I find that even in the TTTM King Size hammock (extra wide) it is most comfortable when it is hung pretty tight. With lots of sag there simply isn't enough room, so I lie on a slight diagonal with a pretty tight hammock. Gotta try DIY at some point or one of those huge mexican family size hammocks to see if I can be comfortable in a banana shape :-)