I'm confused [as usual]. From the illustration I can't tell where you're measuring the angle. Is it the angle of the suspension [in my case whoopies] in relation to the tree, the angle of the suspension to the SRL or the angle to the bottom of the hammock?
In D's illustration he is showing that your suspension angle is from a level plane at the bottom of your hammock (where you will be when laying down.)Originally Posted by nu2hike
Base your 30 degree angle upward from the planned bottom of your hammock rather than the ground because with a hammock you can pick trees on a slope so the ground may not be a level playing field to work from. This takes a little bit of guesstimating and while lots of folks talk about setting up with 30 degrees it's not and does not need to be an exsact science. The more you hang the more you will be able to eye ball a good angle and call it close enough....the real test of comfort is when you lay down...again the more you hang the more you are able to then get into the hammock and FEEL if it's hung the way you like.
In certain hammocks I prefer a much shallower hang angle...closer to 15 degrees...it's a comfort thing that for me is better one way over another. It's harder to hang and takes some extra tweaking to get things dialed in to where it will work but in that particular hammock I like it.
More than pushing everyone to be exactly precise I think what Dejoha was getting at is that with a few guidelines (spacing & height) you can get pretty close to 30 degrees without a lot of fiddling.
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Yes! Exactly! Well said!
It's all about "don't sweat it." Like Paul, some of my hammocks lay better at 15° or so.
The idea behind this thread was to help hangers feel more relaxed about getting that magical 30° angle -- it doesn't require fancy instruments.
Author and illustrator: The Ultimate Hang: An Illustrated Guide To Hammock Camping
If one is using a structural ridgeline cord does one ordinarily leave it attached all the time, simply adjusting it when needed?
This is what I assume to be the case. At least it works for me.
It must be so, because this is what I have been doing as well.
Yes, leave it attached. Once you have it adjusted for your preferred sag, you leave it alone. The point is to have the SRL hold the correct sag, not to adjust the SRL tension to match whatever sag you happen to get with each new setup.
If you don't suffer from insomnia: Know how your own bed, the one you know, allows you to fall asleep comfortably, familiarly?
I set up and take down every night and AM. A structural ridgeline means the hammock feels the same, is familiar, every time. So, even allowing the possibility that there are different tensions and sweet spots to be found in different hangs, the structural ridgeline means the same sweet spot and comfort can be found repeatedly. For me and for most, that familiarity works.
But, this keep us off-topic of what I find to be one of Derek's weakest illustrations. I might think differently if we could place our trees at 15'........... And, while it is arm-chair interesting to see what the relationship is between tree-distance and mounting point heights, in practice we don't measure the tree-distances closely enough to know where the hammock height will be, once we get in.
Last edited by DemostiX; 05-07-2012 at 20:04.
Nu2hike: Dejoha labeled the 30 degree angle in his Basic Hammock Camping illustration:
hammock-camping-basics.jpg
The other angles are: Ground/tree: 90 degrees and Tree/suspension: 60 degrees. If any one can show it clearly, it's Dejoha. Thanks, Dejoha!!!
"Pips"
Mountains have a dreamy way
Of folding up a noisy day
In quiet covers, cool and gray.
---Leigh Buckner Hanes
Surely, God could have made a better way to sleep.
Surely, God never did.
As a newbie, I simply must say THANK YOU!! for this beautiful diagramI believe it was OldGringo who asked for an illustration like this. After putting together the basic illustration, I saw how easy it is to achieve the "perfect hang" and get the magic 30-degree hang angle. You can see from the illustration that there is an optimal zone where the distance between the trees is also the perfect height to reach the anchor point.
I hope this makes sense!
And even more for the simple explanation ha ha!
Daniel Romani
Freelance Photographer, Newcastle
Yes,many thanks.Now what am I going to do with all my titanium inclinometer prototypes?
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