Short version; I'm in love They ain't gettin this one back.
Longer version; First night hung in my man cave in the basement from attachments used for my gathered end's, bad angles for the bridge. First one at 14'LX7'H was immediately dismissed as it banana'd severely. 2nd at 12'LX7'H was ok, not completely flat but close enough. I swear the hammock was set even but I woke up a few hrs later not feeling so good. Apparently the head end was higher 'cause my butt was near the foot end with my legs sticking up outta the hammock (think of your wife giving birth in stirrups). Wish I had a picture.
Second night in back yard tree to tree. Had a difficult time getting a perfect hang due to logistics (big landscape rocks between trees) and my noobness. Didn't make it through the night due to having nightmares of being sound asleep when the sprinkler system went off at 5am. I also didn't have any U-insulation. Still not totally comfortable with shoulder roll & having my feet forced together but shifting from back to side is rather easy & I actually like the higher sides where I can rest my top bent leg at the knee on the hammock side for support like a pillow (I'm bow legged) but definitely need padding since the edges are very hard.
3rd night I hung from my newly built 4"X4"X8' set in concrete 26" deep. Posts were set 13' apart with straps set in grooves at 57"H (drip system - no sprinklers here). I also picked up a 26"W WW blue waffled CCP. Made it through the night okay but couldn't stop thinking there's gotta be better. The pad felt hard even giving some pressure points at calves/feet & did little to spread the hammock. Bearable but far from heaven.
4th night = heaven. Posts from those that had used self inflating pads kept going thru my mind but I don't want to spend the $$$ right now & REI is a hundred miles one way. Then I remembered I had an old blow up Field & Stream pad (like a pool lounger but really thick skinned). OMG ... when I die & go to heaven this is what I'll be sleeping on. Like sleeping on a cloud. Not only did it open the hammock up completely along the length of the hammock, it set me up higher which I found much more comfortable.
Now I need to get serious about this pad thing since the insulating qualities of air alone is marginal and although an underquilt packs better I could never go back to laying on the BMBH by itself. I'll start another thread to discuss pad alternatives.
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