I am currently preparing for the AT section of my hike and am planning on dropping some more weight from my pack. I have changed my setup several times since starting in Key West. I switched from CC buckles to RB's after a mis-aligned buckle sheared my strap in two as I applied weight to it. I next ditched my under quilt in favor of modifying my sleeping bag to slip over my hammock. Now I am working on my suspension system. I ordered some green amsteel rope and am going to try the truckers hitch method to hang with but I haven't used tree huggers in a VERY long time. My experience is limited to the old stock HH huggers. I can't decide how long to make them. If I make them too long, I might as well just stick to the straps. My question (finally) is what, if any, damage is done to the support trees if the huggers are too short to completely encircle them. Is it enough to only protect the back side of the tree or is the compression of the rope on the front side going to make me feel guilty as I'm packing up in the morning. Thanks for helping me out on this!