Fighting the dreaded leg ridge

[Fish<><]

Since everyone likes visuals and I have yet to explain very well, here's a masterpiece of a drawing to help explain a little better. The orange bold lines are where one should whip their edges in order to acheive this lay. The rough foot of usable length loss is of no consolation but it is there, mainly at the edges and the peak of the w on the bottom and top. This is by no means exact, but this is the best I can do with a computer...



Like I said before though, this is a very slight modification and am not reinventing the wheel. I just took the wheel and put some hub caps on it... Credit for this idea goes totally to justjeff. His site helped me when I first got hung.

BTW dave-o, if you don't go this route to fix the calf ridge, try the minispreader bar mod. There is a huge thread on that and evidently makes a world of difference...

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I have slept a dozen nites or more in a GT Skeeter Beater Pro,,and after more than one nite,,left leg calf pressure,,and the more I sleep the more it works on that leg. GTUL was a def. no go as it was just too short period. Most uncomfortable lay I ever attempted..WB single 1.7 Traveler,,I have tried everything imaginable. god knows how many times I have even untied ends and retied,,ridgeline from 92 to 104,,after 3 nites in that thing,,calf pressure,,but,,the first 3 nites are fantastic,,after that, its just tolerable, and have spent about 75 nites now in the Traveler, Got a WL Snipe on order and going to try it, I hope the length helps,,after that will try a single double either GT or ENO..will keep checking things out to find that perfect lay. lol..danged if I know, but not going back to the ground anymore than I have too. I weigh 165 and 6'.

I too have calf pressure problems, I'm about to give up or go for the WL Snipe, I see you didn't post a review of your snipe purchase, did it work out for you?
I find as well as being uncomfortable it creates a large gap in the under-quilt seal, not good.

[Shug]

I too have calf pressure problems, I'm about to give up or go for the WL Snipe, I see you didn't post a review of your snipe purchase, did it work out for you?
I find as well as being uncomfortable it creates a large gap in the under-quilt seal, not good.

Here is my look at the Snipe if you will......
The length does decrease calf pressure as does a proper hang.
Carry Forth.
Shug

[SilvrSurfr]

Great thread, but the only thing I've learned from it is that people have a zillion ways to address calf ridge, and it's highly personal. I had a serious calf ridge problem with my HH Asym Zip, Byer Moskito Hammock, and a WBBB I tried.

With my 11-ft. BIAS and 10.5 ft. tablecloth hammocks, it's a non-issue. For me, the increased length of the hammocks appeared to eliminate the problem, but who knows, maybe it was the 60" width, or the fabrics themselves.

Glad I found a solution without having to try every hammock on the market, or every solution proposed in this thread!

[Catavarie]

Great thread, but the only thing I've learned from it is that people have a zillion ways to address calf ridge, and it's highly personal. I had a serious calf ridge problem with my HH Asym Zip, Byer Moskito Hammock, and a WBBB I tried.

With my 11-ft. BIAS and 10.5 ft. tablecloth hammocks, it's a non-issue. For me, the increased length of the hammocks appeared to eliminate the problem, but who knows, maybe it was the 60" width, or the fabrics themselves.

Glad I found a solution without having to try every hammock on the market, or every solution proposed in this thread!

Interesting how the longer hammocks eliminated the calf ridge for you. I've found that a shorter hammock (9ft) does the same for me.

Hypothesis: Could it be that perhaps it is the 10ft hammock that is susceptible to the calf ridge more so than any other length of hammock? And if this is a problem most prevalent in the 10ft hammock, then should we all move away from the 10ft in favor of longer or shorter hammocks?

[JimJ]

I have also struggled with calf ridge in my WBBB, to the point I started shopping again. While looking at the XLC video, I noticed Brandon hung the foot end REALLY HIGH. Probably about a foot above the head. I went out to the back yard and tried it, and it seemed to work much better even on the 10 ft BB. Laying in it right now actually, seems fine.

[Roadrunnr72]

All of my DIY hammocks have been gathered ends. The 11' didn't have much of a ridge. Then the last one I made, I decided on a channel end, like my ENO. The total length ended up being 128" and a ridgeline of 106", and must say, the two times I played in it, I had no calf ridge. Of course this will take extensive testing to prove.........RR

[BillyBob58]

I have also struggled with calf ridge in my WBBB, to the point I started shopping again. While looking at the XLC video, I noticed Brandon hung the foot end REALLY HIGH. Probably about a foot above the head. I went out to the back yard and tried it, and it seemed to work much better even on the 10 ft BB. Laying in it right now actually, seems fine.

My experience seems to verify that getting the foot a lot higher is really helpful for this problem, especially in my WBBB.

All of my DIY hammocks have been gathered ends. The 11' didn't have much of a ridge. Then the last one I made, I decided on a channel end, like my ENO. The total length ended up being 128" and a ridgeline of 106", and must say, the two times I played in it, I had no calf ridge. Of course this will take extensive testing to prove.........RR

One of my hammocks with the least leg pressure is a Claytor No Net, 10 ft long. It has a channel end also.

[1Arm Bandit]

+1 on the calf ridge issue.

[SilvrSurfr]

Interesting how the longer hammocks eliminated the calf ridge for you. I've found that a shorter hammock (9ft) does the same for me.

Hypothesis: Could it be that perhaps it is the 10ft hammock that is susceptible to the calf ridge more so than any other length of hammock? And if this is a problem most prevalent in the 10ft hammock, then should we all move away from the 10ft in favor of longer or shorter hammocks?

I think it's more an intensely personal thing, defying any universal rules. I'm a skinny guy, somewhere between an ectomorph and a mesomorph body type (leaning toward ectomorph). I have a friend of mine who is the exact height as me, but he is all torso with stubby little legs. I'm a 32" inseam and he's like a 29" inseam. If you put us side by side, you would think we weighed about the same. However, he outweighs me by 50 lbs. because he has big Polish thighs, a Beyonce butt, and Hillary Clinton calves (or cankles, as the case may be).

So I think the calf ridge has something to do with body types - endo, ecto or mesomorph. The solution depends on your body type. My solution to calf ridge pressure was a longer hammock. Your body type may dictate a different solution.

I would postulate that you, Catavarie, are a mesomorph, a stocky fellow, carrying most of your weight in your lower body or midsection. Whereas, my weight is more evenly distributed. Of course, this is just speculation on my part.