Ridgeline Antics/ Staying Comfortable

[HOPTOAD]

So I decided to put a structural ridgeline on my ENO double. I am about 6'1 220 and decided for the first night to allow a good bit of sag so I kept the length to 95 inches. I was pretty comfortable at first but when I woke up I was all balled up in the middle of the hammock. I got home that night and extened the ridgeline to about 105 inches which feels more comfortable but when I took a nap it felt like my feet were falling asleep. So is there any guidelines for ridgelines? Meaning if your ridgeline is to short x,y,z will happen, if it is too long x,y,z will hapen.

Another question for you fine folks.
How do you keep your pad under you when on a diagonal. Last Christmas, before I got into Hammock camping I got a Marmot Tresles bag rated to 15 and a Thermarest Prolite 4 for my tent camping. April rolls around and I decide to try something different and opted for a hammock. Since then I have been using the Thermarest as my pad with my sleeping bag unzipped except for the foot box as a top quilt. This weekend was the first time I had hammocked in less than 50 degree weather so I had on additional layers and a hat to keep warm. It turns out keeping warm wasnt that hard but the friggin pad kept moving all night. I woke up around 2 am with one side of the pad hanging off the hammock. I got out and repostioned everything on the diagonal but when I got in it all shifted and I had a really difficult time trying to get the pad under me, then everytime I rolled over on my side I would roll off the pad. I really dont want to spend any more funds on a top quilt, underquilt and whatnot so I am looking for some cheap solutions. Yesterday I was hanging around the house and had the thought of why not just put the pad (partially inflated) inside the sleeping bag and then zip the bag up. I went out back and set up the hammock and found it was alot easier to get on the pad and when I turned onto my side the pad stayed with me. Anyone else do this and have comments, good or bad?

I am also preparing to do the cinch buckle, strapworks mod for my suspension and was curious if any members had any cinch buckles, straps, or spyderline they were looking to get rid of. Also if anyone wants to get rid of thier small figure nines let me know.

Thanks for the Replies,
HOPTOAD

[oldsoldier]

To chime in quickly, one thing alot of folks do is hang the foot end a little higher than the head end. This can help prevent slipping.
As far as the pad slippage; I dont use one, but one thing you may want to look into is putting little grippy points on the pad. Get some shoe goo, and on one side of the pad but little dots of it all over. It will kinda work like those gloves with the little dots on the palms.

[Heber]

You are asking a good question. It's an issue in tent camping as well of course. Putting the pad inside the bag, as you suggest, seems like a good solution. You are basically turning your bag into a Big Agnes style bag, which is specifically designed to address that issue.

I think the problem is that the bottom of most sleeping bags are very slick and they tend to slide right off the pad. The solution I use is to use a quilt rather than a bag. Equivalently you can open your bag and lay it over you like a quilt (the requires a full zip bad tho). It's easier to keep my body on a pad than to keep my body in a bag on the pad. Not a perfect solution (an underquilt is probably the best solution) but it works for me.

[bkrownd]

The only good solutions I can see for a pad inside a hammock is attaching it to the back of your sleeping bag or to the inside of your hammock. Those sleeping bag designs with a pad sleeve, for instance. Otherwise a pad is just too difficult to arrange make uncomfortable - I gave up on my pad after the first night in the hammock and am looking into down underquilt ideas.

[Hector]

> Putting the pad inside the bag, as you suggest, seems like a good solution.
> You are basically turning your bag into a Big Agnes style bag, which is
> specifically designed to address that issue.

Um, actually, I'm going to disagree there. The BA bags are designed to do three things that won't do: Put the insulation where it'll do you some good (on top), provide a nylon barrier between you and the pad, and they take advantage of the full width of the pad. Putting the pad inside a regular bag is going to be less roomy and less comfortable. I think you'd be a lot better off trying to strap or velcro the pad to the bottom of a standard bag than putting it inside.

Still, if you wanted to try it, I'd recommend putting the pad in a nylon or silk liner and if you wake up squeezed, sweaty or or otherwise uncomfortable, try using the sleeping bag like a quilt.

Of course, I could be full of fertilizer.

[Ramblinrev]

The grippy things have been tried by a lot of us. My experience is they were absolutely totally useless. Did I mention they didn't work as far as I am concerned. YMMV. What it comes down to is I had to ge to a Bridge hammock to use a pad.. or a double layer DIY since I can't buy the ready made dbl layer hammocks. I still have to give the dbl layer a good test but it looks promising.

[angrysparrow]

The only good solutions I can see for a pad inside a hammock is attaching it to the back of your sleeping bag or to the inside of your hammock.

I don't find that to be true at all. There are 2 good solutions.

1 - Use a double layer hammock, and place the pad between the fabric layers. It stays in place very nicely, and I've used this method on many occasions.

2 - Use a Speer SPE. Simple, but effective.

[thecrumb]

I recently went down this path - first night I used my Thermarest and slid all over. Second night I went to WalMart and picked up a blue pad. This works much better. It's wider, and I find I can position it and it doesn't slide around as much as the Thermarest. Next is going to be to add some wings somehow - either via a DIY SPE or something...

Jim

[bkrownd]

I don't find that to be true at all. There are 2 good solutions.

1 - Use a double layer hammock, and place the pad between the fabric layers. It stays in place very nicely, and I've used this method on many occasions.

2 - Use a Speer SPE. Simple, but effective.

#1 is what I meant by attaching the pad to the hammock, but I'd rather just use an underquilt if I'm going to put something like that together. #2 is extra stuff to carry, and IMO I'm glad to be free of pads in any shape or form. But, if you like the pad for some reason, there ya go.

[warbonnetguy]

yes, i agree with crumb. it's because the pad is inflatable. some use inflateables, using them barely half inflated, and that might help. a ccf pad won't act like this. at least not in my experience, they are bulkier though, and lighter.