sleeping on the diagonal?

**meeegun** · 11-11-2008, 02:31

i was looking at some of the diagrams and i have a question about how high i would have to hang my hammock. i am only 5'3, so should i be searching for the shortest hammock i can find to reduce how high i have to hang it on a tree? i know that how high you hang it depends on how far apart the trees are, but i am concerned that in order to get a good hang i will have to hang it higher than i can reach!

also, i will be backpacking in hawaii from mid dec-mid jan. what model of the claytor would be good for this? the jungle one is moisture proof which sounds like a definite plus for me. any thoughts?

**Ramblinrev** · 11-11-2008, 05:22

I have hiking poles with me all the time. On occasion when I have had to use a really wide span I have used my hiking poles to move the webbing up the tree beyond my reach. That's one reason I like the ring buckle system. It the webbing is really high all the adjustments are at the hammock height.

**GrizzlyAdams** · 11-11-2008, 07:59

Originally Posted by meeegun

i was looking at some of the diagrams and i have a question about how high i would have to hang my hammock. i am only 5'3, so should i be searching for the shortest hammock i can find to reduce how high i have to hang it on a tree? i know that how high you hang it depends on how far apart the trees are, but i am concerned that in order to get a good hang i will have to hang it higher than i can reach!

I'm 10" taller than you and can reach up a little over 8'. Let's suppose you can reach 7'. Typically the angle the suspension line makes with the tree when the hammock is occupied is 30 degrees. And suppose that when you sit in the hammock, at the center, the hammock is 2' off the ground. Back-of-the-envelope calculation is that the longest distance from tree to center that you might do is (using trig, close your eyes if you have to) (7'-2')/tan(30) = 8.66 feet. So the largest span between trees that you could deal with is 17.3 feet. We normally try to find trees about 15 feet apart, so this is not unusually short.

Note that in the analysis above the length of the hammock plays no role. Having a shorter hammock does not change the maximum distance between trees you can deal with.

You can increase the span you can deal with by decreasing the angle of the suspension rope. And this you do by making sure you have a pretty highly rated rope, and a structural ridgeline. The ridgeline makes sure that you "set the sag", i.e., have the hammock ends at the same distance every time. Then you can tighten up the suspension some and decrease the angle...there is a limit of course...but if you could make the angle, say, 25 degrees, and your maximum span increases to 21.4 feet.

Grizz

**Youngblood** · 11-11-2008, 08:12

To some extent, how high you want to tie off your hammock suspension for a particular span distance depends on how tall you are. Shorter folks don't need their hammocks as far off the ground as taller folks so they don't need to tie off as high as taller folks, so it isn't as big a problem as some might think. I try to use tie off heights of shoulder high, head high, and as high as you can reach to factor in how tall someone is.

Some of the larger models of Hennessy Hammocks have a particularly difficult geometry when it comes to how high they need to be tied. Other hammocks don't have that geometry and don't need to be tied as high.

**Ramblinrev** · 11-11-2008, 08:26

Originally Posted by Youngblood

Some of the larger models of Hennessy Hammocks have a particularly difficult geometry when it comes to how high they need to be tied. Other hammocks don't have that geometry and don't need to be tied as high.

I just recently switched from the Safari (huge beastie) to the Explorer Ultralight (Not so huge beastie) and this is the biggest difference I see other than the plain size of the setup. I keep hanging the thing higher than I need to and I have to stand on my tip toes to get my butt placed in the opening correctly. Mind you, I have yet to scrape the ground with the Explorer which I was prone to do with the Safari if I wasn't careful.

**GrizzlyAdams** · 11-11-2008, 09:07

Originally Posted by Ramblinrev

I just recently switched from the Safari (huge beastie) to the Explorer Ultralight (Not so huge beastie) and this is the biggest difference I see other than the plain size of the setup. I keep hanging the thing higher than I need to and I have to stand on my tip toes to get my butt placed in the opening correctly. Mind you, I have yet to scrape the ground with the Explorer which I was prone to do with the Safari if I wasn't careful.

This seems to me to be a result more of the width of the hammock than the length . Of course with with HH line the two dimensions scale together with the larger hammocks. But if you look at, say, the different Speer models they vary (a little) in length but are all 5' wide. Likewise the difference between the different sizes of Clarks are in the length, not the width.

For a given hammock width, if you think of the "extra" length in a long hammock over a short one, the extra bit is at the same angle as the suspension line and is serving the same purpose, it's just a fabric part of the suspension line.

That's if you don't have a ridgeline. If you do have a ridgeline, then all other things being equal (in particular the distance from the ridgeline to the bottom of the hammock), the longer the ridgeline, the lower on the tree you can attach. But all things aren't equal...

but predictably I'm getting way too analytic about this. Youngblood makes a good point that hanging the hammock closer to the ground to begin with let's you hang off the tree lower as well. Someone 5' tall doesn't have to do anything special to hang....

Grizz

**Ramblinrev** · 11-11-2008, 09:15

Grizz... I have no clue as to _why_ the safari hangs differently, I was just confirming that it does. I do know the distance from the ridgeline to the hammock bottom is considerably different between the Safari and the Explorer. The width no doubt plays a role if for no other reason than all that fabric has to go somewhere when the hammock is loaded.

**GrizzlyAdams** · 11-11-2008, 09:26

Originally Posted by Ramblinrev

Grizz... I have no clue as to _why_ the safari hangs differently, I was just confirming that it does. I do know the distance from the ridgeline to the hammock bottom is considerably different between the Safari and the Explorer. [b] The width no doubt plays a role if for no other reason than all that fabric has to go somewhere when the hammock is loaded.[b]

With the HH it's probably more due to maintaining the same sag angle between hammock and ridgeline. The Safari is longer, the ridgeline is longer, the distance between ridgeline and bottom of the hammock is larger...so you have to attach the Safari higher up the tree to keep the bottom of the hammock the same height off the ground.

The independence of length and height on tree is only in the absence of a ridgeline...

Grizz

**Youngblood** · 11-11-2008, 09:45

Grizz,

Hennessy, as you know, sets the hammock sag angle with his structural ridgeline. What you may not know is that he uses a different sag angle with his larger hammocks... a much larger sag angle. There in lies the geometry issue and why they have to be hung higher for the same span distance.

Here are a few of my sketches that show that, that are based on my best guess and my 6 foot height.

**GrizzlyAdams** · 11-11-2008, 09:47

Originally Posted by Youngblood

Grizz,

Hennessy, as you know, sets the hammock sag angle with his structural ridgeline. What you may not know is that he uses a different sag angle with his larger hammocks... a much larger sag angle. There in lies the geometry issue and why they have to be hung higher for the same span distance.

Here are a few of my sketches that show that, that are based on my best guess and my 6 foot height.

Thanks Dave. I'll ponder why they do that in otherwise mind numbing committee meetings, giving me an excuse to look engaged and deep in thought...

Grizz