Hammocks and Sleeping Bags????

[breyman]

After looking at the Ridge Runner, I think I may be onto something that could get me on my side. I really appreciate all your great comments and suggestions. I love the forum.

The RidgeRunner is a great hammock. Definitely worth a look.

[Catavarie]

Whether I'm side sleeping or on my back in the hammock, I tuck the edges of the TQ underneath me to keep it in place. I tend to be a very still sleeper though and don't move much once I'm out.

[Mule]

Whether I'm side sleeping or on my back in the hammock, I tuck the edges of the TQ underneath me to keep it in place. I tend to be a very still sleeper though and don't move much once I'm out.

yes, me too, I tuck them in, but it's difficult to get a good seal all around when it's really cold, like 15 degrees or less. I am thinking about putting my BB and both my Pheonix and Incubator for sale and buy a RR and Lynx. But I am going to try my long and wide stretch side tomorrow too.

[Meerkat]

I like to use my Exped Dreamwalker sleeping bag(the kind you can walk around in) . It makes for a greatly reduced chance of drafts in conjunction with my TQ. Mine is the synthetic 40* version. With 20*TQ, good from warm down to around 0*. The center zip makes it easy to get in and out of. Am going more and more to the RR. Can side sleep with minimal scooching around. Just needs extra room to hang, wide for tarps, and comparatively heavy. Still ligbter,way lighter, than tent and cot combo. Hope you find a solution that will work for you
Happy New Year

[Mule]

Thanks Meercat, I would love to try one of those sleeping bags.
I just came inside from a test I did in my stretch side hammock. I put the quilts on and hung long enough to fall asleep while on my side. It is easier to do than in the BB. I fell asleep and slept for an hour before waking up just now and realizing I didn't experience any apnea. When I sleep on my back I wake myself up several times because I quit breathing. Didn't happen on my side. It's not what you call a large pool of data but I know it can work by just what I did tonight.

[bear bag hanger]

I was unable to check any of the options. Needed to have a choice of:
No problem sleeping on my side. I have a Clark NA and have slept many wonderful on my side.

I had the same thought. I use a Clark NX-200, but have used Hennessy, Mosquito hammock, WBBB and a few others. I don't see the problem. Sleeping on your stomach, on the other hand, is a different story ...

[BillyBob58]

BB58, Thanks for the great advice. Perhaps a pea pod would be the thing, but it is also the side sleeping itself. I cannot get on my side comfortably and stay there long. I have used bridges a lot, but got away from them due to the extra weight and bulk, but perhaps I need to go back.

OK then, thanks for that clarification. So that's a double problem: can't get comfy enough on your side in most of the hammocks you have, PLUS you have trouble with quilt drafts which is even worse when on your side. Got it.

After looking at the Ridge Runner, I think I may be onto something that could get me on my side. I really appreciate all your great comments and suggestions. I love the forum.

Sounds like the RR might be excellent ( the best? ) for side sleeping, but I'm not sure it would help with the quilt problem like the narrow JRB. The steep, narrow "V" shape of which seems to "funnel" my TQ down onto me at the edges better than my wider hammocks which allow the quilt more room to roam out to the sides. Not a match for a Pea Pod or sleeping bag, but does seem to be noticeably fewer draft problems. But then again, for all I know the wider RR may end up working the same way, and if it doesn't you can always go back to a sleeping bag to solve your draft problems when on your side.

yes, me too, I tuck them in, but it's difficult to get a good seal all around when it's really cold, like 15 degrees or less. I am thinking about putting my BB and both my Pheonix and Incubator for sale and buy a RR and Lynx. But I am going to try my long and wide stretch side tomorrow too.

I like to use my Exped Dreamwalker sleeping bag(the kind you can walk around in) . It makes for a greatly reduced chance of drafts in conjunction with my TQ. Mine is the synthetic 40* version. With 20*TQ, good from warm down to around 0*. The center zip makes it easy to get in and out of. Am going more and more to the RR. Can side sleep with minimal scooching around. Just needs extra room to hang, wide for tarps, and comparatively heavy. Still ligbter,way lighter, than tent and cot combo. Hope you find a solution that will work for you
Happy New Year

Thanks Meercat, I would love to try one of those sleeping bags.
I just came inside from a test I did in my stretch side hammock. I put the quilts on and hung long enough to fall asleep while on my side. It is easier to do than in the BB. I fell asleep and slept for an hour before waking up just now and realizing I didn't experience any apnea. When I sleep on my back I wake myself up several times because I quit breathing. Didn't happen on my side. It's not what you call a large pool of data but I know it can work by just what I did tonight.

OK then, so that hammock allows you to sleep on your side well enough, now you just need to solve the draft problem? What Meercat said, or:
http://featheredfriends.com/index.ph...en-nano-c.html

I think those approaches ( never tried them but always wanted to ) gets all of the TQ benefits except weight/bulk, and all of the sleeping bag benefits, draft free plus walk around camp abilities. On some hammocks they can even be rigged as a Pod, where it again becomes competitive weight/bulk as you don't flatten your under insulation.

Did you ever try a Claytor No Net? Because that is one of my best hammocks for side sleeping, and one of the best for lack of calf pressure for me. I can sleep my side legs straight or fetal, and probably better with legs straight than any hammock I have except the Safari or my old JRB bridge. But rather than being wide, it is narrow. Which allows the pod to be more efficient on top, allowing it to drape down on top of me like a sleeping bag. And I can position myself on my side without my face being against the hammock fabric, The edge is just below my mouth/nose, so that I don't exhale into my hammock fabric or the Pea Pod, the vent hole of which I have on the side and even a little below me. So my breath goes right out and downwards as it condenses, and whatever side the vent hole is does not let cold air in as readily. Because the cold air will have to travel side ways or up, rather than heavy cold air sinking into the pod. I can not over emphasize how warm ( thick insulation all around your head for one thing) and draft free this approach is.

Sorry to beat a dead horse on the pod, I realize you are unlikely to go that route. It seems few people do. Plus that Claytor No Net might not be your cup of tea. And the Pea Pod might not work well with your wider hammocks, though the Polar Pod might. Still, it seems tailor made for your draft issues, so I felt I should throw it out there again as an option. But, there is always the sleeping bag approach, including the walk around bags, which solve draft problems every bit as well as a pod, and do so in your wide hammock or a RR if you get one of those!

I will be real interested to see how you finally solve this issue!

[Kanguru]

Peapod and a relatively narrow hammock like a WB Traveler. In coldest weather I still need a light top quilt but mostly to fill the void inside the pod on top. In warmer weather you can still use a Fronky stlye bugnet with it.

I can't even keep up with quilts on my back...only use quilt combo for warmest weather.

Seems like I didn't read far enough before posting...still vote for the PP though...

[fgblueenohanger]

I don't have a problem sleeping on my side in my hammock. I do sleep in a sleeping bag and depending on the time of year will use a poncho liner as an underquilt. I'm not a stomach sleeper, so that's not an issue for me, but as far as sleeping on my side, I don't have a problem at all. I have an ENO Doublenest and it works good for me.

[Mule]

Thanks everyone for the help. It has been a real help to me. For now I think the Stretch side hammock will keep me in the woods.