About To Give It Up

[Thom]

With a fixed lenght ridgeline would I accomplish this by letting out more strap and changing the angle? Does an extra foot in lenght make that big of a difference?

I've never used a fixed length ridgeline, only adjustable. You can accomplish the same thing by going a little higher on the tree and loosening your suspension. It will give you more sag.
As for the extra foot in length. I think it makes a difference. With a longer hammock you have more room to get comfortable before the fabric starts to gather together.

[MotoBoss]

The only thing I might say..
Try closer trees 13"
Tighten the suspension so you are much closer to 20deg and hang the foot sidr closer to the tree than the head.
You may just be too big...
Try XLC or call pappa smurf and get him to build you a dagnerbird or thunderbird.

I haven't had the opportunity, close at hand, to find something under about 17-18 feet. Moving closer sounds useful.
I think I may be leaning toward a longer, 11 foot, or custom (even 11 1/2) gathered end. I really like the idea behind a bridge but would really like to try one before spending the bucks for one.

I've never used a fixed length ridgeline, only adjustable. You can accomplish the same thing by going a little higher on the tree and loosening your suspension. It will give you more sag.
As for the extra foot in length. I think it makes a difference. With a longer hammock you have more room to get comfortable before the fabric starts to gather together.

This makes total sense to me.......

Thanks for the responses

[JimJ]

I have the same hammock and the same problem. One day I noticed a WB video, where the foot was WAY higher than the head. Now when I set up, I reach as high on the tree as I can on the foot end, and set the head at forehead hight. The head is at least one foot lower than the "foot" end. Looks funny but made all the difference.

[body942]

FWIW I'm 6'4" and closer to 275. 11' will be the ticket. That said, there is one exception that I've discovered really works for me, and that's a Switchback strung a little more tightly than you'd think. I always had some ridge with my WB products but mitigated it by stuffing extra clothes into the hammock's stuff sack and then putting that under the knees.

I 2nd the poster above who suggested a BIAS 11 footer as the next step. Your size is WAY within workable parameters, don't worry. You'll get it.

[gmcttr]

MotoBoss...where you at in S IN?

[Thom]

Motoboss, I just noticed that you were in southern Indiana. I'm in south eastern Illinois. If you get some free time you are more than welcome to come over. I would be more than glad to help you with your hammock setup.

[Doctari]

I Plus 1 on the change the ridgeline first, bridge second. The ridge on the Blackbird is really quite easy to change, well, to shorten anyway.
Go to whatever end you choose, & push the ridgeline thru, from inside the hammock (NOT while hanging from anything ) you will be able to see it outside now. pull it out & change the loop.
I shortened mine about 3" & the Leg bar nearly went away. I am OK with what's left (ABOUT 35%) But that's ME, & I am much shorter than you, which likely makes a difference.
If that don't do it, I seriously plus one on the Bridge, no leg bar, still off the ground.

[dla]

My set up is 18 foot between trees. Straps hanging from 7 feet up the tree. I have a less than 30 degree angle as measured by my trusty Hangle level. The slack in the ridgeline is very loose when sitting and can be pushed up almost 90 degrees when laying down. I have tried a steeper angle, tighter ridgeline and higher/lower heights and it's all the same.

The reason I said "not enough sag" is because I believe the issue has more to do with your weight, than your height. To get enough sag and keep the loaded height off the ground, you are going to have to put the straps up in the tree about 8' or more. Sometimes I've used my hiking pole to slide the straps up higher on the trees to get the desired loaded height and sufficient sag.

I'm a large fellow and left-side sleeper. Having any "calf ridge" is very uncomfortable for my knees.

[Tendertoe]

Your solution is simple: sell the WBBB and buy a bridge hammock. Most likely for your size you should just go straight for the larger WBRR.

Now I can't guarantee that you will be overall comfy in any hammock, a few folks just never can. And there MIGHT be some other non-bridge hammocks where you can escape the leg discomfort. I think there are some better than the WBBB in that regard, but no guarantees.

But I can virtually guarantee zero leg discomfort in any well made bridge. Really easy to insulate also. Good luck!
Bill

+1 million

I was at it for years getting subpar sleep experimenting with many different gathered end styles/brands/hammock lengths/RL lengths before getting a WBRR.

I will never sleep in another hammock again (unless they come up with something super revolutionary of course ).

[Beast 71]

Hang it with a little more slack. Then take the floppiness out of your ridge line with shock cord prussiked to your loop on he ridge line (near the end) and onto the line itself.