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  1. #1
    New Member Kraken's Avatar
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    Angry Lower back pain / fine tuning hang

    Hello, It's been a while since I've been on these forums (life has a way consuming all your time!) I'm beginning to notice that after prolonged periods in my hammock, i get a noticeable stiffness in the lower section of my back. I get this pain even though I am laying diagonally (as diagonally as possible with my wall getting in the way...)

    Any advice as to how I can remedy this?

    I guess it wouldn't hurt to mention that I attach my hammock to my ceiling with carabiner rings. Thanks in advance!

  2. #2
    Senior Member captaincoupal's Avatar
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    Without more information, it might be hard to answer your question. The first thing that I would do, however, is look at how far apart your hammock ends are, and how you're handling your suspension. For instance, if your ends are too close together you'll have a really hard time getting a truly flat lay, and without that you'll have exactly the back pain that you're experiencing.

    Your comment about "as diagonally as possible" seems to point to this as a possible culprit. Are you maybe hanging in a space that forces the ends of your hammock too close together?

  3. #3
    New Member Kraken's Avatar
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    I should have been more prepared before starting this thread. Before The night is over, I will measure the overall length of my hammock and the length of the "rope" I'm using that is on both ends.

  4. #4
    Member The Dude's Avatar
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    WoW, that's what got me back or into Hammocks, because I cant do, Tent or on the ground, I have Sciatic Back pain, & my H/H has brought back into the Field and Camping again... True Story...
    "You Can't Be Hardcore... If you Don't Live Hardcore"

  5. #5
    New Member Kraken's Avatar
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    My longer rope connecting the head part of my hammock to the D ring in my ceiling is 25 1/2 inches to the end of the hammock.

    This is a link to the hammock I bought: http://www.hayneedle.com/product/xxl...ocknatural.cfm

    The website says It is 13ft 4 in long (in total.) ... And this is accurate, my hammock actually has not stretched! (Can't beat 8 feet wide )

    Anyway, the rope near the foot end of the hammock is just about 19 inches long.

    Adding in the length of the carabiner rings... Add another 4 inches to either side.

    Is this about the correct ratio?

    Edit: I should add that my ceiling is about 7 feet 10 inches tall.

    Edited edit: I forgot i had this nifty picture from my first thread, go me!

    Last edited by Kraken; 03-14-2014 at 00:50. Reason: Picture

  6. #6
    Senior Member captaincoupal's Avatar
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    Well, based on the advice of many here, the ridge-line distance between the ends of your hammock should be about 10'9" straight, from end to end. Is that what you have? If not, then you are probably too short.

  7. #7
    Senior Member ojdash's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by captaincoupal View Post
    Well, based on the advice of many here, the ridge-line distance between the ends of your hammock should be about 10'9" straight, from end to end. Is that what you have? If not, then you are probably too short.
    That is on an 11' Hammock not a 13'4" hammock length; I agree though that you may have too much "sag" in the hammock.. I had to go off my wall joists otherwise I have too much sag with my 11' x 5' hammock. I think you just need to play with your length a little, or you could also try sticking a small pillow under your lower back for support.... I think most people used to say 83% of total length was a good starting point (132" or ~11'). You could try this and see if you get more support. From the length of your room you should be able to do it on a diagonal but it will be tight.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Singingcrowsings's Avatar
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    Has anyone ever told you about the Hammock Hang Calculator?
    http://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator/

    It works pretty well, with some tweeking here and there. You just need to start off knowing the approximate ridgeline you want, which is around 11'. You'd be surprised by how much a half an inch adjustment can make such a big difference.

    Given what you've got here, if you use the blue diagonal, you probably want your ropes to be only 8'5" at 84". At least that's what the calculator says, I would add about half a foot then go from there.
    Last edited by Singingcrowsings; 03-14-2014 at 18:08.

  9. #9
    New Member Kraken's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Singingcrowsings View Post
    Has anyone ever told you about the Hammock Hang Calculator?
    http://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator/

    It works pretty well, with some tweeking here and there. You just need to start off knowing the approximate ridgeline you want, which is around 11'. You'd be surprised by how much a half an inch adjustment can make such a big difference.

    Given what you've got here, if you use the blue diagonal, you probably want your ropes to be only 8'5" at 84". At least that's what the calculator says, I would add about half a foot then go from there.
    Yes, I have heard of the tool. But I start getting confused when it mentions ridgelines when my indoor system doesn't use them at all. And they have also seemed to remove the height box from the calculator and replaced it with an automatic calculation based on hammock angle (I have no way to measure mine.)

    Well, I actually put the D rings on the green diagonal (yeah, the wall in the way is a real pain.) but that also allows me to get the hammock more reasonably close to the ground.

    I should probably be using a more proper suspension system, as of right now I'm using polyester rope. That might also explain why the hammock went from being very comfortable to slightly painful.

  10. #10
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    If you can temporarily attach a ridgeline to the hammock to get an approximate sag, it would probably help. Looking at the hammock you are using, I probably wouldn't want a permanent ridgeline since it's a permanent hang location. Just get some string and measure out the 83% while attached and adjust.

    Just one noob trying to help another

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