Total Newbie Trying to Hang in My Bedroom

[funkeesocmonkey]

I'm totally new to the world of using a hammock as a bed. I have a minor disc herniation and scoliosis, and the hammock is the only thing I've been able to get good sleep in.

I bought a Byer of Maine Paradiso Double Hammock a couple months ago and I've hung it in my bedroom with the anchor points in the ceiling. (See the pictures with the messy room).

Here's the problem I'm having: I downloaded The Ultimate Hang App, and according to the app, I think my hammock is hung correctly, but I keep waking up with back pain; this makes me think that something isn't right.

I'm laying diagonally across the center of my hammock, but the center of the hammock feels too tight and doesn't hug the curves of my body, if that makes sense. I sleep with my head on the left side of the middle and my feet on the right, and I'm waking up with horrible stiff back pain on the right side of my back.

Here are the measurements of my situation:

Hammock: 138"L x 68"W
Anchor points in ceiling: about 16' apart
Suspension rope length: 48"
Hang Angle according to app: 45 degrees

My hammock didn't come with good instructions which is why I bought the app, but I really have no idea what I'm doing.

Please help!

[goobie]

I would try shortening your suspension to try to get closer to a 30* hang angle. My experience is with gathered end hammocks, so this might not be the correct solution??

[SilvrSurfr]

A 45 degree angle is durned steep. As long as your anchor points are in the ceiling, I can't think of a way to change that. It's gonna be hard to get a diagonal, flat lay.

[The Old Boot]

A 45 degree angle is durned steep. As long as your anchor points are in the ceiling, I can't think of a way to change that. It's gonna be hard to get a diagonal, flat lay.

One way to change the hang angle is to use a straight drop from the ceiling attachment and then attach the hammock suspension to the line that is drops from the ceiling. There's several possibilities of what to use for the straight drop. You might have to provide some kind of anchor on the floor so that the hammock suspension doesn't just pull it in. I'm pretty sure the inventiveness around here will be kicking in shortly to provide various options...

[goobie]

Correct me if I'm wrong(I probably am) and forgive me if this is a little of topic, but a quick browse of this type of hammock on the ultimate hang website left me with the impression that more sag is best. More sag could mean a greater than 30* hang angle?? If that's true, the OP might not be that far off from his ideal setup. Or would spreading the anchor points, if possible, be the best/easiest solution?

[kayak4water]

Maybe the angle of the photo has me fooled. the left end of the hammock looks like it is 60 degrees off the horizontal. The right looks like at least 45 - 50 degrees off horizontal.

I'm not sure what to suggest, because I'm rather new at this. Most people can hang within a 12' space. My 11' hammock has a 9' ridgeline and works within that space.

I'd guess that a few hangs with different setups (more and less sag) will lead to comfort ultimately. The hang calculator gets you started and doesn't guarantee a perfect hang. Good luck.

[funkeesocmonkey]

Thanks for all the help! I'm going to try shortening my suspension to start with to see if that helps.

My dad drilled the anchor points in the ceiling and had a heck of a hard time doing that, so if I can get away with them, I don't want to have to ask for more holes to be drilled. I guess my problems could be solved if I got a smaller hammock or even a stand.

goobie - I think you're right in that more sag is best, but what those sites didn't seem to offer was exact measurements as to how I was supposed to hang my hammock.

kayak4water - the picture doesn't do it justice because it's a panorama photo, so I think the angles are off. I had to use panorama mode on my camera because my room is small.

[nothermark]

If you can take the hammock outside and hang at different spacing you can see what happens at a flatter angle. The only way to achieve that in your setup is to move up. Getting too high has several problems. OTOH I recall at least on person saying they hung floor to ceiling chains and tie off to them. That gives almost infinite vertical adjustment. I'd start by hanging outside to get comfortable then show your father the problem.

[funkeesocmonkey]

I adjusted my suspension lines so that the angle is actually steeper, but that resulted in a much better sag. I woke up pain free this morning!

Thanks again for all the help! I'll definitely have more questions when it comes time to go off to college!