Byer Ceara Hammock Stand

[sandykayak]

Thanks, Danny. In that case, I think the Vario will better fit the needs of most hangers here. Ceara would be good for kids or short hammocks....

[@Diagonal]

The Ceara does not extend on the ends like the Vario but is set to 54" tall and the base extends out to 149". The Vario will go to 59" tall and extends to 160" when also at it's highest point. The Vario is still in production. We just got a bunch in on Monday.

An extender is also available for the Vario to extend the base even further if needed.

[MAD777]

The Ceara should work with most gathered end camping hammocks that we use.
An 11' hammock would have a ridgeline of 9' to 9-1/2' and with a 30 degree hang would sag less than 3-1/2'.
With the stand's 4-1/2' height and just over 12' span, it could handle a 12' hammock (even though you may be sitting a bit low.

[LouJohns]

I purchased a Ceara stand yesterday for use in our guest bedroom (which I'm trying to turn into my man cave). As noted by others above, it is pretty bulky and heavy, and not very well suited for packing up and taking with you when you travel, but at this point on the agenda that really wasn't what I was looking for. Since I'm still a total noob, I'm not quite ready to start fabricating my own stand for portable use, but I'm sure at some point I'll give the Turtledog or Turtle Lady's designs a whirl. The Ceara was an easy assembly, even for someone of my questionable skill set. When adjusted to its shortest base length it fits nicely into my room and easily accommodates my ENO single-nest.

[Chadx]

Anyone have pictures of someone in a hammock supported by the Ceara hammock stand? Preferably a WBBB or WBBB XLC? From various comments and from my measurements, I know they will work with only the hammock, however, I'm curious if there is enough room underneath for a underquilt without it dragging the ground or floor (will use two stands in a 7 x 14' enclosed trailer). Would be nice if the hammock has 18" inches of clearance to fit 4" the underquilt with plenty of ground clearance. From Mike's estimate above, it might be closer to 12", which still might work, but getting a bit low for my tastes. The Vario is really only a few inches taller not a huge difference.

That being said, if money was no object, I'd get the Vario stand since the uprights on those are 59" up rather than 54". Every bit would help. Sounds like not much need for the length adjustment of the vario (since spreading the length longer will work against me by making the hammock hang even lower). I can see the removable uprights of the Vario being a perk. Well, since money is an object, I'm hoping a WBBB, Traveler, and possibly the XLC will have enough clearance underneath, when suspended by the Ceara, for underquilts (and thick ones since we would often use our 0 degree quilts underneath).

REI carries the Ceara but not the Vario unfortunately. They have the members 20% single-item coupon until Monday (plus we can use our annual dividends to pay a portion of it). REI has it for $149.95 so after 20% off, it will be about $120 and free shipping. Cheapest place I can find the vario is dicks sporting goods at $178 delivered (including a $15 shipping discount they have right now). I need to buy two of these so $240 (my wife is also a member so we each get 20% off one item) is a fair bit more economical than $372 for two vario at Dicks (they charge extra shipping per unit so the $15 off applies to only the first item). That works out to be $132 more to get two Vario over two Ceara from the cheapest sources I can find (also time is of the essence since the REI 20% off is over monday...and also a perk is we have a couple hundred dollar dividend to use so so that would help).

I already have two turtledog stands but looking for something to be left in the shop or thrown in the enclosed trailer for ATV or motorcycle camping trips and with quicker setup and takedown than our turtledog stands.

So looking at the ceara if it is tall enough to allow for use of underquilts even though we'd prefer the Vario

...unless someone knows where I can get two Vario delivered for roughly the same $240, because I'd be all over that...
.
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[Coosa]

Check with Byer of Maine - they were willing to ship me a Vario free --- should be a post above?

[Chadx]

Thanks, Coosa. Checked again on the Byer's website and though free shipping, they are 189.95 each and so two would be about $380 so more expensive that Dicks (though only by $8 so would probably be worth ordering direct). I might contact them to see if they have a coupon or any upcoming sales that would sway me to the Vario over the discounted Ceara at REI. Then again, REI has such a great return policy, maybe I'll just go for the Ceara and return them if our hammocks hang too low for thick underquilts and then look for a deal on a couple Varios only if needed.

I suppose one could always add blocks under the feet to gain another 4+ inches of overall height. Though the underquilt could still potentially drag on the stand itself (to be determined), at least it would be that many inches further away from the floor, ground, snow or groundcover. All the Byer stands look to be quite stable, just like my only yard hammock and stand, but if adding blocks for height, one could also extend them outward to add even more stability. Probably not necessary though.

Well, if I order the Ceara, I'll be sure to update this thread with a report since there is nothing definitive on overall sag height. Of course, this will be dependent on body weight, hammock type, etc. but at least it will be one data point vs none.

Until then, if anyone has first hand knowledge of using a Ceara with a camping hammock and can get an approximate ground clearance measurement (and specifics of weight and hammock type), that may save me some hassle. I'll probably order in the next day or two.

Nervously,
Chad "The Guinea Pig"

[LouJohns]

Chad, I dropped a PM in your inbox with more detailed information, but for everyone else's benefit I'll say that when I'm in my ENO hammock on the Ceara stand, the ground clearance is around 12"-18". I think it might have started out at the latter figure when I first started using it about 9 months ago, and is now leaning more toward the former figure after nearly nightly use during that time (which I am attributing to hammock stretch).

[Chadx]

Good info. Thanks!

[Danny Hammock]

Hi Chad,

I set up our Easy Traveller on our vario stand here in house. The Easy Traveller is 125" long and I hung it with about a 10" loop on each end. With the Vario adjusted to the set up dimensions of the Ceara I was about 4" from the bar (I'm 220lbs). This was with a generous hang, so depending how you like your U Curve it might be different.(full disclosure, we give the overall set up dimensions of our stands so the height where your hang system connects to the Ceara stand is really only 52") Then I adjusted the Vario to to where the hang system connected at 55" and the overall length was 143". (see attached image, older Vario in image, that is why it is green.)

It's really hard to promise the Ceara would work, depends on a lot of things. But if you want to give me a call and place an order for two Vario's just to be safe I will give you a 10% discount and meet you about half way between the two.

Thank you
Dan
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