Help!! Info overload!!

[fin]

I am about the same statistics as you. I probably would not recommend a Clark or a BMB to you based on your needs, as I recommended to another member a couple days ago. (I do try not to be biased.) You say you sleep well in a recliner, but can't sleep at all on your back. Both the Clark NA and the JRB BMBH are flatter, stiffer hammocks, with less give, and are meant more for back sleepers who like a flatter surface. I sleep well on my side in both, but I think the stiffness may give you issues and for the price, start with something a little easier to justify. You may do better with something that has a little more "give" in the fabric and that has the ability to try multiple positions, like the BB or even an ENO double with a seperate bugnet, or even a SBPro. Cost to get in is lower, and because of their widths you can find more positions to try to get comfortable. Not the best for side sleeping, but if you can do a recliner, you should be able to do a "softer" bed hammock that stretches a little with you and you can try a diagonal lay in for side or back sleeping, or a curved "banana" position, or multiple positions in between. My .02.

[texron]

I am about the same statistics as you. I probably would not recommend a Clark or a BMB to you based on your needs, as I recommended to another member a couple days ago. (I do try not to be biased.) You say you sleep well in a recliner, but can't sleep at all on your back. Both the Clark NA and the JRB BMBH are flatter, stiffer hammocks, with less give, and are meant more for back sleepers who like a flatter surface. I sleep well on my side in both, but I think the stiffness may give you issues and for the price, start with something a little easier to justify. You may do better with something that has a little more "give" in the fabric and that has the ability to try multiple positions, like the BB or even an ENO double with a seperate bugnet, or even a SBPro. Cost to get in is lower, and because of their widths you can find more positions to try to get comfortable. Not the best for side sleeping, but if you can do a recliner, you should be able to do a "softer" bed hammock that stretches a little with you and you can try a diagonal lay in for side or back sleeping, or a curved "banana" position, or multiple positions in between. My .02.

AWESOME post ^^^^

[BillyBob58]

Hi Kevin--
For side sleeping I'd recommend a wider hammock, so you can fetal curl without having your knees up against the walls of the hammock. Best of breed in my opinion for wide gathered end hammocks is the Warbonnet Blackbird. ..... Another good option for camping next week say is the SkeeterBeater Pro from Grand Trunk (formerly Travel Hammock), only $80. The sewing of bugnet to hammock, and zippers are not as study as the Warbonnet, but the size is great and you get a bugnet.
If you don't need a bugnet, then there are a bivy of seemingly identical "double width parachute hammocks" from Eno, TripToTheMoon, TrekLight that are all really nice and run in the $60-$70 range.

Grizz

You would think that a wider hammock for fetal side sleeping would be a requirement all right. And indeed, my quite wide Henn. Hammock Safari(a No Net version) might be the best I've tried for a variety of side positions and overall side comfort, legs straight or fetal, though I have only recently figured this out.

However, there must be other variables affecting this. Because my narrow Claytor No Net is about equal to any hammock for side comfort IMO ( except MAYBE that Safari). I'm speaking "overall" side comfort, because IMO the bridge hammock has a slight advantage over any of the others as far as zero side torque, when laying with legs straight, though the Safari is awful close even to the bridge. And of course fetal is a no go with the bridge, hence "overall" side comfort being considered.

But with the Claytor or the WBBB, I am comfortable enough on my side(either side with the Claytor) with legs straight that it is not an issue. I have slept that way OK all night. But I do have to fidget a bit more to find the exact sweet spot for minimal(not zero) side torque, a non issue with a bridge( I don't need to tell you, Griz!).

But when it comes to fetal, the Claytor is equal to any( for me) except maybe the Safari, and better than most. The point of all that is, the Claytor is a narrow hammock, and near the top of the heap for side comfort. In fact, I had a blast last trip to the Wind Rivers. In my Claytor surrounded by Speer's PeaPod. On my side ( left or right) with my head/pillow supported by the edge of the narrow hammock, so that I was not breathing into the side of the hammock, but out into the air. With the pod rotated around the hammock so that every thing was covered, with the down laying right on my head, except for a breathing hole on the side where my nose/mouth was.

So this narrow hammock is a fine side sleeper at least for me (6'1"). Conversely, I have a dbl wide hammock that I can't really get comfortable ( so far any way, still experimenting) on my side, at least not with legs straight. And a couple of relatively wide ( though not dbl) hammocks that I have never been close to being able to side sleep in, though I hear other folks can.

[gRaFFiX]

If you want some questions answered about you and a clark I think the person to ask is Cavediver, he seems to be very knowledgeable about clarks. I'm pretty sure he owns a few if I am thinking straight.