How well do you eyeball it?

[TeeDee]

That's about how it is for me. Except for my JRB hammock, which is designed to have the head a bit higher than the foot, I usually like my hammocks not level, but with the foot a bit higher than the head. This seems to end up better for me with most hammocks. Opposite for the JRB for some reason.....

BillyBob58 - easy to understand.

For a gathered end hammock the weight of the occupant is fairly evenly shared between both end suspensions. The more a person lies on the diagonal, the more evenly the weight is shared between the ends.

This is not true for a Bridge Hammock. The arcs on the Bridge Hammock work to gather the forces and transmit those forces to the suspension ends. But the forces are transmitted up the arc to the end and NOT down the arc.

Since the torso is heavier than the legs, more forces are transmitted up the arc to the suspension ends on the head end of the Bridge.

For a Bridge, I estimate from my personal observations, that the forces are more nearly 60/40 or even 70/30 with the head end of the Bridge being heavier than the foot end.

In order to get a level ridge line when one of my Bridges is occupied, the head end of the Bridge must be secured to the tree approximately 6" to 8" above the foot end. Maybe more if I have a long tree span.

I personally prefer the Bridge Hammock level when I am lying in it and have a little plastic line level on the ridge line which I can check if I feel the need.

[TeeDee]

With so many who do little to no adjustment, why is so much time on the forum spent on easy to adjust hammock suspension systems?

Because everybody "adjusts" the suspension when it is first hung whether they then do more adjustments afterwards or not. By this I mean the mere act of hanging the hammock is really "adjusting" the hang.

The easier this is accomplished the easier it is to hang the hammock.

If it has been a while since you used the Hennessy lashing, try using it again and find out how much you actually tie and untie the lashing when just hanging the hammock, not necessarily "fine tuning" the hang.

With the buckles/rings/slings/UCRs/Gardas/etc it is so easy to change the suspension that I think most people do change it, even if only slightly, when first hanging the hammock. Since it is so easy to do, most do it without really thinking about it. But when you have to tie a knot/lashing, then making changes is a lot more noticeable.

[Doctari]

With so many who do little to no adjustment, why is so much time on the forum spent on easy to adjust hammock suspension systems?

I have a quick adjust set up because I set up at different places with trees at different distances & diameters, & this allows me to set up & adjust "To fit" at nearly annywhere I want. I think at the end of the day I have found 3 sites that were "perfect", or the same distance as I hang at home.

My hammock set up if I have guessed right is around 30 seconds, Tarp takes about 3 minutes, so from everything is in the pack to I'm set up & the pack is hanging from the ridgeline is under 4 minutes most times.