So I'm new to the Hang and after about a month I have had my setup over taken by my daughter/son. I'm wondering where to go from here the flat lay of the bridge or stay with the gathered end. I started out with the ENO system, after getting acquainted to ins and outs of the basics I have found myself on the hunt for the next step. Any input from those who have both systems I would kindly appreciate!
This is a tough question and will vary for most. I myself loved my gathered end but always had a bit of a hard time falling asleep. Once I got my Ridgerunner I was in unconscious heaven. My best suggestion and one I'm sure most will agree with, is go to a group hang and see if someone will let you try one out. Or if anyone near you has one they may let you try it. I'm sure either way you'll be hanging in comfort. Good luck with your decision. Let us know what you end up getting!
I use both, and both have their place for me. I'll probably sound like a broken record to anyone that frequents the forums on a regular basis.
Once it gets to freezing and below, I use my Ridgerunner exclusively. I just can't beat the winter performance of it when combined with Spindrift and cinch buckles... well, cinch bugs now. I still use the RR periodically through the other seasons, but barely.
For most of my three season hangs, I use a gathered end. Especially, since my little one comes along sometimes, and I put us both under the same tarp. Plus, when it's warmer out I try to lighten the load up a bit. I don't get crazy about it, but if I can easily lose weight here and there, I will.
As mentioned, see if you can get some time in both to see what tickles your fancy. There's no wrong answer, this hobby is almost all personal preference, and it will take time and experience for you to figure out what yours are.
Leave no trace, use a minimum of 1" straps or huggers, and try not to set your hang angle so shallow that it puts undue stress on your gear or the trees.
Other than that, it's pretty much up to you.
Oh... have fun! That's the most important requirement.
Like thrash metal? Check out my nephew's band, Deathwatch. He's an amazing drummer... https://soundcloud.com/user-660860695
thx fellas for the input, Ejimo I'm right there with you on falling asleep, I'm sooooo comfy in the gathered end but sleep mostly on my side. I saw a few videos on the blackbird xlc that looked like it gave ya options if I wanted to stay with the gathered end? Its like anything else, when you first get rolling there is a want to spend a bunch of loot!
T. Monk
I am not too far away in Hudsonville and have both the WBBB XLC and the RidgeRunner. We'll have to schedule a group hang around here soon and you're more than welcome to try them both out. I'm still undecided as to which I like better. I have about 6 or so hangs overnight with the WBBB and only one overnight hang with the WBRR.
It is all such an individual thing IMO, and just hard to say. As has been said, try one out at a hang or with Punk as above.
But here is the thing about trying one out: it can take time. Years ago, I was real excited to get one of the maybe 1st 10 bridge hammocks ever made: the JRB BMBH. Even though, on the very 1st hang, I noticed some major improvements in certain important areas, I very quickly - like so many others have done- thought I perceived major shoulder squeeze. Plus it seemed very unstable. Plus I had no way to insulate it except a pad. And though the pad worked great, I feared it would not cover my shoulders adequately. Bottom line, I panicked and returned it while I could still get a full refund. That turned out to be a mistake.
A few months went by and I kept remembering certain aspects of the hammock that just seemed better than most anything else. First by far: zero calf pressure, zero knee extension and zero waist flex when side sleeping. And it was always good in those areas no matter how you hung the hammock within reason. No fiddling with the perfect tension or tree angles or how high the foot end was relative to the head. Those were all major pluses compared to any of the gathered ends I was using.
Then I got to thinking more about my major complaint: the shoulders. And I was thinking: My shoulders were def needing more room, but was it actually uncomfortable? Because laying flat on my back, shoulder squeeze or not, wasn't I also overall extremely comfortable? Bottom line, I got another one! And this time I made myself give it time to get used to how different it was, and got some JRB UQs to insulate it with, only occasionally using a pad. And after maybe a year or so I finally had to admit that over all, when it came to comfort and maybe to ease of insulation with pads or quilts, it might very well be the over all champ. Plus, I finally decided that, even though I am in no way petite, that shoulder issue was simply not an issue for me. Even in the worse case scenario- when I am flat on my back- with my arms crossed over my chest the way I often am anyway in my recliner or bed, there is no shoulder discomfort and I am totally comfy every time. Any additional room does not really increase comfort for me and is just room for my TQ to wander off into causing a leak/draft.
The only def negative I have for a bridge vs gathered is ease of drawing my knees way up for fetal position. This is def easier in a gathered. But I can sleep in partial fetal, or on side with legs straight is just like in a bed. No waist twist issues ever.
But a very few gathered ends come very close in all or most of these areas, but none are a 100% match IMO. Many are much worse.
Except for the fetal position thing, gathered wins when it comes to ease of going fetal. Plus gathered does not have the weight of spreader bars, and you don't have to keep up with bars, and you don't need a bigger tarp with side pull outs to accommodate the spreader bars. Don't have to worry about spreader bars poking a hole in your tarp. Plus the WB bridge has both really wide spreader bars( more shoulder room but more potential tarp issues) and is 2 or 3 feet longer in the suspension. You would be amazed how often 2 trees are not quite far enough apart, plus again more for a tarp to cover.
Pros and cons. But if you get one, just give it time to make sure if you are going to like it or not.
Last edited by BillyBob58; 04-19-2015 at 14:14.
BillyBob, about that shoulder squeeze...I recently got my WBRR (awesome hammock!) but lasted only about an hour or so in it before the pain woke me up. I would describe it more as forcing my back/shoulders to curve inward I experience that to a much lesser degree in my gathered end. Now, I'm very tall and lean, and very straight postured and I wonder if that may have something to do with it. I'm hoping I missed something, but only an hour?? Please share any thoughts!
"If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it's deadly." -Danielle Quierca
--Proud Papa to three budding hangers, Educator, Lover of all things Outdoors, Still Seeking, Veteran
That was my wife's experience also. She was wanting to love hammocking but it just wastn't happening in a gathered end for her. Granted she was only using 9.5' Grand Trunk Skeeter Beeter (not the 10.5' pro) so that was where most of the problems were coming from. Since then she's used a Dutch 11' hammock in the house and likes that much better, but for camping it looks like she's sold on the bridge hammock.Originally Posted by Ejimo
As everyone's said, it's a mix of body style and personal preference, and you won't know until you try. Just make sure you have fun doin' it! :-)
I know, it is hard for me to logically make my claim. I am fairly broad shouldered. And the JRBs I use have considerably less shoulder room- especially my deep original model- than the WBRR that gave you shoulder pain. WTH? I have no explanation. It just always gets back to my claim that so much about hammocks is some sort of individual thing that is hard to predict in advance.
I know what shoulder squeeze is as I have felt it a few times in my gathered ends if I strung them too tightly. Quite uncomfortable. But I have never felt this discomfort sleeping in my JRB bridges.(the ~4" less deep JRB UL seems to have more shoulder room than my original model, but I don't much care as I have no discomfort in the deeper model). And the bridge you are using has MUCH more shoulder room than that JRB! And having pain that woke you up. I don't know the reason for that.
And when you say "I would describe it more as forcing my back/shoulders to curve inward", that is also exactly how I would describe it. The bridge hammock has a fairly well fixed shape that does not change all that much when I lay in it compared to my gathered ends. It maybe goes from a bit of a V shape to more of a U shape. But it is going to force my shoulders into that shape, rather than me changing the shape of the hammock very much. There is no doubt that my shoulders are forced into this curve, but it is not an uncomfortable sensation for me. I finally figured out that this was not an actual squeeze where a too tightly hung hammock was trying to come in on me. It was just that there was X volume with a fixed shape/curve and my shoulders were going to have to settle down into that.
Do you have a recliner? If I kick back in my recliner and cross my arms- like a self hug- this is exactly the position I am in on my back in a bridge. It is comfy in my recliner and comfy in my BMBH bridge. But, often I don't last long on my back anyway. If I turn just barely(and I mean barely) on my side, lack of shoulder room is moot. And a little on my side or fully, I lean back into the side wall of the U.
But, if it is causing you pain, I do not know what to suggest, other than varying degrees of side sleeping. Also, I really like good sized pillows in bridge hammocks, though I think my 07(08?) model JRB likes a big pillow even more than the others I have(JRB UL, WBRR). Pillows make a big dif in that old JRB, so you might try that. And I suppose, when on your back, you are crossing your arms, aren't you? Kind of like the old Ed Sullivan pose if you have ever seen that:
http://www.fabianforte.net/picts/edsullivan.jpg
That really helps in the JRB.
I have both and love my RR - BUT I do need to find wider spaced trees for it. I've been told the usual distance between the apex buckles is 13 ft. So that means trees 15 - 17 ft apart. For that reason I take my gathered end hammock if my housemate takes her RR - the gathered end gives me more flexibility in setup.
I've felt the "squeeze" you mentioned but by morning I am fine. I haven't tried taking out the RR center insert at the head end. I think I can roll up on my side a little and have the RR support me that way - so I don't have to lie right down the center.
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