First hang, not so pleasant.

[nik.reifer]

Cheap + lightweight +warm. Pick two.
Just use your existing one as a blanket and borrow one from a friend to use as a underquilt. If you only use the sleeping in bag, your weight will compress the insulation beneath you, because of that it will noch isolate you and you will freeze on your back.
Hanging the underquilt, or blanket, under the hammock prevents that and keeps you warm.

[jadekayak]

I always associate shoulder squeeze with banana lay. Go to the ENO website and click on gallery and you'll see people laying incorrectly in banana style.

Attachment 130420

https://www.eaglesnestoutfittersinc....photo-gallery/

You need to get a good diagonal lay, and yes, I'd recommend a hammock ridgeline.

Bannana lay is not an "incorrect" lay.

I actually sleep very well in banana lay,maybe I just like to be hugged

[jadekayak]

First lay in my hammock. I finished my diy hammock and just layed in it for the first time. I was supposed to be at this point 6 weeks ago but I got sick and then the weather has been crap. I did considerable amount of reading before and a little just now.

What causes and fixes shoulder squeeze? Will a fixed ridgline take care of it? I prepared one but didn't put it in because I didn't believe it would make that much of a difference right away.

After only 20 minutes I can already feel the tension building. I tried changing the type of gather but it was only a minor change.

I plan to put my foot end a few to several inches higher on my next attempts, but I don't want to carry anything extra like a pad. I'm a little worried I need this to work by next week.

I'm a big girl 6' 4" and fairly thin my hammock is made out of 1.9 once rip-stop 60 inches wide and about 11' 6" long after gathered I simple seemed all edges.

Maybe you need more length/width.

I have read a lot here about 10'-11' hammocks so I started out with only 1 end channelled and gathered correctly and knoted the other end.
I started out long and moved inwards until it felt less comfortable,then went to the last length.

I measured that length at 11'.
I am only 5'6" and that was exactly double my height.

Maybe some of the real gurus hear have a comment on my non technical observation of twice body height for length.

Also use insulation.

This past Sunday I was hanging at the local park reading in the sun.
It was a chilly 18°C despite the sun (winter here now) and I could feel the chill from the gentle breeze through my suede jacket

[Flash Grundelore]

I have been flirting with the idea a stitching a 3/16ths yoga mat to a windshield reflectix as a cheapo hammock pad for summer camping backup.
The mat would help insulate and prevent slipping [they are like those no-slip, under-rug things], the reflectix adds to the R-value. Even under a cheap sleeping bag it would be better than going "bare-bottomed".
Someone else just posted his quick-fix here>> https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...r-less-than-10
You might have a fleece blanket around that you could jury.

Either one might be a quick fix for your weekend trip, but in MN, you are like me... up here in the sub-tundra where it can still get wickud chillish any given evening.
G'luck

[bikegoddess]

Thank you all for your help. I was able to test out one more time before I left and it was a success. I got back Friday night from my nearly 2 week bike trip. I was glad to be back in my bed but had several full night sleeps in the hammock and the only nights I had a problem were due to the cold. I kind of took nik.reifer's advice and with a link to another post Flash Grundelore posted I used my old sleeping bag as an under quilt and just brought a fleece blanket with me. If the zipper hadn't been messed up in my sleeping bag I'd have been comfortable everynight. But now I got things to work on and strive for next time.

[bikegoddess]

I'm trying to upload a few photos but it's not letting me sorry.

[breyman]

Thank you all for your help. I was able to test out one more time before I left and it was a success. I got back Friday night from my nearly 2 week bike trip. I was glad to be back in my bed but had several full night sleeps in the hammock and the only nights I had a problem were due to the cold. I kind of took nik.reifer's advice and with a link to another post Flash Grundelore posted I used my old sleeping bag as an under quilt and just brought a fleece blanket with me. If the zipper hadn't been messed up in my sleeping bag I'd have been comfortable everynight. But now I got things to work on and strive for next time.

Great to hear it went well for you! That sag/correct hang angle can make a huge difference.

[karbo]

try a head end spreader bar.

[cougarmeat]

I wouldn't give up on the gathered end completely, but if you have an opportunity, try a bridge hammock like the War Bonnet Ridge Runner. That said, I am hesitant, when someone has discomfort with a gathered end, to just recommend another hammock style - unless all other options have been tired. When you mentioned shoulder squeeze the first thing I though of was you were not in a diagonal position and/or your hammock was strung too tight - not giving you enough sag.

Sounds like you have the under quilt figured out but it's best if you understand the science. Your sleeping bag - no matter how warm - will not keep you warm from below. That's because 1) a sleeping bag does not generate heat - you generate heat. The sleeping bag, with its loft, keeps the heat you generate in the bag. But how much loft do you have under you - about the thickness of two layers of nylon; not very much. The reason you are warm on the ground is because you are dealing with Conduction heat loss - contact with something cold. And your pad, not your sleeping bag, keeps you off the cold earth. But in a hammock, you are dealing with a different kind of heat loss; convection heat loss because of air currents moving about (especially under) the hammock (same with a cot). Once again, your sleeping bag is not going to help you with those currents under the hammock because the bottom of the bag is compressed. So people create an "air block". They do that by putting a pad in the hammock, or between hammock layers if they have a double layer hammock. Or they use an Under Quilt/Cover protector (UQP or UCP). An under quilt protector is just another nylon sheet that hangs under the hammock If the sides are high enough, it creates a wind block too. In the summer, my light weight therm-a-rest in the UQP is enough. These days I use an under quilt. But I still use an under quit protector (or full cover sock) because 1) it keeps the quilt cleaner 2) it helps keep the warmth in if I haven't set the ends of the under quilt just right. Because I'm often doing this alone, it is difficult (euphemism for nearly impossible) to set the bungee cords just right while I am in the hammock. So the UQP allows for a little sloppiness.

I don't want you to think, "... if I had only made the hammock a touch wider ...". The dimensions you gave, 60 inch x 11.5 feet sound pretty good. Congratulations on having the courage to try DIY. This self-reliant woman style - very commendable. Is it a Minnesota thing?

[SilvrSurfr]

Bannana lay is not an "incorrect" lay.

I actually sleep very well in banana lay,maybe I just like to be hugged

You could be a future ENO hammock model. They're looking for folks who like banana lay!

You're the first person I can ever recall saying that banana lay is not "incorrect." HYOH and all that good stuff.