Whats the 'perfect' hang?

**beep** · 05-27-2010, 16:05

I hang my food bag in a pretty traditional way from a high limb...and actually get up and out to cook by necessity. I'm already up to answer the "call of nature" in the morning so bumbling about to get my food bag down and breakfast underway is no biggie.

Shug makes it look easy to cook from the hammock (!

) but it takes some trial-and-error practice to get a "system" down so that your gear is where you want it for cooking and your hammock pitch enables you reach it. Shug actually uses an Ursack tied to a nearby tree (about head height) so he's defending mostly against small critters. Even without hanging, a bear wouldn't get through the fabric of his Ursack but it could sure make a mess trying to get to the food. I'm pretty sure he keeps his breakfast fixings separate from the rest of his food so that it's "handy from the hammock".

**mtncmpr** · 05-27-2010, 16:57

.

Bears are a concern, but not the primary concern for me. The smaller "crawling critters" are more of what I'm concerned about.

I was just wondering...

.

**sir White Wolf** · 05-27-2010, 17:42

I like to have a little space between trees and my tarp opening.
The last thing I wanna do a bed time is hunt down a critter that was on the tree I brushed on the way in to my hammock.
Oh what fun

**SGT Rock** · 05-27-2010, 18:56

Originally Posted by mtncmpr

.

Not to take this thread in another direction, but it sounds to me like a lot of hangers are cooking while in their hammocks. My question is: Does most everyone that fix a meal/coffee while in the hammock, get out of the hammock, get their food bag from where they hung it for the night, get back in the hammock, then fix meal. Or... do you just leave the food bag where you can reach it without getting out of the hammock?

.

Hang it off the foot end of my hammock.

**Bomber** · 05-28-2010, 09:01

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

Hang it off the foot end of my hammock.

Me to, we dont have bears or anything like that in denmark. But once i left my food bag in my pack on the ground, only to wake up to the sound of a fox trying make off with my backpack.... (good thing that i ain´t into s.u.l, or he definitely would have succeded

)

**TrailH4x** · 05-30-2010, 08:25

2.5 - 4 paces with preference to around 3 paces is just right. Summer is chair height, winter 3-6 inches allows for the cafe' to open before to quilt does.

**slowhike** · 05-30-2010, 08:42

I keep my food in a bear bag in a storage area at the foot end of my hammock, so all I have to do is sit up, reach over, get it out & lay back down.

I know, maybe not the best practice, but like someone else said, were I camp most of the time, the main concern is not bears, just "mini-bears" (mice & coons

).

**mikewilkinson** · 06-08-2010, 11:29

Because I am daft and want to test my rig to its limits, High and far for me, With my single line I can stretch to about 30 feet between trees and adjust the whole hang to be at the best point along that length, high off the ground means you can be out of view of some small critters, so may get a surprise or two from vistors through your camp. Love watching rabbits mosy on by!

Practically though a good 12' between trees and hung about 2' off the ground is safer! Still love stretching to the extremes.

**spidennis** · 06-08-2010, 19:38

normally I like short and low. I'm a short guy so if the trees are farther apart,,, then the tree straps have to go higher to get the proper sag angle... and I like low so I can get to gear on the ground, but get me a view and all that is out the window!