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  1. #1
    Senior Member Catavarie's Avatar
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    Question Fighting the dreaded leg ridge

    So in my time here and my time in the hammock I've learned a few things about how to decrease the discomfort of the ridge which seems to always run across my calves when laying in a gathered end hammock.

    1. Don't string the hammock too tight. A properly set structural ridgeline can help to reduce the chance of this, but remember you don't want to be able to use your ridgeline as a musical instrument.
    2. Hang the foot end of the hammock slightly higher than the head. This also helps with the sliding down problem that alot of new hangers experience where you go to sleep all comfortable but awaken in the middle of the night with your feet and TQ hanging over the edge of the hammock. As little as four inches seems to help, but I've found 6 inches to be the magic number on my particular hammock, just one more bit of fiddle factor many of us seem to love about hammocks.
    3. 3. For side sleepers: If you sleep on your right side sleep Head left, feet right. If left side sleeper sleep head right, feet left. I've found that this moves my calves beyond the ridge of fabric and decreases the amount of wiggling I need to do to get comfortable.
    4. 4. Use a small pillow or stuff sack of clothing under your legs. You want something that is soft enough to absorb the ridge but still provide plenty of support to your legs.


    What have you come up with to defeat the ridge?
    *Heaven best have trees, because I plan to lounge for eternity.

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  2. #2
    Senior Member oldgringo's Avatar
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    The size and location of the ridge is directly proportional to the size and location of your butt. A small shift toward the footbox side of the hammock works wonders.
    Dave

    "Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self."~~~May Sarton

  3. #3

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    5. The ballerina or "Jethro Tull" pose; one knee pulled up relieves calf squeeze.

    David

  4. #4
    Senior Member bindibadgi's Avatar
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    Haha! Jethro Tull. I'm going to use that! One of my favourite bands, my favourite sleep position in the hammock.

    Sure beats telling your mates at the pub that you sleep like a ballerina (which I have done, by the way ).
    It's bad luck to be superstitious.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Pipsissewa's Avatar
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    When I feel a hard ridge under my calves, I INCREASE my diagonal angle. That eliminates the ridge instantly for me.
    "Pips"
    Mountains have a dreamy way
    Of folding up a noisy day
    In quiet covers, cool and gray.

    ---Leigh Buckner Hanes

    Surely, God could have made a better way to sleep.

    Surely, God never did.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Turtle Creek's Avatar
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    This thread should help me alot, because this calf pressure is a deal breaker for me!

    Quote Originally Posted by Catavarie View Post
    What have you come up with to defeat the ridge?
    I returned my first hammock to REI (thinking it's the hammocks fault) and ordered a new one. Looks like I really need to get this set up in the basement so I will have more than weekends to allow me all the time I need to dial in/tweak the adjustable ridge line length, my body's positioning, etc.

    I'll be looking forward to reading & testing more ideas.
    -Turtle Creek

  7. #7
    Senior Member Turtle Creek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldgringo View Post
    The size and location of the ridge is directly proportional to the size and location of your butt. A small shift toward the footbox side of the hammock works wonders.
    This may help my situation. I was honestly thinking I was just too short and fat to be 100% comfy in a hammock. (5'10" / 260) I started to think about what I saw in alot of the videos people post ... and the size of clothing that would be placed for sale ... and thought I was alot heavier than these folks. I have been working on this, and really think that as my butt shrinks I will be more comfortable with everything I do!
    -Turtle Creek

  8. #8
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Turtle Creek View Post
    This thread should help me alot, because this calf pressure is a deal breaker for me!



    I returned my first hammock to REI (thinking it's the hammocks fault) and ordered a new one. Looks like I really need to get this set up in the basement so I will have more than weekends to allow me all the time I need to dial in/tweak the adjustable ridge line length, my body's positioning, etc.

    I'll be looking forward to reading & testing more ideas.
    Do you have a WL hammock yet? If so, do you still have the pressure? If so, you shouldn't have it. But you might still have to do things just right to be 100% free of it ( see Old Gringo's post as well as the others). I find it pretty easy(with WL LO dbl) to keep the pressure to a minimum and good enough not to bother me. Other times I have zero pressure. Mind you this is with minimal experimentation for correct amount of slack for me, no ridgeline added yet. I'm just throwing it up there, with not all that much slack so far, and this problem has been minimal to zero. But so far, more likely to be zero if I have my butt centered a bit more towards the foot side, just like with all my other non-bridge hammocks.

    And as always, despite any other cons it might have, the 100% cure 100% of the time for any issues related to legs or side "torque" is a bridge hammock. For me anyway.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Turtle Creek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BillyBob58 View Post
    Do you have a WL hammock yet? If so, do you still have the pressure? If so, you shouldn't have it. But you might still have to do things just right to be 100% free of it ( see Old Gringo's post as well as the others). I find it pretty easy(with WL LO dbl) to keep the pressure to a minimum and good enough not to bother me. Other times I have zero pressure. Mind you this is with minimal experimentation for correct amount of slack for me, no ridgeline added yet. I'm just throwing it up there, with not all that much slack so far, and this problem has been minimal to zero. But so far, more likely to be zero if I have my butt centered a bit more towards the foot side, just like with all my other non-bridge hammocks.

    And as always, despite any other cons it might have, the 100% cure 100% of the time for any issues related to legs or side "torque" is a bridge hammock. For me anyway.
    I ordered a WL Night Owl late last week, it should be coming soon. I did have a long conversation with myself when deciding WL Owl or a Bridge style. With these good tips, hopefully I can dial this in, and hit the trail for a three nighter!
    -Turtle Creek

  10. #10
    Senior Member obxh2o's Avatar
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    I have both the Warbonnet BlackBird and Traveler. Never had a "dreaded leg ridge" problem in either one.
    "I go because it irons out the wrinkles in my soul." -- Sigurd Olson

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