Hanging a military style jungle hammock

[sod-buster]

Please help.... I'm new at this hammock thing. I bought two military style jungle hammocks and two sets of tree saver straps and proceeded to hang one of these things (no biggie for a licensed A&P mechanic with 40 years of experience) RIGHT??? Well very shortly, my butt was on the ground with the bottom of the hammock under me and the top and mosquito net wrapped around my head. There must be a better way.......

Both ends of the hammock have fabric loops(5or6) with a continuous heavy rope going back and forth between the loops and a two inch ring, is it supposed to hang this way??? or should I install a dowel (.625 or .750) in diameter and length to match the width of the hammock???

The hammocks do not appear long enough to do away with the ropes and go to a whoopie sling.. What do you suggest??

[ftroop94]

What failed? My hypothesis is Your knot and not the tree hugger. Try a figure 8 knot wrapped several times. I believe Hennessy has a video of how to accomplish this on their website.

[DemostiX]

Large dowels or spreader bars go in there, I forget which.

In truth, these mil specs offer the living and well less comfort than the simlarly sized stretcher offer the wounded on the battlefield. They are very narrow, and very tippy.

(I'm not knocking what I did not myself shell out $ for a year ago.)

Better, to try this hammock thing, making your own minimal one, maybe starting with a hemmed table cloth.

Then, it is "If you give a mouse a cookie.....", (if not "When you wait for the cable TV guy...."). (Suspension, adjustablity, ridgeline bag for your glasses and wallet, mosquito net, pad or quilt for cold butt.....and on and on.

You've already taken the first step.

[zukiguy]

Can you return the hammocks?? That would be the quickest cure to your problem.

If you keep them then there's about a 95% chance the following will happen: 1. You'll get so pissed off dealing with these that you'll run screaming away from anything hammock related. 2. You'll end up dealing with these for a short amount of time until you actually get more interested in hammocks and buy something else.

In either case, you will have more or less wasted your money and time on these. I speak from experience. A mil-issue one was my first hammock and it tossed me on the ground a couple of times but I stuck it out. I then "graduated" to a chinese made knockoff from Sportsman's Guide thinking that my original one was just defective. The knockoff was even worse. Long story short....If you're starting out and want to go on the less expensive side with something that actually works....go with something else

[grok]

Well very shortly, my butt was on the ground with the bottom of the hammock under me and the top and mosquito net wrapped around my head. There must be a better way.......

Both ends of the hammock have fabric loops(5or6) with a continuous heavy rope going back and forth between the loops and a two inch ring, is it supposed to hang this way??? or should I install a dowel (.625 or .750) in diameter and length to match the width of the hammock???

The hammocks do not appear long enough to do away with the ropes and go to a whoopie sling.. What do you suggest??

Sounds like you sank and didn't snap? That would be your materials. Check the tensil strength of everything.

[drifter]

Like you` a jungle hammock is what I sarted with and I’ve laid on the netting looking up at the hammock a few times. Had a HH given to me as a gift and realized gathered end styles are nice but I didn’t like the bottom entry, so I bought a Grand Trunk to try out. Loved it but it was too short for me. What I have now is a simple DIY, four yards of ripstop with the ends tied as showed in the youtube link provided. Could have saved time and money if I had just done this in the beginning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJlEQpcbM1I