Most of my personal hammocks want to hang at 30 degrees. If I hang my hammock a little too high or the suspension is a little flat, it tends to sink down until it rests at 30. If I start out at 30 degrees, the ends of the hammock hardly move at all when I get in and usually that's close to where I end up in the morning.
I'm no physics guy, but there seems to be less downward movement or "deflection?" if it's pulling on the suspension right at 30 degrees. Maybe I'm crazy?
So this thread got me to overthinking angles so hopefully one of you wise folks can set a rookie hanger straight. I'm new to the site (1st post) and have a hammock on order (anxiously waiting). One thing I didn't plan on was carrying a protractor with me to the woods. There are a lot of references to rather exacting degrees and I'm curious as if that is just birds eye calculations from experience or is there some voodoo science to getting the right angle in the wilderness?
If that question wasn't dumb enough then maybe this one will get you to roll your eyes. If anchor tree A is the Y axis and an imaginary rope between A and anchor tree B is the X axis are you taking the hang angle from Y to the suspension or X to the suspension? Who said you would never have to do word problems once you got out of high school???
Thanks for the help and please keep the laughter to a minimum.
Well if you can eyeball a 45* angle then just imagine that 30* is a bit less of an angle..So little less than 45* and you should be ok..Originally Posted by 94Hokie
What I do to see if I have roughly a 30* hang is to hold my hand out in front of me with the thumb being vertical and the fingers being horizontal. The angle between the end of the thumb and the end of the index finger is about 30*.
30*,with noon being vertical is the angle between noon and 2 or 10 on your watch. A digital watch will skew your hang.
Love is blind. Marriage is an eye opener.
Thanks XTrekker, Thom, and SnrMoment. Makes sense. Guess I need to punt my digital watch now.Sorry for the hijack. Back to loaded/unloaded angles.
I used to carry a light weight card paper cut out of 30degrees. Now I can eyeball it .
Hangle!!!!!!
I am a little confused. 30* seems to be recommended for two completely different applications.
30* is recommended between the hammock and the tree as a practical compromise relative to stress on the suspension vs. height of the attachment point. The recommendation would be to avoid an angle less than 30* down from horizontal; more isn't important. In this case "comfort" doesn't apply.
OTOH, 30* seems to also be the recommended angle of the hammock ends themselves (inside the suspension attachment) as a generally recommended practical angle for a comfortable diagonal lay, but individuals and their set ups may well greatly deviate. In this case, "suspension line stress" doesn't apply.
Some threads seem to start off assuming one, then shift to discussion of what seems the other; back and forth. Am I correct in assuming 30* just happens to apply in both cases or am I missing something? Without a srl, I assume one would raise the attachment while lengthening the suspension or v-v until a mas/menos 30* is achieved for both? With a srl, the two angles can be dealt with separately and for entirely different reasons.
It also seems that a compromise between the two compromise exists. The distance between the available attachment points might not allow both to be achieved at a specific site with the specific setup.
I understand that there is no "hang sheriff" going from camp to camp with a protractor; these are guidelines only.
Am I generally understanding this?
As the distance between the trees goes up, so should your tree strap. hope this helps
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