Does anyone else think flatter isn't always better?

**Insaniac99** · 05-12-2014, 01:17

So i may be the odd one here, but everyone always talks about wanting a super flat lay. For me though, one think I love about the gathered end hammock is that I can lay with my back just slightly on the slope. The hammock acts as a natural pillow and supports my neck and head. I have not slept in a bridge hammock, but I can't possibly imagine it being comfortable without a bunch of other stuff like pillows.

(As a sidenote, I have also read that a bridge has better views than a gathered end, but I also don't understand that, could someone explain how that works? All the bridge hammocks i have seen have this wall of fabric above where the person would be laying...)

**SimonMc** · 05-12-2014, 01:20

Yep totally agree, I don't usually need a pillow in a gathered end hammock. Like you though I have not tried a bridge hammock yet.

**jolunder** · 05-12-2014, 03:16

For me it feels really cozy being "hugged" by the hammock, I like that. On the other end I do need some sort of support for my neck. A rolled sweater does fine.

**oldgringo** · 05-12-2014, 03:46

To me, a "flat lay" describes a bed, cot, or the ground.

**Syb** · 05-12-2014, 05:48

I typically lay (sleep) with my foot end ever so slightly more elevated than my head. I too, like jolunder, enjoy the way a hammock hugs you and have found nirvana in a bridge hammock. So much so that I think I will be getting rid of my gathered end hammocks including my WBBB.

Regarding views from a bridge hammock, when laying in a gathered end hammock, one side of you has a wall of fabric whereas a bridge hammock because it is narrower - mine is 50" at the head end and 48" at the foot end and has a catenary cut in the middle - there is less fabric that pulls up on the sides and with even a little tilt up of your head, you can easily see out of each side of your hammock.

**Cali** · 05-12-2014, 06:26

Love my gathered end hammocks. I sleep with my legs in the figure 4 most times with a leg up against the side of the hammock. I get so comfy and off to sleep in no time.

**nothermark** · 05-12-2014, 07:35

In bed I switch from side to side and never really get comfortable. With a hammock I snuggle back on my back with a fleece rolled under my neck and snooze the night away.

**jennalyn216** · 05-12-2014, 07:52

I love the curve of the hammock on my back! But I have back issues and have to stack pillows up again my headboard and sit up a little to stretch out my back in bed too... Which is why camping and backpacking are infinitely more anticipated and enjoyed now since I can actually get a good night's sleep with my hammock (tents were torture). Ah, bliss. :-)

**HappyCamper** · 05-12-2014, 08:26

I like that I can position myself any which way in the curve. Up higher at the head end if I want to read. Down and on an angle for sleeping. Putting my feet up higher after hiking to rest my feet feels so relaxing. Yep, banana hammocks for me!

**BillyBob58** · 05-12-2014, 09:28

Flatter is probably always better, unless maybe you are "flat" on your back, and even then you must accommodate the knees. It is all just like a recliner vs a bed. Even on your back, there is a need for "flatter". My recliner is very comfortable if I am flat on my back, as the foot drops below the knees allowing for knee comfort. But I will NOT be sleeping in that recliner on my side with legs straight, or on my stomach under any circumstances.

In the earlier days of HF, the banana curve was the main problem folks complained of, or came here worried about. If you sleep on the diagonal, the whole reason folks do that is to escape the banana shape and get more flat, or flatter, relative to straight down the midline and in full banana.

Now a bunch of folks, depending on the person, how tall and which hammock etc, would complain that even on the diagonal, things were still not flat enough so that they had knee extension while on their back, thus needing something under their knees, a knee pillow. An even bigger problem was that when they went on their sides, especially with legs straight rather than fetal, an unnatural curve was forced into their waist, and forget about it for stomach sleeping for most folks. You heard a lot about that in the early days. So, much effort was made to come up with hammocks that were flatter than they had been, with varying degrees of success. With flat meaning as far away from the banana curve as possible, at least once you go diagonal. Resulting in no(or less) knee extension and no/less side twist when side sleeping. No one ever advertised that their hammock had more curve than the other guys hammock.

Then came the bridge hammocks, which offered about zero banana/ knee extension, zero side twist and zero calf pressure, but have their own issues. As JRB advertised with the very 1st version of the BMBH: "so flat you will need a pillow". Which was absolutely true. Somehow, the newer JRB UL models and the WBRR don't seem to need pillows, at least if on your back. Some folks prefer bridge hammocks overall, some do not. Still, the problems that only bridges seem to unequivocally solve ( or maybe they are solved with some extra long GE hammocks also?) indicate that flatter really is better, at least sometimes, or when it comes to some problems. I'm betting that some of the GE hammocks being praised here are at least flatter, or they are once you go diagonal, than some others, and that by going diagonal you pretty much flatten out the banana.

Re: the OP and views from bridge hammocks: depends on the bridge. The very 1st BMBH is fairly deep, and there is very little view unless you are propped up on the end covers. The UL and even more so WBRR are much more shallow and offer much better views.