Head lower than feet?

**kllrbee** · 10-01-2014, 23:03

Is there a rule of thumb (kind of like the 30* angle or 83% RL) for how much lower to put your straps on the head end?

Or is this just one of those things where you play with it until it feels right?

As of now, Ive noticed that about 6 inches feels good, just looks kind of weird....haha.

Just curious what you all do....

**nuttysquirrel** · 10-01-2014, 23:16

If your laying at a good diagonal it shouldn't feel lower. Some people don't do it and that's just fine, do what feels the best for you.

**Nodust** · 10-01-2014, 23:50

I like close to a foot lower. Just have to find out what you like.

**HappyCamper** · 10-02-2014, 05:27

Ditto. It's what feels best to you. Some people don't do it at all if they have poor circulation in their feet. Their feet get too cold at night.

**MAD777** · 10-02-2014, 06:26

Play with the adjustment. I've found 6" works for me. I think it's dependent on both the hammock and it's occupant. If you have proportionately more weight in your torso than in your legs, the head needs to be hung lower. (the heavy torso will seek the bottom of the hammock, pushing your legs upward toward the foot.

**bobwhite** · 10-02-2014, 07:33

It varies by individual. The idea is that your upper body weighs more than your lower body. So if you rig a level hang, your upper body will gradually slide down, shoving your feet to the end. Since some of us are...more developed...than others, we may need to compensate more with our setup.

Play around with it and see what you like most. I have a line level on my ridge line to help me get a good hang when rigging on an incline. Your eyes can play tricks on you when doing that.

**humer91** · 10-02-2014, 12:22

just remember, you aren't treating for shock. 6-12 inches strap difference is all it takes, because all you are doing is ensuring your upper half actually stays in it's end of the hammock, instead of sliding towards your feet.

**Dochartaigh** · 10-02-2014, 13:23

And are we all talking about strap height here? Or the difference in height of the actual hammock head/foot area (where the gathered end is)?

I ask because I don't think I've ever had the hammock hung perfectly centered between two trees - and that is the only time having the head straps ~6" lower every time would be beneficial to the lay for most people. Otherwise, if we're talking about the gathered end of the head side being 2-3" lower (which is what I've heard most people say), that would be a much easier way to tell if your hammock is hung correctly (hopefully that all made sense! ---lots of people are talking about tree strap height which varies WAY too much unless your hammock is perfectly centered, where I think we should be talking about the gathered ends - - the head being a little lower than the foot end).