As per a previous post I am working on a Speer DIY gathered end hammock. I realize that a ridge line is used to adjust the sag of a hammock. I have a Hennessy which has a built in fixed ridge line that I find confusing. It appears that it operates only within a certain limit of adjustment on how tight or flat you can get the hammock. This seems to me this makes the hammock even less sag adjustable than a simple gathered end hammock without a ridge line where sag would be determined by how tight the hammock suspension ropes or straps would be pulled.
The instructions for the DIY Speer have a ridge line attached to the support straps and adjusted with a truckers hitch. My initial impression was that it was simply for supporting the bug net. Then I saw a video where it was used incorrectly. The first thing the demonstrator did was tighten the ridge line way up introducing a lot of sag. This of course increased the distance from the ridge line and the side of the hammock and once he got into the hammock it ripped the bug net right off. He didn't seem to have a clue that ripping sounds mean something is wrong so he kept it that way and did a good job of making the hammock design look bad. That got me to thinking that maybe the Speer design actually was for sag adjustment within the limits of the bug net width. Ed recommends Spectra (no stretch??) for the ridge line, I didn't find any so got ordinary tarp guy line.
So, in summary what I am asking for is comparisons between the fixed ridge line, adjustable ridge line and no ridge line designs.
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