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  1. #1
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Shot down by WBRR and Vario hammock stand!

    Holy moly! I thought I was a really experienced hammock user. But it may be that I need some more experience! Or some advice from people who have experience! I just essentially got "skunked" for the first time since I first tried to set up my Hennessy Hammock and it's super shelter on a 100*F day in the backyard, with trees that were 21 feet apart and maybe not quite stout enough, about six years ago.

    So my War Bonnet Ridge Runner arrived today, and I hoped to quickly get it set up on the back porch and maybe sleep in it tonight. But I got my butt whipped by set up! Now do not take this as any kind of comment really, one way or the other, about the hammock. Unless, it is a statement about potential problems that might be caused by the length of the hammock and its suspension. But what it is a comment about is trying to use this hammock with the Vario hammock stand. With the possible exception of the Claytor, this stand makes all hammock evaluations quite challenging. Mainly because of the flex in the stand. And I've had to develop ways over the years to try to overcome that. But I don't think I ever really overcome it fully, and it's hard to judge a hammock in any fairway unless I'm connected to trees, as opposed to the stand.

    But in real life, the fact is most hammock and insulation testing I have done is in the backyard, in the last couple of years most of that has been done with this stand. So that's the way it is! So what this little mini review is, at the moment, is a review of the new War Bonnet bridge hammock in combination with the Vario hammock stand. And that combination stinks on ice! If anybody has any experience using these two together, please comment quickly and give me some help! And again, let me emphasize, except for the Claytor using this stand keeps me from realizing the full potential of any hammock that I use on it. But the War Bonnet bridge has turned out to be the worst by a long shot when trying to use it with this stand. Mainly because it's such a long hammock suspension.

    So I go out there and take my Hennessy Hammock down, and hook her up. It's immediately obvious I'm going to have trouble, plus everything is a struggle trying to keep the hammock off of the wet porch floor. In anticipation of the length of this hammock and its suspension, I adjusted the stand to its maximum length. And I'm going to have to go back and watch the video on setup again, because the cinch buckles were giving me fits. I'm used to the cinch buckles that you get from Onrope 1 and the cinch buckles that come on the blackbird. I never have any trouble with those. And I might not have been having trouble with these connected to trees. But on this stand it was just a huge hassle. But once I got them on, got the spreader bars in, and then tightened up as much as I could, it was obvious that there was too much sag in the hammock, and if I sat down I was going to hit the ground.

    But, when I got the Vario stand I bought an optional extender bar, which I have never had to use, not even with my big old Safari hammock. It has just been a big waste of money. But now it looks like it's going to come to my rescue! So I put it in place, and now the stand is several feet longer, but I'm having trouble finding room for the stand on the covered area of my back porch, and very paranoid about knocking some windows out. But at least now there's plenty of room for the length of the hammock. So I get it on there, and attempt to tension things up enough to put some pre-flexion into the uprights of the stand. Which is something I have to do with most hammocks other than the Claytor, because once I get in the hammock those uprights flex very significantly. And any hammock Ridgeline will be sagging down. But I'm having trouble doing this because I'm having trouble with the cinch buckles (haven't mastered the learning curve yet). But I get 'er done, go to sit down in the hammock, and proceed to be flabbergasted by an apparent overcoming of the laws of physics! I now appear to be dealing with some sort of levitation, as I watch in amazement as the "feet" of the hammock stand on the foot end proceed to raise off the ground! I kid you not! How is that even possible? I'm sure it was just on the side that I could see from my position in the hammock. But it was really freaking me out. I might have said a bad word!

    So I got out, remove the extension bar, and attached the hammock by the Amsteel suspension cords, bypassing the suspension webbing and cinch buckles. This did manage to keep me off the ground, and the foot end of the hammock stand no longer attempted levitation, but it left me completely unable to apply any pre-tension to the uprights, so I was getting the expected humongous flexion, so I'm sure the distance between the hammock spreader bars was nowhere near what it is supposed to be. Still, amazingly, when I lay down on my back it was typical bridge hammock style comfort, except with the abundant shoulder room (compared to my other bridge hammocks) that I was expecting. But when I tried to lay on my side, it was not as comfortable as my other bridge hammocks. And it obviously just was not adjusted right, I did not have enough length and needed to tension the uprights. So I finally just out of total frustration gave up, packed the hammock back up in his sack, and went in to take a break, and to do a little venting.

    Maybe I'll go back out a little later on, and try to put that darn extension bar on again, and see if I have any better luck. My mind is still blown that at least one side (right) of the hammock stand "foot" (the part that contacts the ground) was lifting several inches off of the ground! WT*? (now that I think about it, I did not look on the head end to see if anything weird was going on up there also) I wonder why adding that extension bar would cause such a strange thing? Maybe I can figure it all out later, but any suggestions are welcomed. But, this must be an exceptionally comfortable hammock, maybe even as comfortable as everybody says, if it managed to be comfortable at all under the totally screwed up hammock stand conditions!

  2. #2
    Senior Member Floridahanger's Avatar
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    As far as the stand goes, it was probably contacting the ground midway from head side to foot side. The head side foot crossbar plus the middle was your floor contact area allowing the foot side to "levitate".

    Do you have enough room in your porch to add an anchor point to a wall on one side and the porch roof support on the other? But I'm sure you already thought of that
    Enjoy and have fun with your family, before they have fun without you

  3. #3
    Acer's Avatar
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    BB58, I sure hope you get the stand figured out and get to hang in your new RR..can't help you out on the stand as I never used a stand before as I have anchors in the walls inside the house at 6.75 ft off the floor and plenty of posts and trees outside to hang. Keep the faith.
    2nd CAG, CAP 2-1-5 5th Marines, 1st Mar. Div.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Action_Program

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Floridahanger View Post
    As far as the stand goes, it was probably contacting the ground midway from head side to foot side. The head side foot crossbar plus the middle was your floor contact area allowing the foot side to "levitate"...
    That was my thought and really the only possibility. The "extender" bars you used for the first time provided enough leverage to over bend the center section. Be careful lest you fall down go boom with pieces falling on your head.

    Unless Brandon changed buckles since I got my RR I'm not sure what you're referring to. The buckles and webbing suspension on my WBRR are the same as on my WBBB.

    Time to plant posts in the back yard or make a long turtlelady/turtledog stand. You know you need a better testing lab.

  5. #5
    Senior Member breyman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gmcttr View Post
    That was my thought and really the only possibility. The "extender" bars you used for the first time provided enough leverage to over bend the center section. Be careful lest you fall down go boom with pieces falling on your head.

    Unless Brandon changed buckles since I got my RR I'm not sure what you're referring to. The buckles and webbing suspension on my WBRR are the same as on my WBBB.

    Time to plant posts in the back yard or make a long turtlelady/turtledog stand. You know you need a better testing lab.
    My WBRR buckles are also the same as on my WBBB.

    I have a TurtleLady stand in my backyard and a Vario stand inside. Never tried it on the Vario stand, mostly because it seemed a bit short. It works great on the TurtleLady stand with a 15 or 15.5' cross pole.
    Brian
    Denver, CO
    Father. Husband. Scoutmaster.

  6. #6
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    I do need a better stand all right, like the one I used to have, but I finally took it down - after I got the Vario - due to long running spousal complaints about how it looked in the back yard. The Vario is great for portability and when you don't have anything else, but it will never match my old stand for usefulness.



    Guys, thanks for the suggestion that the extra leverage of the extender is allowing enough extra flex to cause the center bar to contact the ground and raise the ends. That is most likely the answer. Now I have to figure out what to do about it if I am ever going to be able to use the WBRR with this stand. Oh well, to the woods!

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by breyman View Post
    ...It works great on the TurtleLady stand with a 15 or 15.5' cross pole.
    That it does, and can be setup/taken down in a few minutes...


  8. #8
    Senior Member Floridahanger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BillyBob58 View Post
    Well, nothing wrong with this stand. Just put some swings on it and it's multipurpose, I mean it's for the kids.
    Enjoy and have fun with your family, before they have fun without you

  9. #9
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Well, that was one royal PITA, but I went back out tonight after some pizza and got er done at least to a usable level. My 1st plan was to use the extender, but somewhat shorter hoping to avoid so much leverage and hoping not to flex the center bar so much that it contacts the ground and lifts the feet. So I shortened things a bit, still using the extender bar to increase length some. But it still wasn't enough - boy this thing is long! So I would loosen up the suspension and get under there and lengthen a few inches at a time until it was finally just barely long enough for the hammock to fit and also to apply a little tension to the uprights. And the stand's feet more or less stayed on the ground, a good thing!

    Very nice! All the usual bridge benefits, but with obviously more shoulder room than either my old JRB bridge or the newer JRB UL, which has a little more shoulder room than the original. ( that's comparing with the full width WB head end bar in place EDIT: I mean with the 4" segment removed and not used so far)

    I may change my mind as I use it more and especially when I get it attached to some trees with no flex, but right now I am not sure I am going to find it all that superior to my two JRBs. ( but again, time may change my mind on that, probably will, we will see)

    Some might be thinking I am crazy to be saying that. But here is the thing: I have really got used to the lack of apparent shoulder room in even my older, most restrictive JRB. In fact, some people felt that the JRB UL was a good bit more comfy than the original, due to that extra shoulder room. And yes, it does have a bit more room - and is noticeably more shallow ( WB also more shallow ). But I had never come to the conclusion that I preferred the UL to the old model. Because on my back I am laying there in the old JRB and my shoulders are in a curve, but it just didn't bother me anymore. It was comfy regardless, and of course NO shoulder room problems if on my side or using a wide Neoair pad. With that pad, that is even more room than the WB. Plus, when I am in the JRB with the MWUQ wrapping up around my shoulders and a TQ funneling down into the "V" ( or something between a "V" and a "U" ), it is a mighty snug experience. And I love to lean back into that deep side on the old JRB. So I don't really have any complaints with the JRBs.

    But the good news is that I am finally hanging out back with the stand ~ behaving. Now to see if I end up finding it to be actually more comfy. It is going to have to be at least a bit more comfy in order for me to put up with the wider bars and the length. Maybe it will be!

    Has any one used a RL? If so, what is the correct length? My 1st JRB was 9 ft 6" between the outer rings, the UL is 8.75 ft recommended ( but maybe a little more feels better). I'm thinking this is going to be a good bit more than those!

    Quote Originally Posted by gmcttr View Post
    That it does, and can be setup/taken down in a few minutes...
    Yes, that looks great! Got a link for the plans? I had plans in my head for a similar one, with the same top post as my other one had and like this one had, but I like the looks of this better than what I was planning. No significant flex with the top post designs in my experience!

    Quote Originally Posted by Floridahanger View Post
    Well, nothing wrong with this stand. Just put some swings on it and it's multipurpose, I mean it's for the kids.
    That's how I felt about it! What's not to like? What is it with wives?
    Last edited by BillyBob58; 01-12-2013 at 00:28.

  10. #10
    Senior Member MedicineMan's Avatar
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    'due to long running spousal complaints' BB58, seriously? What ever happened to that man's castle thing???

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