Not a day goes by where we don’t get asked a question from a customer who’s curious about how to best setup their hammock.
Whether it’s setting it up on a balcony, in a bedroom, between two trees, or just in the backyard – the situations are always different but the questions are often the same:
How far apart should the attachment points be?
How high do they need to be to make sure the hammock isn’t touching the ground?
Is __ feet apart too short/long to hang the hammock?
When your hammock is setup, the amount of curve (also referred to as sag) is going to be determined by the distance between the ends of your hammock. That distance can easily be measured by measuring across the empty space between each end of your hammock. This distance is commonly called the Hammock Ridgeline Length.
You’re probably already thinking, “Wow, there’s a lot more to hanging a hammock than I realized!”. Well, yes and no.
Hanging your hammock between two points can and should be as simple as eyeballing it once you’re used to it (and you can always make easy adjustments. A tape measure definitely isn’t part of our backpacking kit!
But, simply knowing the factors involved can be extremely helpful when it comes to understanding how it all comes together. And, if you’re looking to hang a hammock in a more permanent way (such as installing eyebolts in your wall or posts in your backyard) doing it ‘by the book’ with measurements is definitely the way to go to make sure the hammock hangs exactly the way you want it in the end.
To break it down, when hanging a hammock you’re dealing with a combination of each of these factors to determine the final outcome:
- Distance between the two objects
- Height of attachment points (where you put the rope, straps or eye bolts)
- Hammock Ridgeline Length
- How high off the ground the hammock sits (think of it as chair height)
Another important safety factor you should take into consideration (especially when attaching to a wall or ceiling) is the amount of force being applied to your anchor points and suspension when you’re lying in the hammock.
The amount of force being applied isn’t just dependent on how much weight you’ve got in the hammock as many think. It’s actually a combination of factors including the weight and the angle of your suspension (the angle between the cord and the tree as shown in the picture to the right).
In a nutshell, the tighter you pull your hammock the greater the forces will be on the suspension and anchor points (another reason to hang loose!). An approximate 30 degree angle is considered ideal.
But don’t worry, you don’t need a protractor in your pack either, the angle will always be correct if you just follow the guidelines below. Exactly how tight or loose to hang the hammock can be a matter of personal preference, but there’s definitely a ‘sweet spot’ that creates the ideal hammock curve.
So, how do you take all of these variable measurements and figure out how to hang your hammock?
Lucky for all of us hammock hangers, there’s a hero in the hammock community by the name of Derek Hansen and he created The Hammock Hang Calculator.
Derek is a hammock enthusiast and talented illustrator who has broken down the physics of hanging a hammock and designed an easy to use and understand calculator.
And so on.