The hammock is a thing, popular on every continent of this world. It is a bed made out of rope and usually being hanged between trees, pillars or even indoor for taking rest or sleeping. For a hammock, the ridgeline is one of the most important facts for providing you comfort while lying in the hammock. A ridgeline is a strong thick cord that bounded to the ends of the hammock, running parallel to the ground. Being attached to the ends, it creates a top for the hammock and looks like as if your hammock is hanging from the ridgeline.
The frequently asked question by the people is that how they determined the length of the ridgeline of their hammock. As because the comfort of yourself while resting in your hammock is depended on the ridgeline, so the length has a great impact on your comfort zone. That’s why people want to know the perfect length of the ridgeline that can provide them the highest range of comfort feeling on their hammock.
We are here to remove all of your confusion about the ridgeline. That’s the thing we are trying to portray in this article. And we hope it will be able to answer all your questions over the length of your ridgeline.
Importance of Ridgeline:
A hammock ridgeline is generally used to suspend a tarp above the hammock. But it’s not the main cause for attaching a ridgeline with your hammock. Generally, the ridgeline is appended to the trees at or near the level that the hammock is attached to them, but it is pulled tightly so that it is well above the level you will be sleeping at. A ridgeline can help you in reproducing the reasonable amount of sag in your hammock. The distance between trees usually varies, but with an appropriate placing of your ridgeline, the sag in the hammock can stay consistent in one fixed dimension. It is important because it allows you to place yourself diagonally in the hammock so you can achieve a flat lay. Every time you don’t add a ridgeline to your hammock, the fabric of the hammock will carry all the tension from the anchor points which is tauter. With a ridgeline that has the perfect length, you can lose the fabrics, which will make you be able to sleep diagonally.
Construction Process:
As mentioned above, the ridgeline holds the total weight of the hammock along with the object that lay in it. So, you must need a ridgeline which is equipped with a low stretch cord for holding heavyweight. If you want to know our opinion, choose a light one. Don’t use a nylon cord, it stretches. And also the polyester cord which is usually thick and weighs heavy considering some other options. The experts are commonly recommended to pick Lash It (TM), Zing-It (TM) and Dynaglide (TM).
Preferable Length of Ridgeline:
The best ratio for your ridgeline length is 83 percent of the hammock’s length. This length can provide the deepest and most comfortable sag which offers a fantastic, flat lay with minimal shoulder squeeze. This duration of the ridgeline will provide you a 30-degree angle to your hammock in hanging, which provides you the perfect extent of comfortable sag. One of the most common methods is to tie a loop on each of end of the long cord and open the channel loops on the hammock, and then push the loop of the ridgeline over the extended part of the channel loop and reattached the larks head knot.
Nowadays adjustable ridgelines are also commonly used in all over the world. This type of ridgeline equipped with a fixed loop and an adjustable loop. So, you can take the fixed loop and attach it according to the method described above, whereas you will need a connector to attach the adjustable end. While fixed ridgeline with 83 percent length of the hammock’s length makes a 30-degree angle, the adjustable ridgeline allows you to change the angle with your comfort. This customized option makes the adjustable ridgeline popular day by day. But if you ask us, we would recommend you to not use an adjustable ridgeline for long-run, because they can lose their position at any time and they are unable to provide the consistency which is perfect for ridgelines. Besides this, they are perfect for finding the right length with your comfort for a fixed ridgeline. Using them at the time of hanging a new hammock and then, when you feel the sag perfect just measure the length and make a fixed ridgeline with that length. This length will be the best ridgeline length for you.
Tight or Loose:
Hanging your hammock between two trees or signpost, it is impossible to hang it at the same distance in every time. And that makes it difficult to find the perfect 30-degree hammock-suspension-tree angle each and every time. It indicates that sometimes the ridgeline will be tight, while sometimes you will find it lose. When you have utilized whoopee slings, it will be easy to adjust the hanging position of the hammock for getting the ridgeline snug. If you are not allowing your ridgeline to sag that means you don’t require it to give too much support of your weight. Eventually, you will find it pretty tight that transmits the weight it bears to the suspension system. If it looks like as tight as a high-pitched guitar string, just loosen it a bit.
Final Verdict:
We have discussed the key benefit of the perfect ridgeline length which is the consistency of the hang. Besides this, it also provides a huge amount of place for storing your camping equipment. You can attach lights to the ridgeline by getting help from the clips. A ridgeline can also afford an integrated mosquito net away from your body. In addition, it is a handy place to keep stuff like your glasses. You can hang a tarpaulin over the ridgeline for avoiding the solar heat or the rain. So all of these facilities that provided by the ridgeline such as consistency, storage facility, sun protector and attachment of personal items, all seem to be pretty good reasons for using a ridgeline with your hammock.
The fact is that you are laying on your hammock for the comfort in your leisure. Sometimes, when you travel in a deep jungle and trekking there, you have to stay there in the night. In this situation, your sleeping purpose can serve by a hammock, where you can comfortably sleep.
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