Hammock finished

[Moondog55]

Well I finally finished the hammock and used the whoopie slings I bought here over a decade ago.
I joined the hangers over at the hammock forum too for some expert advice
But I have a real problem; due to old age and general decrepitude once I got comfortable I couldn't get out of the damned thing.
Over at the hammock forum it was suggested using the ridgeline as a hand hold but it's a bit to close and not enough leverage so using a higher line may work. I've never had the need to use a ridgelne on any of my tarps or flys as I use the centre seam type construction. I'm a bit leary of using the 1.8mm Mulga cord as a handhold due to the combination of the angle factor and my own base weight of 110 kilos.
UHMWPE has become much cheaper lately and I am considering buying a length, the cost and weight differences between 3mm and 4mm are not great and I'm wondering if my thoughts about buying the much stronger 4mm are the product of worry and I should just buy the 3mm.
It's just on 4 metres long; I may have been OK with 3.5

[ChrisJHC]

Welcome to the Hanging Community, Moondog!

Hopefully you’ve got a good underquilt / bottom insulation solution as your backside gets cold quickly without one!

Re getting out of your hammock, the ridgeline is the way to go. An alternative would be to position a hiking pole or stick on the ground next to your hammock the night before and use that to help.

For your purposes, there is no structural / load bearing reason to prefer one over the other so choose whichever is easier to handle, more readily available or cheaper.
The ridgeline shouldn’t have a huge amount of weight on it - certainly nowhere the 600kg that some 3mm line is rated to!

[Moondog55]

Tier gears stuff is only rated to 150 kg; while I'm sure it is safe for normal use I'll feel more secure using the larger cord. I guess I'll have to buy a FID and make my own. Weight isn't going to be an issue as I'll not be bushwalking or ski-touring with this.
I've done some research on underquilts and have some poncho liners/tropical blankets to play with and one of those ALDI lap blankets for the main insulation, 50+ mm of loft in that and torso sized

[ChrisJHC]

Hopefully you’ll be taking your hammock on your Pacific cruise for the authentic nautical experience

[Moondog55]

Somehow I don't think Cunard would approve that, and I have no intention of any shore time.

[Moondog55]

Not happy.
I cannot get comfortable in it. I think I may have wasted a lot of time and materials by not buying a suitable length of wide fabric to start with,
Talking over at the Hammock Forums the advice seems to be go with both a wider and longer hammock when you are my size and weight.
I'll think about it while I get ready for winter and I may sell this for the value of the Whoopies and ridgeline and buy some wide fabric and start again.

[craigprice]

Yep - start wi-i-i-i-de and loooooong and then dial it in.