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Comment by blhack | Hacker News Reader

I've been sleeping in a hammock every night for a little over a year now.

Hammocks are cold, that is the biggest problem. You also can't really just flop down on one and lounge out the same way that you can in a bed.

From a totally utilitarian standpoint of "place for sleeping", a hammock has some benefits. It's small, it's highly portable (mine fits in my backpack), and it is pretty comfortable.

In reality, though, most people use their beds for a lot more than sleeping. Reading in my hammock is pretty difficult, so is using my laptop if I want to type anything. You can't comfortably fit more than one person in one (unless you've got a garden hammock with spreader bars on it).

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May I ask why you've been sleeping on a hammock?

It's a psychological hack.

Basically, by intentionally depriving myself of something, it stops being "normal" and becomes a luxury. I was at my parents' house for Christmas in December, and felt like I was at a 5 star hotel.

I've done similar "hacks" to my diet. I did a month where I ate nothing but rice and beans (a very very healthy dish, actually). The first week or so when I was finished with the experiment, everything I ate tasted amazing.

The car that I drive is fairly beat up; I drove my sister's car to San Diego a few months ago, and I might as well have been driving a Bentley. A CD player? I can listen to whatever music I want!? It doesn't rattle when I go over 55?!? I can hold a conversation inside without having to yell?? etc. etc.

Silly, I know, but effective.

"Silly, I know, but effective."

Absolutely not. You could try it the other way. Work harder to earn more money, to be able to buy better stuff to get the same fealing. ;)

Hardly. His method is steady state repeatable. Yours is progressive.

As an fyi...to get around the cold, put a fleece blanket on the bottom (underneath you) first. Totally changes things. In fact you might overheat if it's doubled up...

That works even better if you attach it to the underside of the hammock so your weight doesn't compress it.

I slept in a hammock for a while in a cramped basement apartment; it was one of those cheap nylon mesh ones, but really comfortable. Until the gentle rocking motion wore through several of the nylon cords and dumped me on the concrete floor one night. Worse, I knew from rock climbing that nylon rubbing on nylon wears ropes out really quickly, but it never occurred to me to apply that to the hammock until after.

Can you show us what kind of hammock you're using? I'm thinking that not all hammocks can really be used for everyday sleeping. I'd very much like to try this though.

I use this stand: http://amzn.com/B00092M27I And this hammock: http://amzn.com/B000NHQK4K

I also use a small cylindrical neck pillow and a twin-size down comforter.

I've been using this setup since mid-April with great success.

What sleeping position are you using? Straight or diagonal-Brazilian style?

I sleep angled. What's important also is the tension of the hammock. It took me a couple nights to get it set up the way I have it now.

What's important about the tension? To have it tense or not tense or however, as long as it's comfortable or adjusted by some rule of thumb?

(I've not met a hammock)

Too loose and your weight isn't distributed as evenly as it could be. Also, too loose means a lot more curvature, which puts strain on your knees (or so I've found, as I have a testy knee).

I think I'd say you know when it's set up properly when you feel almost weightless in that the hammock suspends your weight evenly. I wouldn't go by pictures of hammocks that have been set up as many are way more loose than I'd consider livable.

I have pretty much the exact same setup as you :).

I'm curious, does sleeping in a hammock affect the health of your back or your composure?

The most important disadvantage seems to me that you cannot comfortably sleep in it with two people. Or can you?

Well, it depends on how much you like the other person :-P. I've certainly done it, but the hammock's design is going to press the two of you together. It definitely isn't something I would do every night.

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