When Buying a Hammock the Spreader Bar is the Most Important Factor

In the summertime there's nothing like lazing around in the
back garden and having an afternoon nap under the shade of a
tree swinging gently in a hammock. I've tried to make hammocks
in the past and they've never worked very well and all because
of one simple design flaw called the spreader bar.

The spreader bar is something that I've learned about while
doing my research into buying a hammock for my backyard and it
really is the single most important factor to consider when
buying a hammock. The spreader bars are at each end of the
hammock and do exactly what they say which is to spread the bed
out so it does not collapse in on you when you get in it. So
when looking to buy a hammock take special care to check the
quality of this important part.

Other areas to check for good quality are also the straps and
the links chains. Again, make sure that these are robust to
ensure that your safety is not compromised.

So what other marketing gimmicks are there out there to try and
confuse you? There's a lot of differentiation made by the origin
of manufacture some being Mayan, Brazilian or Nicaraguan for
example. There's many more but these seem to prevail. All this
means is that in general the hammock has been hand crafted using
naturally fibres and this has two important impacts:-

1. It's more comfortable than the traditional rope hammock
2. The weave can be a little loose and so care is required when
getting in and out and no sharp objects

Moving back to the traditional rope hammock for comparison,
these can be made out of cotton or polyester. The tighter weave
making the cotton version more robust than the hand crafted
works above and it's still pretty comfortable compared to rope
hammocks made out of polyester. The advantage of the polyester
is that the hammock is significantly more durable so basically
it comes down to a trade off between comfort and durability.

The poolside hammock demonstrates this perfectly. It's
certainly the least comfortable but the needs of a poolside
hammock differ considerably. The essential feature is that the
hammock is quick drying and to a lesser extent it's also
designed to be colorful and both these factors determine the
type of fabric used and this is at the expense of comfort.

So there's no real mystique to buying a hammock, there are some
choices that you need to make depending on the functionality
that you want and you may have to compromise on comfort but
that's about it. Once you've made your choice for fabric then
it's time to look at the quality of the spreader bars and make
sure that these are sufficiently robust to ensure that your
purchase lasts a long time.

It terms of setting it up, a hammock does require two trees in
close proximity otherwise you are probably better acquiring a
hammock stand as well but if this is more equipment than you can
handle then maybe it's time to consider a hanging chair?

About The Author: Sick of seeing cremated burgers at barbecue
parties the Paul Yates set about writing recipes, advice and
tips to ensure that the burnt offering becomes a thing of the
past. Try free barbecue grill recipes & meat smoker cooking
ideas at http://www.barbecue-smoker-recipes.com

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