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 hammock in the past and they’ve never worked very well and all because of one simple design flaw called the spreader bar.nnThe 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.nnA hammock might not be considered patio furniture but if your looking to buy a hammock then it’s the patio furniture shop that’s going to be your first port of call. When buying the 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.nnSo 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 hammocks, Brazilian hammocks or Nicaraguan hammocks 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:-nn3. It’s more comfortable than the traditional rope hammockn4. The weave can be a little loose and so care is required when getting in and out and no sharp objectsnnMoving 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.nnThe 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 colourful and both these factors determine the type of fabric used and this is at the expense of comfort.nnSo 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.nnIt 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?n