Let's suppose you want to sell a flat piece of wood (or other
material) to place underneath hammock stands. What dimensions (keeping
them as small as possible) would you use for the piece of wood, while
accommodating the greatest number of hammock stands on the market?
Keep in mind that there exist wooden hammock stands and metal ones,
single-pole hammock stands and A-frame double-pole ones.

Hello -

I consulted with several hammock resellers along with two hammock
manufacturers to come up with what I believe to be a good estimate on
dimensions for a platform.  According to a rep from manufacturer
Hatteras Hammocks, their stands, sold in huge chains such as Walmart,
Sears, BJ's, and the like represent 85% of the market and a good
portion of the stands on the market.  The same rep measured the
footprint of their most popular stand to arrive at 72" (L) x 48" (W)
(6'x4').

In talking with one of several reps from www.hammocks.com, I was
directed to a Do-It-Yourself hammock stand kit available on their
website:

http://www.hammocks.com/cart/shopper.cfm?action=view&key=ac003

According to the description, "this stand kit is an ideal way to
create the perfect stand for your Mayan, Brazilian, Nicaraguan hammock
or any hammock without spreader bars."

The dimensions of this kit's footprint are 8' (L) x 4' (W).

Multiple individuals at hammocks.com as well as other sources concur:
most stands are about 40-48" wide.

Most everyone I talked to, along with what I can see on the web, say
the most popular TOTAL length of a stand -- end to end -- is 15'.  For
length of the actual footprint, however, some say 5'-6' foot to foot,
others say 8'.

For width:

I would say you'd be encompassing the vast majority of stands on the
market if you place your width somewhere at 4.5'-5' (leaves a few inch
edge).

For ength:

I think you would be safe at around 8.5'-9' for the actual footprint
length (leaving a little edge).  If you wanted your platform to extend
to the very ends of the typical stand, 15.5'-16' would do it.

A quick glance at froogle.com and pricegrabber.com shows that the
majority of stands appear to be metal single pole ones.

However, these dimensions would appear to work for stands such as these as well:

http://www.wenzelco.com/products/backyard_details.asp?ID=10

Note the dimensions of this stand to be 4' (48") wide.  You can eye
the footprint of the length by dividing the total stand's length by 3,
which amounts to about 3.8', well within a 8'+ long platform.

This one is 32" wide:

http://www.oshmans.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1264635

This one, 44":

http://www.hometownstores.com/detail.aspx?ID=87727&Affiliate=10

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Should you require any clarification, please ask before rating this
answer.  Thanks for your understanding.

jbf777


Sources:
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Hammocks.com
http://www.hammocks.com/cart/shopper.cfm?action=view&key=ac003

Sit 'n' Shop
http://www.sitnshop2.net/contactpage.aspx

Hammock Jungle
http://www.hammockjungle.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=16

Hennesey Hammock
http://www.hennessyhammock.com/


Select Search Strategy:
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
"hammock stand" width 
"hammock stand" length
hammock "average size"
hammock

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 08 Apr 2004 12:51 PDT

typo correction: "ength" -> "length"

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 09 Apr 2004 09:28 PDT

Just received clarification from another higher level representative
at Hatteras Hammocks: they have about 80-85% of hammocks as well as
stands.  In other words, that 72" x 48" pair of numbers for the
footprint is going to represent a sizeable portion of the market.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by rifurman-ga on 09 Apr 2004 16:10 PDT

Island Bay
Tranquility
Pawley's Island
Hatteras
Coastal

Call these five companies (including Hatteras again) and ask them what
percentage of the hammock market they command? Also, get the full
name, position title, and phone number, of anyone with whom you
speak--and give this information to me.

Ask each of them what the footprint size is of their most popular
hammock stand. (Note: I am not particularly interested in Mayan,
Brazilian, or Nicaraguan hammocks. I care mostly about the classic
hammock design, of either single or double human capacity.)

---

Request for Answer Clarification by rifurman-ga on 09 Apr 2004 18:56 PDT

Also, please give me the name of the top-selling hammock of each of
those companies (the model of which they measure the footprint for
you).

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 11 Apr 2004 22:56 PDT

Hello -

This is slightly outside the scope of your original request; however,
I will be glad to do it as a one time courtesy since this is your
first question on the service.  In the future you'll want to outline
your full requirements for an answer in your question upfront.

Please allow 24-48 hours for this additional information.

jbf777

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 11 Apr 2004 22:59 PDT

rephrase: "...since this is your first question that has been answered"

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 13 Apr 2004 11:28 PDT

The HammockSource (owns Pawley's Island and Hatteras)
Commands 85% of the market for hammocks and stands
6'x4' ft is the footprint of most popular stand
"Cotton Rope" is best selling hammock  (model C13 or 13OC)
Hannah, Marketing Director at 252-758-0641x238

Coastal
Been in business 3 years, but doesn't know market share (The
HammockSource has been around for approx. 35 years)
Stand is 15' ft. (she guesses footprint to be 5' long, 4' wide)
"13.5' polyester green hammock" is the most popular hammock (no name)
Tina Ward (877) 966-0616 - "manager" (does multiple tasks)

Island Bay and Tranquility
Unable to find phone numbers to these companies.  They seem like they
may be exclusive to hammocks.com, who won't disclose their phone
numbers (tried leaving a message with a manager as well; no return
call).  If you can find their phone numbers, I'd be glad to call them.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by rifurman-ga on 13 Apr 2004 12:29 PDT

Instead of Island Bay and Tranquility, please try these other two:
Hennessy, Omni Swings n' Things.

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 14 Apr 2004 17:52 PDT

Hennesy doesn't make traditional hammocks nor stands (their hammock is
a proprietary design that fits between two trees).

For Omni Swings 'n Things, I talked to someone who identified himself
as a partner (I wasn't able to get his name as he had to go).  He
estimates their being the 3rd largest for combined sales of hammocks
and stands, but didn't know for sure.  Their most popular hammock is
called their Castaway Rope Hammock.  He also said he'd have to
actually assemble one of their stands to get the exact dimensions
(which I couldn't really push him to do, since there's no benefit in
it for him).  However, their website says the width is 40" and the
length end to end is 15'.  Armed with these dimensions, I think one of
our researchers here may be able to employ a little geometry and/or
trigonometry to find out the length from the picture on the website
(click on Hammock Stand on the left side of their home page:
http://www.hammocksource.com/index2.html [unaffiliated with The
HammockSource]).  Feel free to post another question (I suggest around
$12 or so).  This stand is supposedly able to work with most hammocks
on the market, including non standard type.  It's probably similar to
the others.

Omni Swings n' Things
(800) 533-5177

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 15 May 2004 15:57 PDT

rifurman -

Sorry to hear you are displeased with this answer.

Most of the research done on this question was on the phone with
SEVERAL manufacturers, retailers, and the like.  The search strategy I
listed was what was most relevant in uncovering companies that deal
with hammocks, who I then physically called on the phone to find
information on/about (as this sort of information is not really
web-based).  I contacted quite literally most every relevant hammock
manufacturer, including all the ones you appended to the original
question.

Secondly, with regards to Hennessy, I do apologize for the typo.  

I do not remember exactly, as this was several weeks ago, but I listed
them as part of the sources because I might have talked to an owner
who is versed in the industry.  So while they don't make the exact
type of hammock, the representative might have been knowledgeable.

jbf777

First of all, jbf777's writing is very poor. If you read what he wrote
you will see numerous grammar and spelling errors. But he did worse
things than that. In his first response he listed "Hennessey Hammock"
as a source (by the way, he misspell Hennessey Hammock every time he
typed it... and even misspell it in a different way each time!), but
in his last response he admits that Hennessey Hammock doesn't even
make hammock stands, and is thus irrelevant to my question. Also, the
"Search Strategy" that several Google Answers "experts" include in
their answers, (in most cases) merely serves to add to the length of
the answer, and make the user think they are receiving a more thorough
response. This is evidenced by the lack of creativity in jbf777’s
"Search Strategy" contribution. jbf777 ---> TWO THUMBS DOWN

rifurman,

Regarding the matter of Google Answers Researchers posting their
search strategies, please be aware that this is not something that a
Researcher chooses to do in order to pad an answer. The inclusion of
search strategy, where applicable, is something that Google Answers
policy requires all Researchers to do, every time we answer a
question.

pinkfreud, Google Answers Researcher

pinkfreud, thank you for your comment. I appreciate that you took the
time to inform me of the requirement.

I think jbf777's search strategies were uncreative and unhelpful. He
could have done a better job in this area (and other areas). He was
also a bit condescending in suggesting that I search under "hammock."
Now that I know that Google Answers *requires* experts to recommend
search terms, I find jbf777's contribution even poorer. This is one of
many things that disappointed me. For one example, his "Sources" was
ridiculous and included at least one irrelevant one. For a second
example, he had more grammar errors than can be acceptable for a
Google researcher. Here is one of many: 1) "Most everyone I talked to
..." should be "Almost everyone with whom I spoke ..."

rifurman -

Please note my clarification above.  Also, please understand that
search strategies are not "suggestions"; I was not suggesting that you
search under "hammock."  A search strategy is what a researcher used
to uncover information for your question.  For example, "hammock"
might have been a search term I employed to uncover links to many
different resources -- for example, pages that contain listings of
hammock companies, contacts to manufacturers/retailers, or databases
that would allow further searching.

jbf777