Okay think I will just start off with real spreader bars. That makes it easier anyway.
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Okay think I will just start off with real spreader bars. That makes it easier anyway.
Oreana,
I assume your hammock isn't for backpacking. If you are not worried about weight I wouldn't even bother with the complexities of hammocks like these.
I know this is kind of an old thread but I'm about to embark on making a bridge hammock using this design. I am a stomach sleeper and after several nights in several different gathered end hammocks, I find that I can't sleep well in them. A qustion I have is, did you mark your line for the width and then place your cat cut pattern to the line? Wildernessquest1's diagram shows the cat cut at only 4.5" deap on the head end. Is this correct? If so, I assume you marked a straight width line (squared off of the wider foot end) and then placed the cat cut pattern to that line?
That actually is Tammons diagram. I also don't get the different cat cut depths shown in the diagram. I'd assume you'd fold the fabric in half (lengthwise), make a straight cut between the 22" foot end and 25" head end, then just cut in the 7.5" cat cut.
Sorry for the mixup Wilderness.. I just completed this design. I put the cat cut on the line drawn from the 25 and 22 inch marks. I made it out of taslite (the 1.97 yd WW ACU.camo fabric) so its kind of heavy at 18 ounces with 6' whoopies and no bug net. I will say THANK YOU ED!!! I was on the brink of going back to the ground but this design saved me. I can sleep in any position I want. Was well worth rhe 7$ I have in it for a test. I already had the webbing and poles (poles were cut to length from an old tent) Will invest in some lighter ripstop later. I made a diy backpack thats under a pound so for now I can still live with this in my base weight. Cant say thanks enough.
P.S. posting this from my phone as I give this baby a trial run...
Sorry about not responding. I have been crazy busy lately and it completely slipped my mind.
I am glad you like the design. It by far is the best I have slept in comfort wise. Now it's a much harder decision to decide between my SMD Lunar Solo-1 and my hammock.
Ed
FYI for the DIY hangers.
Done - Almost
Its not that complicated the way I did it but its a lot of machine time.
5-6 hours including the pattern.
Sewing the final webbing wrap area around the corners at the area of the spreader bar ends is very tricky.
Closing the ends is tricky too, but overall just a lot of machine time.
I just dropped my ends straight down and did a french seam.
Thats tricky because you are sewing into a corner so I need to finish it a bit better in the corner.
1.9 oz ripstop shell and 1oz ripstop pad sleeve and 3/8 strap per above from strap works but bigger dimensions since I am 6-3. Actually slightly bigger than the dimensions above in the linked Jpeg
Shell weighs 15 oz and the 2 poles from Quest weigh 10 oz but I think I can get hiking poles to work.
I did not integrate the strap ends into the main strap like Egrant did. I actually jumped in too quick and thought I remembered he had separate end straps, oh well.
Steps...
Pattern.......
Pinned and cut the shell and sleeve.
Hemmed the interior pad sleeve ends then sewed it to the shell.
Closed the ends of the shell with french seams. Just straight down for now.
Sewed the 3/8 webbing all the way around the edge starting at one end 6" off center of one end and lapping one foot. I then double rolled the edge and sewed all the way around, twice. Might do another down the center. I did not sew each fold so I would be missing one stitch row from griz instructions.
Then added the (4) 8" long pieces for the spreader bars exactly like the linked photo from Egrant. The correct distance I found between the closest bar tacks is 3/4" for the pin for the quest poles.
Then added a 20" strap at each end on the outside with a 1" loop in the end so 9" of bearing. Hopefully I wont hit the ground.
I just bar tacked all the straps in 2 places just to make sure everything fit and did a test weightless hang. Looks good so far.
Was late so will finish bar tacking it today and give it a real test drive.
Great, I can't wait to see it. With basic sewing skills it's not hard to make one, but they do take a lot of time. When I made mine it took a lot of time thinking how I was going to do each step and many things could be improved on a next version.
I'll be curious to see how the feet in the end triangle works for you since you are taller than me.
Ed
More.
This is the final pattern. My thoughts on the first hang after the initial thread popping which was nothing but a mistake on my part - This is without a doubt the flattest hammock I have ever been in.
Very comfortable. I also tried it with a neoair short wide and wow. Very nice but your feet drop off too much so a full length wide neoair is in order and will be basically like a bed.
It is a bit tippy with the Neoair but not too bad.
Even with just a CCF pad it is extremely comfortable.
As far as the foot area...
With a full length neoair wide the foot area would be very wide and comfortable.
With nothing under you the foot area it is too V shaped IMO and need to be squared off and suspended to hold it open IE the foot box would end with a flat bottom. Its doable, but not sure how yet. Still its not bad and better with a CCF.
Here is the pattern I used.
Its bigger than the one before.
FYI I am 6-3 and 235#
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps81e8736c.jpg
I did figure out a treking pole setup based ont he Griz video. I had ergo poles so those wont work due to the bent grip. Picked up some Komperdell highlander poles with cork handles and the cork grip slides off.
At any rate below is the rig. That is a blue wire nut, washer, 5/8" oak dowel and a 3/16" tension pin set in the end of the dowel. Remove handle, bottom out the bottom section, Extend the top to 115 or whatever, set in the dowel, place the wire nut on the end and mark the dowel at 36" or adjust to whatever width you want.
That said I tried it on the foot end and it did not fail with all 235# of me bouncing up and down on the hammock a bit. Still the dowel bottoms out on a Plastic expansion nut inside the pole and that rides on a Nylon bolt.
A better/stronger set of poles might be in order because there are some serious forces/tension on the sides of this Hammock. Still these hiking poles seem as rigid as the Quest poles so hiking poles should work, but not sure about longevity.
The black stuff wrapped around the end/edge of the wire nut and dowel is to allow some cushioning between the edges and the Nylon. It is silicone rescue tape. At least I think that is what its called now. There is a 12mm washer over the wire nut under the tape.
One end weighs 2 oz for the dowel assembly and wire nut. Could probably get that down to 1.5-1.7 oz because this 12mm washer is really too big and too thick and maybe go with an alum dowel.
So using hiking poles as the spreaders the total weight is 19oz for the hammock body and hardware for the poles.
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps563cb37c.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps8be2dec9.jpg
A few more thoughts.
These hammocks dont really wrap around you like gathered end hammocks so a CCF pad is not as bad as one in a gathered end hammock.
Since they dont wrap around you it might be possible to build one with a waterproof bottom, and integrated mesh and tarp and you would have a double duty ground or hang setup.
If you are using an air pad like a neoair, IMO you dont need a pad sleeve so less 2 oz.
With the ends straight down, if you build it long enough you can use those areas to store all sorts of stuff like the foot end.
Ball up the remainder of your pack and stuff it into the foot end and that solves the V problem if you dont use an Air pad.
I do think it would be more comfortable (on the middle sides) if the center section was about a foot wider, but that changes all the geometry and adds weight, longer spreader bars etc.
So with this current rig, assuming you could get the parts to convert hiking poles down to 3 oz a big 4 50dF setup might look like this..........
Bridge hammock less sleeve plus pole conversion parts - 16 oz
Whoopies - 1.6 oz
Tree Straps - 2 oz
My newer tadpole takeoff tarp, IE 12'-6 x 8' cat tarp - 13oz
Jam II stripped - 18oz
drybag - 2 oz
Micro Ground cloth - 2 oz
MYOG Drape net - 10 oz
Neoair Xlite large - 16 oz
MYOG M50 2.5 Apex quilt - 14 oz
Works out to 5.9# base.
Swap out to a cuben pack, cuben tarp, a head net and ditch the GC = 4.32# base.