DIY hammocks and tarp for TWO!

[neokei]

Hey everyone,

My girlfriend and I will travel quite a lot the next year or so, mainly through Asia. We'll be sleeping on beds most of the time but we wanted a comfortable solution in case we couldn't. Having a pretty bad back, the hammock seemed a much better solution than a tent (I never could sleep in a tent, my back was killing me).

Now, because we're students and she's a costume maker, we're going the DIY route. It allows us to build them quite cheap, and I think with good quality.

We'll be building two 11inches hammocks. One is single layer (for her) with polyD 1.2, mine is double layer, polyD 1.2 and nylonD 1.6. Ideally we would want to be able to at least seat or nap in my hammock, while we would sleep in our own personal hammock. I am about 187 pounds and she's 121lbs.

We'll be using whoopie slings with tree huggers, and double whoopie hook.

We're building the tarp with some 1.1oz ripstop nylon. Only one for the two of us, so it'll be 15 inches by 12!

I made a big spreadsheet with all the info: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Now, I did as much research as I could, but in a relatively short time, so some stuff here might be wrong, could anyone give me some pointers?

Also, we'll be building asymmetric hammocks. Am I correct that the ridgeline is just the diagonal of the rectangle of fabric? And so we would tie the suspension to the diagonally opposite corners, like so? http://gear-report.com/wp-content/up...her-Friend.png

I'm also interested on comments on the fabrics: softness, comfortableness, is there better nowadays, etc?

I'll update with pictures as we'll be building all this stuff!

[aka.jobbe]

try looking at some how to do a gathered end hammock.
There is a lot of suggestions out there.
I've used tothewoods.net
They got a good description on the hammock.
Ore looking at the ultimate hang's homepage.

I can't advice you of ant fabric, but why is your's doublet and here single layer?
If you choose the right fabric it should holde your bodywaight with no problems.

Me and my girlfriend just spend 2 nights in a row in my diy single layer gathered end hammock.
That vas made out of ripstop nylon.
with this spec: 155cm wide, 4mm squares, 60gsm approx.
no problem with that at all.....

the trick is to find a good spot. one on the back, (the sweet spot) and the other on the side with head on the others chest. and cutting.


By the way, the link to google docs doesn't work.

[jolunder]

Just some quick pointers:
* hammocks: I'd consider double layer for both when going to south east Asia, so the biting insects won't bite you in the b***
* speaking of underneath: have you thought about insulation under you? Keywords pads vs underquilts.
* tarp fabric: ripstop nylon comes in a wide variety, to be suited for tarp making it's essential for it to be "waterproof". Meaning you'll need some that's coated. The most popular around here being silnylon (silicone coated), pu-coated material is another option (though often heavier), there's also ripstopbytheroll relatively new silpoly (silicone coated polyester)...

[neokei]

try looking at some how to do a gathered end hammock.
There is a lot of suggestions out there.
I've used tothewoods.net
They got a good description on the hammock.
Ore looking at the ultimate hang's homepage.

I can't advice you of ant fabric, but why is your's doublet and here single layer?
If you choose the right fabric it should holde your bodywaight with no problems.

Me and my girlfriend just spend 2 nights in a row in my diy single layer gathered end hammock.
That vas made out of ripstop nylon.
with this spec: 155cm wide, 4mm squares, 60gsm approx.
no problem with that at all.....

the trick is to find a good spot. one on the back, (the sweet spot) and the other on the side with head on the others chest. and cutting.


By the way, the link to google docs doesn't work.

Thanks for the link, I didn't know this site!

The double layer for me is because I want my hammock to be able to hold me and her. Together we weight more than 310lbs, and since we want something durable, two layers seemed more safe than one. We can't really afford it to break.
Hers is just hers, that's why she has a single layer.

Interesting that you and your girlfriend managed to sleep in the same hammock. That's what I wanted to do, but every answer I had so far said it couldn't be done. Good to know it's an option!

And I edited the google link, sorry! It should work now.

[neokei]

Just some quick pointers:
* hammocks: I'd consider double layer for both when going to south east Asia, so the biting insects won't bite you in the b***
* speaking of underneath: have you thought about insulation under you? Keywords pads vs underquilts.
* tarp fabric: ripstop nylon comes in a wide variety, to be suited for tarp making it's essential for it to be "waterproof". Meaning you'll need some that's coated. The most popular around here being silnylon (silicone coated), pu-coated material is another option (though often heavier), there's also ripstopbytheroll relatively new silpoly (silicone coated polyester)...

Thanks for the answer!

Actually, you couldn't see because the link didn't work, but we'll each have the dutch's ARGON Vented Sock, which is half a bugnet, half argon layer. I thought the argon layer on the bottom would serve as protection against bugs at the bottom.
For insulation, it seems like we won't sleep at temp under 25 degrees, neverthless, we both have down jackets that I thought we could use as insulation. If that doesn't worked, I thought about buying reflective foam panels like one uses in cars, I read that works ok. We'll also have emergency blankets, but I'm not sure how useful they'll be as insulation.

As for the fabric, I'll make sure to get a silnylon one. I'm still scouting to see where I can find one at a good price.

[aka.jobbe]

Thanks for the link, I didn't know this site!

The double layer for me is because I want my hammock to be able to hold me and her. Together we weight more than 310lbs, and since we want something durable, two layers seemed more safe than one. We can't really afford it to break.
Hers is just hers, that's why she has a single layer.

Interesting that you and your girlfriend managed to sleep in the same hammock. That's what I wanted to do, but every answer I had so far said it couldn't be done. Good to know it's an option!

And I edited the google link, sorry! It should work now.

that's a great agument to the double layer

you could also sleep in the spoon method, but that isn't as comfy as the cuddling way.

I'm looking forward to following your project.

[jolunder]

You're right, the sock will shield you from bugs.
The jacket will only work on top of, since it'll compress if laid under you and this will nearly zero it's insulation qualities. Those pads will most likely work, you may find yourself with a wet backside in the morning (from sweat), but as the hammocks are more of a backup I like the keep it simple and light and cheap approach.
Are the 25 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit?

[neokei]

that's a great agument to the double layer

you could also sleep in the spoon method, but that isn't as comfy as the cuddling way.

I'm looking forward to following your project.

Well we'll definitely try the cuddling method too! Actually we just met a very nice couple in REI that told us they slept comfortably in a Hennessy Safari together.

You're right, the sock will shield you from bugs.
The jacket will only work on top of, since it'll compress if laid under you and this will nearly zero it's insulation qualities. Those pads will most likely work, you may find yourself with a wet backside in the morning (from sweat), but as the hammocks are more of a backup I like the keep it simple and light and cheap approach.
Are the 25 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit?

Ha yes, I thought about the compression effect. I had two ideas though: what if the top layer, the one i slept on, was a tiny bit shorter than the bottom one? The pressure would be on the fabric and not on the jacket. I thought about putting the jacket on the outside too, like a quilt. We'll see what works.
And that's celsius, sorry So that's 77F.

[neokei]

As an update, I started a thread here, with a lot of pictures: https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...43#post1473543

So far we failed. The polyD 1.2 ripped TWICE.

[aka.jobbe]

what is the load limit on that?