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  1. #1
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    double layer hammock pattern

    This is my first post on this forum and I'm fairly new to hammock camping. I have a couple hammocks (an ENO doublenest that I love and a HH expedition ultralight that I don't) that I've logged a few nights in. Where we live in PA it's often very hard to find a piece of ground without rocks to pitch a tent. So, I'm thinking of moving the whole family (4 kids and 2 adults) into hammocks for backpacking. The kids are 10, 8, 4, and 3, so they don't take up much room and I was thinking about having them share hammocks. The problem with the kids is that they even move around more than adults and I have no confidence that they would stay on sleeping pads.

    I've looked a bit at some hammocks that had two layers to be able to put a pad in between the layers. I'd like to try and make a couple lightweight and cheap double hammocks. I've never made a hammock before and don't know where to start. I've looked at the tutorial above and think that I could do it. However, I've never actually seen a double layer hammock and am not sure how to do it. Does anyone have any suggestions?

  2. #2
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    Welcome to the forums, Bigwig. I have made several hammocks, but not a double layered. I'll leave it for someone with more experience to jump in here. Simple hammocks are quite easy to make and require only basic sewing skills.

    I'm not sure which tutorial you refer to. Here is a page with a basic double layered hammock. Risk's ZHammock

    You might also want to search the DIY forums for double layered hammocks.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Ramblinrev's Avatar
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    I'm not too far from State College and would be happy to share the information I have. I have made a couple of double layer hammocks. I also have a hammock I could set up to see if the kids could share one. I am not terrible confident that would be very successful unless the hammock was wide enough to allow an almost perpendicular lie. Sharing hammocks with two people is a very acquired taste. Generally they roll together and cramp each others style.

    Give me a PM if you want to try and set up a meet. There are some really good places in the middle.
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  4. #4
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    Not sure if this will help you but if you don't already have sleeping bags or quilt's for the kids you could look at the Big Agnes bags as they have an integrated pad sleeve in them so they couldn't roll off the pads! I have been looking at these for my two kids for the hammock's as mine do gymnastics when they sleep!!!!

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    Oh yea, Welcome to HF!!!

  6. #6
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    When I made my double layer hammock I sewed basically a "C" shape. I left a section in the middle of on side about 2 feet wide open so that I could slide in my pad. After I sewed the edges I turned it all inside out, through that pad slot, so that the hemmed edges are "hidden". As long as it is pretty straight it looks really good. From there you can do your whipping how ever you like and add your suspension.

  7. #7
    Senior Member wisenber's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jbryan View Post
    When I made my double layer hammock I sewed basically a "C" shape. I left a section in the middle of on side about 2 feet wide open so that I could slide in my pad. After I sewed the edges I turned it all inside out, through that pad slot, so that the hemmed edges are "hidden". As long as it is pretty straight it looks really good. From there you can do your whipping how ever you like and add your suspension.
    I sewed a channel in both end then stitched about a two foot seam on each side in the middle. That lets me use the wider pads and have the corners hangout out. I found having only one side open would not let me center the pad between the layers. Basically a slight tweak of Risks design.

  8. #8
    Senior Member nacra533's Avatar
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    Like others have said, multiple kids in a hammock might be tough. My two boys play in them all the time, but don't really sleep.

    It's actually tough to get the pad exactly right in between the layers and even more tough to adjust it a little once you get in.

    Even so, my favorite hammock is a DIY double 1.1oz. It uses the WBBB style whipping. If I remember, I copied Risk's design with maybe a modification here or there.

    They way I did it was..
    1-start with a 20' x 60ish" fabric.
    2-I roll hemmed both long edges, all the way.
    3-I folded it in half long ways (making it 10'x60ish") and stitched both long edges together in their centers, leaving four 30"??? openings on all four "corners." I know I used Risk's dimensions here. This joined the two parts of the fold.
    4-I bartacked where the openings started and stopped to reinforce them a litte.
    5-I top stitched the orignal fold (Step 3), where I folded the long material in half.
    6- I formed a channel on this end for the WBBB style whipping.
    7-I formed on channel on the remaining end without top stitching if first.
    8-whip it.

    If had it to do over, I would only have put a large opening in one spot. I am a feet to the left sleeper and would have put it on my left shoulder side. I would left some small, 6 inch or so slots in the other three openings. I figure, I put a pad in from the same place every time. (I don't use a pad anymore, I use an UQ). I do use a NeatSheet between the layers in the summer and it's nice to be able to pull out the four corners, but I don't need a large slot to do that.

  9. #9
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    Wow. This is just an incredible forum. I can't believe the responses and help. Thank you, all. I love the risk description and think I'll give it a shot. I know that some people swear by the underquilt, but with the double layer I can use existing equipment and not have to either make or buy expensive underquilts.

    As for putting two kids in a hammock, it sounds like no one really recommends it. I was thinking of putting their heads at opposite ends of the hammock. Their sleeping bags have a little loop at the head and I was thinking that I would run a small utility line from the loop and tie it off at either end of the hammock to prevent them from sliding down to the middle as they thrash around. If I can't end up putting two in a hammock then I just don't think I can even hammock camp with them. By the time that I have to start to carry 6 hammocks, 6 tarps, and 6 bug nets, I may as well be carrying a cabin. My Big Agnes Copper Spur 3 weighs 4.5 pounds and fits my wife with all the kids in it. My hammock weighs about 3 pounds. That's a total of 7.5 pounds. I have to get all the hammocks and gear around that same weight if I'm to switch. Is this even possible?

    Now, another DIY question. The tutorial above

    http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=15205

    uses a tube sewn in each end of the hammock with a cord run through and then cinched. Every other desription that I've seen just bunches up the ends and wraps them. Is one way better than the other? It just seems to me that the way in the tutorial would be stonger.

  10. #10
    Senior Member animalcontrol's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bigwig View Post
    Now, another DIY question. The tutorial above

    http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=15205

    uses a tube sewn in each end of the hammock with a cord run through and then cinched. Every other desription that I've seen just bunches up the ends and wraps them. Is one way better than the other? It just seems to me that the way in the tutorial would be stonger.
    once you get more familiar with DIY hammocks, try the different whipping (what the gathering method is called) styles and you can feel how each changes the lie of the hammock. Personally, the method in the link is my favorite...YRMV
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