I have pretty much finished the project. Like any homemade gear it will be tweaked as time goes by. I'm already working on some new drawstring from Zpack after playing with it.
So the goal was to get a hammock rig under a pound. By rig, I define that as what I would get if I were to buy something like a Hennessy or Clark: Tarp, suspension, hammock, bug protection, and stowage system. I did a lot of playing around and a lot of learning by trail and error.
I'll start with the top and work my way down:
Top:
The tarp is a 7'x9' cuben fiber tarp that comes in at 4.81 ounces (136 grams) with 8 tie outs attached:
The cuben fiber is the 0.6 ounce weight from Zpack. The tie outs are 1.25mm line from Zpack - and I use 8 each 4' strings. The plan can be found at this thread: http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ighlight=cuben
Mainly I would like to thank WV and Joe of Zpacks for helping me sort though how to do this project.
Ridge-line:
The ridge-line is a 26' long continuous line made of the 1.25mm Zpack line. It has two Klemheist prussics for tying the line like a trucker's knot, and two prussics with Nacrabiners for attaching the tarp. The whole thing weighs in at 0.32 ounces (9 grams).
A big thanks to Opie for giving me ideas on this and TeeDee for ideas on using prussics instead of hardware for that.
Bug Net:
The bug-net is a sock made from Tulle. The idea was for this to be a prototype, but it has worked so well it negated the need to take it a step further. The drawstring is the only item I am still tweaking. Currently it weighs in at 2.44 ounces (69 grams).
Just Jeff gave me the idea to do it this way.
Suspension
The suspension is made from two cargo ratchet straps cut down to about 4.5' (1.36 meters) with toggles made from arrow shafts 2" (5cm). The straps are 0.74 ounces (21 grams) each and the toggles are 0.035 ounces each (1 gram).
The next link are UCRs made from Dynaglide. The are about 0.25 ounces (7 grams) each. They have a maximum length of about 4.5' (1.26 meters) each.
I'd like to thank Opie again for the dynaglide ideas, Grizz for his video that included UCRS, Shug for all his videos, and TeeDee for shooting his non-finicky UCRs discussion (I ended up incorporating some of that silicone line).
The Hammock
The hammock itself was an ever evolving part. I would get something right and then screw something else up. I'd fix the problem and screw something up that was already good. Instead of listing all the steps I'll just say that it is made from 1.1 nylon from www.thru-hiker.com. It has a nice flat lay and comes in at about 3.96 ounces (112 grams) by itself. The size and shape have been hacked up so much it isn't a normal piece of cloth anymore, but it is about 48" wide by 100" long (122 cm x 254 cm) sewn like a Hennessy Clone but with gathered ends.
I'd like to thank headchange4u for his instructions on making a Hennessy clone, Pak-Man for hooking me up with Grand Trunk, and Grand Trunk for giving me a Nano7 to play with. I learned a lot from the Nano7. Lastly, AYCE of www.thru-hiker.com for answering technical questions and helping me with fabric selection.
For the hammock I have added a non-structural ridge-line for keeping the net off my face in the summer and getting the hang just right. I made it from the 1.25mm line from Z-pack. To get it out of the way when it isn't needed I cut the line and added another nacrabiner in it for connection when it needs to be up. The line weighs about 0.14 ounces (4 grams).
Stowage
I'll finish this up by adding in the two sacks with the hammock. The first is a pocket sewn to the hammock big enough to put a quart water bottle in and still have room, and it is made from cuben fiber. It weighs about 0.14 ounces (4 grams).
The main stuff sack for the entire rig is made from cuben fiber and is my pillow when the hammock is set up. It weighs about 0.21 ounces (6 grams).
So the entire set up:
Tarp -----------------------------------------4.81oz or 136 grams
Ridge-line ------------------------------------0.32oz or 9 grams
Bug Net --------------------------------------2.44oz or 69 grams
Hammock (including UCRs, ridge-line, and sack)-6.15oz or 174 grams
Toggles---------------------------------------0.07oz or 2 grams
Tree straps-----------------------------------1.48oz or 42 grams
Stuff sack------------------------------------0.21oz or 6 grams
Total----------------------------------------15.48oz or 438grams
I also have to thank hammock forums at large for all the ideas, help, and inspiration that it took to get to this point. You may not be an ultralighter yourself, or even think about ultralight - but there is a good chance that I got some idea that led me somewhere that either dead ended or turned into something I used from what I read here. I'm sure I missed thanking some one out there specifically for help, but it was not intentional.
The sub pound hammock in the woods.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks