DIY hammock overnight

[Big Jim Mac]

Tried my DIY hammock (see WV Camo Hammock in DIY thread) overnight for the first time. Camped in the campground at Berryman Trail with a buddy of mine who had one of those Byer's. First, the hammock worked to perfection. My whoopies held with no slipping and no creaking sounds I get with the ENO straps. I was able to get a flat, comfortable position and laying on my side was easy too. This hammock has extremely long suspension, requires 18-24 foot span. Bad thing, I am still using bug net and tarp from ENO, and these are much shorter. Solved that by tying to the tree strap loop. As soon as I make the otehr parts, this is going to be a great hammock.

On another note, I got really cold because I don't have an UQ. I used a Cat's Meow sleeping bag, and probably because of the homebrewed beer my buddy inisisted I try, I put the bag into the hammock in the wrong direction. Never could figure out why I couldn't get my feet inside. ;-) My back got a little cold but the top was just fine, making me think all I need is the underquilt and I can still use my bag for a top quilt.

Woke up rested enough to do 22 miles riding on the Ozark Trail Trace Creek section. Major climbs! Along the way, found an incredible little valley full of green ferns and moss covered boulders and enormous pines. Planning a hang there ASAP!

[Poppabear]

Glad to hear that your DIY hammock is working for you. But with no pictures it did not happen.

[gargoyle]

Why is your suspension so long?
Are your whoopies non adjustable?
With my ten foot hammocks and whoopies, the shortest span for me is around 12 feet. That allows me to make my whoopies their smallest, and still use a marlin spike on the webbing that is cinched to the trees.

[JohnSawyer]

Awesome! In the event you don't get your UQ together in time, take a look at a pad. A cheap ($10) blue pad from waldo-world (cut and widened with some duct tape) is a decent alternative. a truck-sized reflective window shade is also cheap, and some have reported good results. It's funny, because you suffered from the dreaded CBS (Cold Butt Syndrome) just like I did on my first hang... Welcome to the CBS club!

Another *cheap to 60-degrees* option is a poncho liner... (Search for "PLUQ")
Starting with Dejoha's PLUQ (Poncho Liner Underquilt) idea, (I decided NOT to cut up my wonderful Poncho Liner... yet...) I folded it to his instructions, with a small strip of IX down the center. For suspension , I just tied 1/8" shock cords to the 4 corners, and clipped the shock cord loops to the hammock ends. Since the Poncho Liner is already bound around the perimeter, I used a heated paperclip to melt holes in the binding tape, and added a draw cord to each end. My 9 year old used it last Saturday, and stayed pretty warm with an outside temp of 57. (of course, he's a human space-heater)

I've played with a bunch of different materials, just for fun... Unless you're planning on making a Down UQ, you'll find Climashield is priced close to similar thicknesses of batting at your local sewing shop, but it's far superior. It wouldn't be difficult to sew up a climashield UQ, or do like Chocolatier did, and cut a down sleeping bag into an UQ. (I tried a synthetic bag--turned out way too heavy)

If you do want to make a down quilt, go for it! Just get some good down-- harvesting down from a comforter isn't what it's cracked up to be... The few I found for cheap were more feathers than down...

Realistically, by the time you're done DIY'ing something, it'll basically cost you the same as buying one made from one of the many cottage makers here. I DIY for the fun of it, definitely not the money...

RE: Sleeping bag as TQ: That's exactly what I do. I normally zip up the foot end a bit and use a safety pin to keep it where I want it. That way my feet to my knees are well insulated... That and I don't like being confined to a mummy bag...

Happy Hanging!

John

[Big Jim Mac]

Good ideas John. I thought of some of these as I lay there. Unfortunately, did not think to go put on my Mountain Hardware jacket. It wasn't THAT cold, so the jacket would have given me all I needed. I'll refer you back to my comments about the friend with the beer. Also need to scout the DIY section here to see if anyone has solved the age-old problem of paying the rent on your beer without getting out of the hammock you have just worked into a comfortable position...(you don't own beer or coffee, you just rent it ;-))

Edit: Gargoyle, not sure why I went with that length for the whoopies, they certainly are adjustable and I can cut the length down by 4 feet or so. Pondered long and hard on how long to get the tree straps, these were ordered from Arrowhead. I got 6 foot straps and my whoopies are about 6 foot so there you go. I am realy liking this length because it's letting me use the two ash trees in the front yard that were too far apart for my ENO stuff. They are a full 24 feet I believe. If memory serves me the trees at Berryman Camp were about 20. I could take the straps around the tree a couple times to shorten I guess.