I wager that with some mods (that would blow the warranty naturally) you could get the hammock to have a wider spread.
The painful part would be to cut the end caps down the center, hem the cut edges, and once you've settled on the spread you want, sew in a piece that fills in the wedge in the middle of the endcap caused by spreading the ends farther apart. Then you'd need to find a replacement for the spreader bars, but hiking poles can be used for that, Scott found some tent poles that work. Finally you'd want to replace the suspension from the rings out, because with a wider spreader base you want longer suspension sides. As long as you're at it, put in a structural ridgeline.
You've lost a bugnet that fits, the design of that is simple and could be replicated to fit the new shape.
or you could just get used to the squeeze....
Grizz
Mule- one thing the instructions don't discuss is the later development of moving the head spreader bar back. From a spreading point of view this is the same as making the hammock starting with a narrower piece of fabric, e.g. 54" rather than 60". I.e. you can get the benefits of that spread without fussing with a recessed spreader bar, by starting out with a somewhat narrower piece of fabric. Either by recessing the spreader bar or narrowing the fabric, this is a mod worth doing.
Looking forward to the B flat (which I think was HC4U's joke at RRG, actually).
Grizz
have a stroll through my photo gallery and you'll see that in the later pictures the spreader bar at the head is not at the end of the hammock---it is about 1 foot back. At the head end there are 2 sets of rings : the furthest pair out have the suspension lines tied to them, the recessed ones have the hiking pole passing through them.
That the fabric is narrower under the spreader bar than at the head is one of geometry. The original piece of fabric was cut before I decided to move the spreader bar back. So it was cut like the directions would have you do it, a suspension curve from end to end. After the cut, the width of the fabric between suspension lines at the point where the spreader bar ends up is narrower. See attachement. What I'm saying is that if you cut the fabric narrower to begin with (the light blue in the picture) and put the spreader bars at the head and foot as before, you'd get the benefits of the recessed spreader bar, at least with respect to the lay of the hammock and spread.
Grizz
Hey Grizz, i thought the main reason you did the recessed pole was to reduce the compression forces on your hiking poles. Are you saying there is another reason I somehow overlooked....
Scott
"Man is a stream whose source is hidden." RWE
still true. with a 36" suspension base I'm getting the same spread with less compression than I would get if the pole were at the head of the hammock, at (I dunno, maybe) 40", and a correspondingly greater compression.
You can get that spread without recessing the pole by starting out with narrower fabric. I realize of course AFTER I build the thing!
Grizz
By your pictures 'on your back' it appears that you then had the spreader NOT recessed. In the picture 'on your side' you show it recessed. If I am getting you correctly, lower compression was only one of two reasons for recessing the spreader back toward you from the actual end. The other reason would be to maximize the spread where it counts, ie., closer to your shoulders, which effectively gives you less shoulder squeeze without needing more fabric width. Now, you not only have the parabolic curve looking from the side, you also have one looking down. The curve looking down starts at the recessed spreader in both pictures, but is made to start wider at the position of your shoulders in the recessed version.
I know this is going to sound confusing but I think you have already figured this out. Here goes:
My thinking is that to leave the parabolic curve longer and use longer spreaders to get the same shoulder squeeze relief at the point of your shoulders would be more effective in providing space in the hammock while occupied, and the compression could be easily adjusted to the same force by lengthening the triangle from the spreader to the tree. Using a 36 inch spreader, subtraction of the angle from 60 degrees included to say, 50 degrees included would lengthen the triangle by 7.4 inches. See difference using c / tan C, (or side opp / Sin of C.)
I used 50 degrees included angle because using a set of scales, pulling a 60 degree included angle one inch took the same force as pulling a 50 degree angle one inch, 24 ounces both cases. Only the length of the side adjacent changed.
Conclusion, Since my crude force data using a scale in ounces shows the same force virtually from the spreader to the tree, the force on the spreader, or the side opposite should be equal too using a 38.6 inch triangle instead of a 31.2 side adjacent like i 'think' you are using. Ha, this is fun!
Steve (Mule)
Predictions are risky, especially when it comes to the future.
I laid out for an hour or so, at 36*. With my Thermarest Camprest in the pad pocket. With the pad in and a pillow under my head, the problem is not as noticeable. It really is more of an "elbow" problem than it is a "shoulder" problem, and it is really easily overcome by having my hands resting over my chest/stomach rather than by my side. As in this picture from JRB website. http://216.83.168.206/index_files/BM...r%20Pocket.jpg Though I wonder if that will lead to some cold spots at the elbows. I was extremely warm and very comfortable, even though I was on a pad. Then sometimes my elbows are actually out a bit over the hammock edge. Of course, none of this was a problem if I turned to my side a little or completely. Which was very easy to do. This hammock makes staying on the pad a non-issue.
But I'm starting to get the feeling this hammock design is not quite wide enough for folks who are broad shouldered or other than pretty slender, even if they are well below the upper weight limitations.
Last edited by BillyBob58; 11-23-2007 at 22:50.
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