i told about how my 1st down hammock didn`t do so well (photos in the images for homemade gearforums directions).
i`ve learned that you really have to be sure to add enough extra fabric in the outter shell to allow for the hammock body streching. according to the fabric, it may strech more than you think.
also, if you look at the color drawing of how i put the 1st down hammock together, you will see how the three chambers form "wedges".
some of the down will find it`s way up into these narrowing wedges & become traped & compressed... & therefore useless.
so this time i plan to use a more traditional baffle system.
i know that jeff, rick, & mabey others have sewed to the hammock body (the main part of the hammock that supports your weight) & have had no problem.
and i know that the main reason that my 1st down hammock ripped at one of the seams is mainly because i didn`t add enough extra fabric length to the outter shell & as the hammock body continued to strech, it began to pull on that stiching.
but this next hammock is going to have even more sewing because of the extra baffles.
so i`ve decided to do this; i`ll make a double hammock, brobably using 1.1 ripstop (untreated) for both layers.
the only sewing on the top layer will be the sides & ends as usual.
the bottom layer will have the baffles sewn to it.
then a third layer of 1.1 ripstop will fllow below this. the third layer will be the outer shell of the down insulated part. it will probly be 7' long.
NOTE; in the new drawing i put in the "images for homemade gear forums directions", i used 3 colors.
1)pink is the bottom layer of the double hammock. the top layer is not shown in this drawing.
2) purple is the baffles.
3) green is the outter shell.
when the unit shown in the drawing is sewn together, it will be layed flat & the 2nd (or top) layer of the double hammock will be added.
thoughts welcome. ...tim