Spring is here! While I was waiting for it to arrive, I was a busy beaver.
During the past two months I have been absorbing a wealth of information from this forum. You gotta love it!
This morning I finished my first two-layer IX top quilt (all materials from BWDD - kudos to Scott). The rig measures 80 by 50 inches covered in 1.1oz RS nylon. The IX is is pleated to form a gridwork of trapped air. The first layer of IX has 7 pleats running head to toe, the second layer has 12 pleats running side to side. The pleats stand up about a 1/4 inch. The top layer pleats face the bottom layer pleats, forming 6 x 6 inch square air pockets. In lieu of a foot box I simply added a draw cord closure. The bottom 24 inches of the quilt, rather than being permanently sewn, are sealed with velcro. I chose this set-up so that the quilt could also be used as a standard blanket, or a back-up UQ (for whatever reason). My guess is that with the proper clothing this might be sufficient for 40 degrees F, who knows. I don't have a scale, but this thing feels like it easily weighs less than a pound (pure guess work). I LOVE IT!! Start to finish this project took about 6 hours, and cost me roughly $55.00.
I went dumpster diving at the local Future Shop and Best Buy stores to salvage PE foam to make an under quilt. This one, measuring 46 by 60 inches ended up being comprised of four layers of foam with a layer of Mylar space blanket sandwiched in the middle. The bottom is 1.1 oz RS nylon, and it has no top cover. It sucks up a lot of air once it has been hung up, but, to be truthful, I have not had an opportunity to properly field test it. I like this item because everything that went in to it was from the scrap pile - it cost me absolutely nothing to make (if you don't count my time-two hours of assembly time). A word of caution: the PEF without a scrim layer rips easy if you put any weight on it.
Two weeks ago I finished cutting and stitching my version of the Winter Dream tarp. I borrowed dimensions from War Bonnet Guy and Scott L. (BWDD). I ended up with a tarp that measures 13 ft by 11 ft. I opted out of the cantenary cut because I'm a lazy *******. I used 1.1 oz camo RS nylon from BWDD. All of my tie out points are 3/4 inch gross grain with plastic d-rings. As soon as I have a little warm sunny weather, I will be finishing the tarp with silicone to seal it. I had great success with another tarp last year using the "dip" method with 2 liters of low order mineral spirits and one tube of GE silicone. It works like a charm. Not counting the coating process, this tarp cost me roughly $35.00. The silicone sealing will add another $15.00. The tarp looks awesome, trust me. Assembly time approximately 5 hours.
For my tarp I also made a set of snake skins from some cheapo bug netting that I found at the Canadian Tire store ($7.00). Sewing the netting was a little bit nerve racking, but well worth the effort. If any of you folks are NOT currently using the snake skins, or python skins, or whatever you care to call them, I strongly recommend them. Get her done! They only take about an hour to make.
To go with my tarp I made an interesting little tarp tensioner. Actually that is not entirely true: I found a wire puzzle - the kind where you have to figure out how to separate the two pieces. It reminded my of the tarp flies that Dutch was making. The wire is chrome and approximately 12 gauge in size. It works beautifully and cost me nothing (unless my wife finds out that I hijacked one of her "precious" puzzles).
To go under my tarp I made a double layer gathered end hammock using 62 inch wide 1.1oz RS nylon. I couldn't decide (at the time) if I wanted to use a pad or UQ. Now I can use both. This hammock is a bit shorter (106 inches with a fixed ridge line of 90 inches), but my intension was to find out what I could concievably get away with. I can get pretty flat with it, but I know that it will be perfect for my wife or son. This gives me a good reason to by more material for another one. The hammock cost me all of $20.00 and took about two hours to make.
To string the hammock up I decided to make some whoopie slings. I got the skinny stuff that was under 1/8 inch in diameter (7/64ths ?). Yikes! What a time I had with that stuff. Thank god for You tube. A picture is worth a thousand words, but video speaks volumes. Each one of the slings gives me around 6 feet of reach. Next time I might make them a bit longer. The tree straps I made were 3/4 inch nylon (poor material choice), but they work (by doubling them up) until I can replace them with something that does not stretch. I am not sure what I spent on the suspension, but I think it was easily under $10.00
I also make my own alky stove and cook kit (all from the recycle bin), but this forum is about hammock stuff, so I will stop there.
I understand the rule: "you didn't make it unless you have the photos to prove it". They will be along as soon as I can finagle a camera. Say, I wonder how difficult that would be to make...
Cheers to all. Get out there and make some gear.
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