FatPad bridge tested in Oregon (Pics)

[ScotchDave]

That's a very nice hammock, I'm not sure how to fix the problem, but maybe some kind of grip tape? A rubberised tape of some kind?

Very nice design, maybe you could sew in a couple 2-3in wide strips to the inside bottom of the hammock then slip the pad in under the strips? This might hold the pad in place?!

I don't want to piss on your camp fire, but I'm not sure that this is the best solution, I can see the pad sliding within the strips, but maybe with some kind of grip tape it might work better.

Dave

[dblhmmck]

Looks good Victor. I'm not sure you would even need a full double layer. I would think that even a 6" wide strip or even two belts across the inside of the hammock would keep the pad from shifting sideways. If they were located at around the lower shoulder blade and knee areas, the ends of the pads shouldn't be able to slip sideways.

Thanks Ber, I am liking this idea of two belts. Maybe even going across the corners at a 45 degree angle.
Thanks, Cranky Bear (and Ber) also for the idea of the strips on the inside. But as I consider this, I hesitate to do it with a strip of material. Where I see difficulty is in getting good tension and holding power for the leading edges of the strip. While 6" seems good in theory, I have found it takes more than that in practice. In a hammock where I tried this method, it had a floppy fit and required elastic cord which is heavy. To get the strip to really do the job, I suspect that I might have to extend it maybe 12" on each end. Or I could go back to the elastic straps(belts) idea. The elastic straps might be able to be used by themselves possibly eliminating the strips of material or reducing those strips to corner triangles.

Thanks ScotchDave, and I thought about your idea using grip tape. If applied in the right place I think it might help somewhat. Grip tape works well on a tent floor that has a contiguous surface area pressure on the bottom. Yet I can't convince myself, without further testing, that grip tape would exert enough friction against the pad to keep it from slipping out when the occupant rolled off the edge. So I will try other solutions first.

Grizz, thanks for adding some details from your previous work with the lower spreaders!

[Jazilla]

I noticed the Neo pad has a little space on the edge of the pad. Is there enough of a lip to sew on a loop of cord. That way you could maybe tie the pad off to sewn on grograin loops inside the hammock.

[gargoyle]

Well she looks comfy!

Sticky sil strips added to the pad bottom has long been a solution, might be worth a try.

For the two pole idea..how about an "x"?
A center hub drilled to accept the poles at the appropriate angles. Or a four-way insert?
IIRC, the big agnes tents have a center hub at the peak of the dome tent.
Something similar, but on a thicker scale to accept the bridge hammock poles (5/8-3/4").
Shockcorded to keep the five components together.
just thinking out loud...

Great looking hammock DBL.

[Cranky Bear]

I don't want to piss on your camp fire, but I'm not sure that this is the best solution, I can see the pad sliding within the strips, but maybe with some kind of grip tape it might work better.

Dave

Thats cool, but, where would it slide too? If the strips are snug enough on the pad there is no room for it to slide that and if you look at the picture the pad slid up and away most likely from the sleeper moving in the night and because of the design of the bridge this is the tendency, which has happened to me everytime in my bridge when I moved or shifted weight! This is the same design function as a pad pocket, just with most of the material removed!

[Cranky Bear]

Thanks Ber, I am liking this idea of two belts. Maybe even going across the corners at a 45 degree angle.
Thanks, Cranky Bear (and Ber) also for the idea of the strips on the inside. But as I consider this, I hesitate to do it with a strip of material. Where I see difficulty is in getting good tension and holding power for the leading edges of the strip. While 6" seems good in theory, I have found it takes more than that in practice. In a hammock where I tried this method, it had a floppy fit and required elastic cord which is heavy. To get the strip to really do the job, I suspect that I might have to extend it maybe 12" on each end. Or I could go back to the elastic straps(belts) idea. The elastic straps might be able to be used by themselves possibly eliminating the strips of material or reducing those strips to corner triangles.

Thanks ScotchDave, and I thought about your idea using grip tape. If applied in the right place I think it might help somewhat. Grip tape works well on a tent floor that has a contiguous surface area pressure on the bottom. Yet I can't convince myself, without further testing, that grip tape would exert enough friction against the pad to keep it from slipping out when the occupant rolled off the edge. So I will try other solutions first.

Grizz, thanks for adding some details from your previous work with the lower spreaders!

You could look into the addition of end pockets like the pad pocket on Gossamer Gear packs, with this and the strips the pad would essentially be locked in!

[millarky]

Good memory. Yep, I tinkered with that idea a while, documented somewhere in the long-running original bridge hammock thread methinks.
Restating what Victor said, perhaps with a little different emphasis. For the bottom spreader bar to actually spread, it has to be pulled away from the hammock, meaning another suspension triangle. You then have a very delicate job of getting the lines just exactly the right length so that both suspensions carry load and spread the hammock out. Otherwise "the other" suspension is just flapping around. Seemed in the end more bother than what I was able to get out of the concept so I didn't push any farther on it. But, as Victor suggests, that just means the way is open for someone else with new insights to make it work.

Thank you Dbl and Grizz for clarity. Now my head is spinning from visualization of curves here and there. I'll have to sort all this out when I can think without distraction

[ScotchDave]

Thats cool, but, where would it slide too? If the strips are snug enough on the pad there is no room for it to slide that and if you look at the picture the pad slid up and away most likely from the sleeper moving in the night and because of the design of the bridge this is the tendency, which has happened to me everytime in my bridge when I moved or shifted weight! This is the same design function as a pad pocket, just with most of the material removed!

Hi, sorry for the slow reply, has been a busy day. I may well be wrong, but I do think I'm right, however it has been known to happen that I am in error.

Anyway, the way I see it is: because the pad is compressible, it can still slide by deforming itself. I'll try and explain, but I'm not very good at it, sorry.

Imagine you have the pad in the bottom of the hammock, and you roll to one side, by doing so you are pushing the pad to the other. The edge of the pad will encounter the junction between the strap and the base of the hammock. Ideally it would stop here, and may do, depending upon the amount of friction between the two materials and the stiffness of the pad. As people seem to sleep on partially deflated pads I reckon the stiffness should be low enough. The friction I'm not completely sure.

However, the edge of the pad is under pressure, and so the rest of the pad is going to try and find somewhere to go. I think it will deform and I see two possible ways for it to happen: buckling over the whole pad, or folding at one of the edges.

Does that make sense?

Dave