2.8 oz. Plain Weave Nylon Hammock

[Lost_Biker]

Knotty and Yukon - The BlackBird stretch side mod works great! You only need to do the entrance side. I sewed a tube and shock cord into where the 2 layers meet - 18 inches total. Of course it's only good to use when the side is unzipped, but there's no interference with the zipper. I've had lots of stuff fall out the side, so now no more flop. Even though the cord is near the middle, as long as you don't scrunch it up when you sit down or get out it works fine. You need to untension it more often, but it's worth a bit more fiddle factor for me.

[Knotty]

OK. Now I understand.

[DemostiX]

Handsome, and neatly executed. Interesting, too, in going fearlessly to a heavier fabric.

I expected a well-made 1.7oz single layer hammock to be, per recommendation, more than stiff enough for my 170lb. But now that I'm used to whatever the global and local stretchiness is of the plain weave nylon fabric Clark uses, the 1.7 oz fabric yielded more than I wanted.

I wish there were some comparative measurements of stretch charactereistics of different fabrics. But, thank-you for the pointer to this possibility in your report.

Would you compare it in firmness to your WBBB?

[Lost_Biker]

Demostix - thanks for the kind words. I slept in it last night and loved it. My neighbor can wait for me to make him another one - this one I'm keeping!
It's not scientific, but I hung my WBBB and the 2.8 side by side at the same height and had someone measure from the lowest part of my body(my butt in other words) to the ground. The WBBB stretches 1.5 inches lower. I don't know if the BlackBird is "stretched in" and the 2,8 hasn't yet. I do know that I have a much flatter lay both on my back and on my sides with the 2.8. I slept very well last night. I could also move around easier because of the flatter lay. All I had to do is roll over on my side - no grabbing fabric to position myself.
The 2.8 weighs a few ounces more than the 1.7 or 1.9, but for me the comfort level makes it worth it.

[Hiknhanger]

Thanks for the timely post on this. I have been looking at possibly buying a few yards of this myself to put the new thread injector to good use. I think I have finally discovered my current cheap hammock is just too short for me to get a good, flat lay. I think it's about 104" total, which seems really short from everything I have seen here. I am looking forward to trying out one with more length. I just hope mine looks as good!

[Lost_Biker]

Thanks emjackdad! I too wanted a longer hammock (+10ft) but the second I got into the hammock to test the lay it didn't feel right. Thats why I kept shortening it (3 times) till I found the sweet spot for me. I was a bit confused about the dimensions as I thought a longer hammock would give a flatter lay. So its either me or the fabric. I think its the fabric and the lack of stretch thats causing the flatter lay with the shorter length. When I lay in the hammock theres plenty of room top and bottom. The hammock is also 56 inches wide (I used 1 inch rolls and double stitched starting with 60 inch fabric width). With the stretch sides taking up the slack, it's very flat and comfy.
I gonna sleep in it again tonight. Also as a side note I didn't have any leg numbness from over extension or pressure. I really like the fact that I can change positions easily without having to grab the sides to move around.
I'll take some pictures tonite with the underquilt in place when I go out to sleep.

[Lost_Biker]

Here's some pics of the 2.8 hammock with my underquilt. Had to get up at 3 AM as we had a little ice storm last night. Oh well, 5 hours sleep should be enough. Slept warm with the 3 layer IX underquilt and a 20* bag as a top quilt. I'm in my shed that has an open door and the temps are in the 20's.
You can see there's plenty of room at the head and feet and the width is generous. I'm glad I used the rough side as the inner - no slip and slide at all.