Before I get starter, Critique my plans?

[headchange4u]

Thanks. I'm thinking really simple for me. Probibly just a simple top loader with a zip down one side.

Are you still running your ridgeline through the whipping on the ends?

Yes I still run the ridge line through the whipping, although I don't use the ridge line thingie that is shown in the tutorial. Now I use the same technique I used when adding a ridge line to my Warbonnet. The RL through the whipping work really with either technique. The RL thingis gives you the option to remove the RL if need be.

[Coffee]

Yes I still run the ridge line through the whipping, although I don't use the ridge line thingie that is shown in the tutorial. Now I use the same technique I used when adding a ridge line to my Warbonnet. The RL through the whipping work really with either technique. The RL thingis gives you the option to remove the RL if need be.

Thanks for the link. I missed that thread when it came through. I'll have to try that on my next hammock.

[booone0]

If I understand you, then what keeps the hammock in the air is the jamming of the carabiner inside the hammock, being pulled up against the whipped end. There can be a lot of force there, and in this design it is concentrated on a small spot where the biner comes up against the end of the whipped fabric, on the inside. paracord takes a lot and is probably OK here, but if I were doing it I'd do the whipping with some narrow spectra.

My room mate (bry961) pointed out this flaw in my design. To counteract this, I decided to run the webbing from the attachment point (tree), through the whipping, around the carabiner, and out the whipping where I'll pull it through a double loop ring (like this.) That should butt up against the whipping, and combined with the bulk of the hemming, should keep the carabiner from pushing the whipping apart.

It isn't clear to me how it will work out to be whipping around a heavy flat piece of webbing. The webbing may double over. Only experience will tell on that.

From what it looks like (and from the whippings I've done), the folds end up being about 1" wide. So, a 1" webbing should fit just about perfectly in the middle. If it folds, do you think this will cause a problem, like reducing the load bearing capacity?

I would also think about trying to do something on the end of the fabric outside to jam the whipping if it should start to slide along the fabric towards the end. In the HC4U article on putting a ridgeline onto a Warbonnet there are pictures of the Warbonnet wrap, which creates a ball of fabric at the end. That's the ticket.

I could just put some cord in the end hems of the hammock when I sew it.. that might add sufficient bulk. But then again, I think that's something I can add afterward if I find that I really need it.

That's a neat piece of hardware.
So I have some of this same strap you're talking about using, and in my world the weight of it as a ridgeline far exceeds the benefit of being able to use a glider or something to make it adjustable. You won't get more than a couple hundred pounds of tension on the ridgeline, you won't end up adjusting it much once you've found the sweet spot. I warrant there are a number of much lighter solutions involving cord. I imagine a cord with a number of loops spaced closely at one end, along the cord. Pick the loop you want and slip into the biner.

But that's me...cords and knots and loops are my friends. Except for straps around the trees, I find webbing to be more weight than needed for most everything.

What kind of cord should I use for the ridgeline (what kind of forces am I dealing with?) and how far apart should I space the knots? I don't know how much space it takes to really effect the sag of the hammock, so I'm not sure how much space to put between them. Also, doesn't knotting a rope REALLY reduce its strength? Another question... what kind of knot could put a loop in the rope that wouldn't slip under stress?

I've seen the full zipper mod that 2Questions has done on HH hammocks. Look at his gallery. An interesting thing is that to do a full zip plus rollup on one side, he put also a 1/3 zip on the opposite side as well. I thought about this recently and see that it needed because of the geometry of the bugnet, a parallelogram. If you cut the bugnet that way, and do a zip only on one side, you have to determine whether the middle of the bugnet can, when unzipped, be pulled all the way over the the side without pulling also on the ends of the hammock. 2Q's second zipper completely removes the netting from being connected at both ends of the hammock, which otherwise might limit your ability to pull it over to the side.

I've been thinking about a design where I added some nylon to the corners that I could use to make the angle the zipper would have to take a little less acute. Sew some nylon to the corners (Two tieouts and one end, so I could roll the net which is detached on 3 sides down to the other end and tie it up), and sew the zipper on a curve so that it doesn't have to come to a ~120 or ~60 degree angle. That's a little down the road; like I said I won't bother with a bug net until I have a comfortable hammock.

You want want to be laying on top of silnylon. 1.9 is more than adequate for 140 lbs.

I'm a believer now in double-bottomed hammocks. You could do a double bodied one using two pieces of 1.1 oz, easily. The very big win is that you can use a pad between the layers, and it stays put when you lay on it. A Very Big Win in my book.

I don't think I'm going to bother with a sleeping pad. I don't really like them. I have some ideas for a home made quilt, but like the bug net, one thing at a time. That being said, I think I'll go with 1.9 so I can make it last if I like it. I also want to avoid the complexity and work (OK, I'm a little lazy) of a double botomed hammock. Of course, I'll order another foot or so with which I can practice my stitching.

c'mon, we expect that anyway!! You've drunk from the fountain of experience at HF already, and so are duty bound to contribute back! Indeed, I think we ought to have a sticky thread on "Great Ideas that Just Don't Work"

good luck. Use a crash pad...

Grizz

Thanks! I've been using a crash pad to test my current whippings/knots.

To everyone else: thanks for the comments/help. If I didn't address your post it's probably because I just got back from a Jimmy Buffett concert. In a couple days, when Bry961 is ready to order some fabric, we'll be putting our hammocks together and I'll be sure to post pics.

Thanks so much!

Paul

PS - I have another question regarding overquilts. I've been rolling a design around in my head of an under/overquilt..but I'm curious, do you cover the whole hammock? Doesn't it get stuffy? I know it's extreme, but how much ventilation do you need to avoid it being too stuffy/causing suffocation? I have a pretty good idea (IMO) but I don't know how to balance insulation and ventilation.

[GrizzlyAdams]

A tightly tensioned ridgeline might have as much as your body weight in tension---IMO that's too much. The ridgeline has done its first job when it has shown you how tightly to tension the suspension to set the sag. More tension than that is unnecessary and unhelpful. When I pitch my hammock I tighten up the suspension to the point where the ridgeline has just enough tension on it to make it straight, and then add a little more tightening to compensate for the endpoints of the hammock coming together when I get in.

The ridgeline does its second job holding up stuff (i.e., bugnet, boots, ...).

Right now my ridgeline is the no-tangle cord that Ed Speers sells. It is 1mm or 1.5mm spectra I think.

The feel of the hammock is pretty sensitive to the sag set by the ridgeline, so I'd guess you'd want relatively close loops. First thing would be to find out the general neighborhood of length you like. To get close loops you could double over a cord at one end (say, 2 feet doubled back), and tie closely spaced overhand knots in the doubled length (or maybe figure eight knot). The gap between a pair of knots can be slipped through the biner.

Knots weaken a cord yes, but if the cord is so strong relative to the load put on it then the knot isn't a concern.

Grizz

[booone0]

Alright, I finished the first part of my hammock! It came out a little sloppy as this was my first sewing endeavor, but the first time I hung it it was very comfortable. I'm still working on my setup for the internal ridge line.

Right now the whipping is secured by zip ties (so I can test out different whippings) and the ridge line is secured with a knot on the outside of the whipping, like Headchange's. I then used a larkshead over the whipping to hang it.

I picked up some polypropyline 1" straps (10 yards) and some ripstop nylon from JoAnn fabrics. I'll see how well the straps hold up as they didn't have a weight rating.

Still trying to figure out exactly how I want to situate everything, so it's a work in progress. So far, I'm really happy with it!

Pics and details tomorrow. Thanks for the help, everyone!

[warbonnetguy]

hc4u, i just did a little internal structural ridgeline of my own today. how is yours working with just having the knot jammed in the end of the whipping? i hadn't heard of any failures, but it made me a little nervous doing it that way so i did a variation where the ridgeline runs through the whipping but is secured to the suspension lines. i tied a big loop in the end of the ridgeline which i left sticking out of one end of the whipping and ran the suspension line through it. this way it is through the whipping but secured to the base/larks head of the suspension line. and on the other end, i left a foot or so of slack sticking out the whipping so i can easily adjust the length by just pulling more or less through the end and tying off. you can easily untie to lengthen/shorten and then tie off again. i just took the excess ridgeline, tied a half hitch around the bottom of the suspension line, wrapped it around 5-6 more times and finished with a slipped half hitch. it's really easy to adjust. although like grizz said, once it's set, you can pretty much leave it at that.

[6 feet over]

I haven’t made a DIY hammock yet, but I have this observation on bug nets.

Wouldn’t it be just as easy to sew bug net along both lengths of the hammock, and have the net’s zipper be centered overhead along a ridge line? This would seem to eliminate ANY sharp turns, and when not wanted each side could be rolled up and secured to the side seam of the hammock length.

Yet another bright idea from a guy that hasn’t tried yet!!!

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[NCPatrick]

I haven’t made a DIY hammock yet, but I have this observation on bug nets.

Wouldn’t it be just as easy to sew bug net along both lengths of the hammock, and have the net’s zipper be centered overhead along a ridge line? This would seem to eliminate ANY sharp turns, and when not wanted each side could be rolled up and secured to the side seam of the hammock length.

Yet another bright idea from a guy that hasn’t tried yet!!!

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Sounds good to me! I may just try that next time. If you sew it first, please post some pics! Maybe instead of rolling up the sides, you could zip the sides back together underneath?

[NCPatrick]

i just took the excess ridgeline, tied a half hitch around the bottom of the suspension line, wrapped it around 5-6 more times and finished with a slipped half hitch. it's really easy to adjust. although like grizz said, once it's set, you can pretty much leave it at that.

Any pictures or drawings of what you are describing? I can't quite picture it.

[6 feet over]

Sounds good to me! I may just try that next time. If you sew it first, please post some pics! Maybe instead of rolling up the sides, you could zip the sides back together underneath?

THAT sounds like a good idea.

I have no plans to make a DIY hammock anytime soon. I have too many other projects I’d like to tackle first.

Perhaps slightly off center would be even better, so the top of the bug net could have sewn on tabs to hold a net spreader bar like my Claytor. It would still be easy to zipper, and could still be zippered underneath if you wanted to.

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