Mini-spreader bar on End Channel Hammock

[Rabbit]

I used dynaglide for the spreader bar triangle and attached it to my dynaglide UCR's with a Dutch whoopie hook that is part of my UCR. At first I simply looped it over the hook but it immediately slid to one side. So, I did a larkhead onto the whoopie hook and it held perfectly fine, even with my wife and I jumping in and out of the hammock. The whoopie hook was just large enough to allow this with the thinner dynaglide.

I've been following this thread with great interest, being someone who has never been able to use a gathered end due to leg and knee discomfort. I'm also rather new to hammocking and I need visual aids, if it isn't too much trouble would you mind posting a photo? thanks

[Rockdawg69]

I have taken to rolling up my hammock from one end when taking it down. I leave the bar on it. I attached it per Newhanger's method. I have found that the hammock packs away small and re-deploys nicely. But the main advantage, like skins, is that I can take the hammock down in strong winds (I learned this in a tropical storm).

I made a set of "dogbones" out of amsteel this morning to use similar to Newhangers method; running each dogbone thru hole on one end then thru other hole with larkshead over the dowel. Set the lengths to give me 6-inches out to the whoopie connection. This matches the distance between the holes in the dowel rod, so I have equal lateral triangle for balance in the system. Loving the change in the hammock.
Checked the storage position for the skins and there was no problem. Will probably make another set of skins, since the ones I'm using have a really tight diameter at the whoopie end. Thinking I need a little more space to ensure ease of packing.

[samsara]

Ok, I have been wrapping my head around this thread topic since olddog mentioned it in a conversation. Finally I did it at 1 a.m. this morning when I couldn't sleep. I am getting pretty good at finding the sweet spot in a hammock so that I am comfortable on my back or either side. After doing this mod it seems like it makes the sweet spot HUGE and easy to find. In fact it seemed to flatten a fair bit of my hammock. I don't know how this tiny change does that but I like it... it makes my hammock feel roomier.

Just my $0.02

Dave

[MAD777]

I agree, I hung two hammocks side by side last weekend, one with and one without the spreader bar. My wife & I switched back and forth between the two hammocks, testing them. She exclaimed that the one with the spreader bar was much wider than the one without. I said, "No Honey, both hammocks are exactly the same width!"

[Redoleary]

Well, today I learned that 1/2" CPVC is not up to the task of supporting my rear end.

[oldgringo]

Well, today I learned that 1/2" CPVC is not up to the task of supporting my rear end.

Woopsie...

There's a lot of stress on these things.

[WV]

I gather we're still lying on a diagonal in these hammocks, and you have been making isosceles or equilateral support triangles. What happens if the two sides of the triangle are not equal? Would it push one side farther off the centerline, which might assist a diagonal position? The forces would be uneven, too, so part of the triangle would need to be stronger, but you might be able to use a lighter (or longer) spreader bar. I'm thinking out loud and going way out on a limb here (which sounds too much like widow-maker thinking, perhaps).

[Redoleary]

This is with 3/4" CPVC it flexes a bit, which is good, but not sure if I like it as well as when the hammock in below the bar... too early to tell.
Here the the hammock hangs on the bar, there are holes drilled in the end caps that the line passes thru. Just outside the hole is a wall & crown knot made from two other pieces of amsteel that pass thru the suspension. They keep the bar from going askew. So far so good. I have two small holes drilled thru the bar on each end thru these I will pass some zing-it and form a continuous loop that my RL can attach too. Pix will follow, when I get to it.

[oldgringo]

I gather we're still lying on a diagonal in these hammocks, and you have been making isosceles or equilateral support triangles. What happens if the two sides of the triangle are not equal? Would it push one side farther off the centerline, which might assist a diagonal position? The forces would be uneven, too, so part of the triangle would need to be stronger, but you might be able to use a lighter (or longer) spreader bar. I'm thinking out loud and going way out on a limb here (which sounds too much like widow-maker thinking, perhaps).

I did this, quite by accident..the hammock slides down the Amsteel and bunches up...no spread. Look at Red's picture and imagine a long leg and a short one. You'll see what I mean.

[Rockdawg69]

I did this, quite by accident..the hammock slides down the Amsteel and bunches up...no spread. Look at Red's picture and imagine a long leg and a short one. You'll see what I mean.

+1 on this.