yeah, the zipper is perpendicular to how you lay in the hammock. i.e., it is up at one of the ends bearing the most load possible. oh, did i mention that it's a ****** zipper?
yeah, the zipper is perpendicular to how you lay in the hammock. i.e., it is up at one of the ends bearing the most load possible. oh, did i mention that it's a ****** zipper?
At least in mine, he didn't!Originally Posted by bcarmer
There is no attempt to close the 2 layers together. The are sewed together on 3 sides and left open on the same long side (bug netting zipper side)
I was thinking about velcro as a mod to hold them together better....
"Every day is a new day to a better future"
"Of all the things that matter, that really and truly matter, working more efficiently and getting more done is not among them." ~ Mike Dooley
"What if I told you that you couldn't have anymore of anything... No more friends, no more money, no more anything, until you first got happy with what you have?"~ Mike Dooley
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." ~ Socrates
That's a case of "improving" a product for no apparent reason. I hope Tom gets enough complaints to go back to the original design which worked very well.
What about just removing the zipper, getting it back to the original design? Or, actually, I guess that wouldn't be original, as the openings on mine are on the long sides. Works good enough for me the old way.
I am SO glad my Claytor came with the open, long side optin described. A zipper would have just complicated things and added weight. I plan to e-mail Claytor NOW with this opinion.
Mike
I added three 3" tabs of velcro when I made my clone. I sewed the first piece in the center of the long hem of the pad cover & its mate I sewed to the gg ribbon below the bugnet zipper. I then repeated this on either side, splitting the difference again from center to end. I use a Thermarest Ridgerest green 20" pad year round with no problem. I plan on using the blue pad (24") this winter except when the DAM is needed. Anyway the velcro mod works well. A friend uses sticky velcro with no problems.
Beer won't solve problems, but then again, neither will milk !
Designer of the Switchback Hammock
Tree to Tree Trail Gear:http://tttrailgear.com
How was the original JH designed? The second was completely sealed, and the third has this zipper. I may email Tom and see if it's possible to replace mine with a second generation, even though it's sealed. I just had my original replaced because the zipper caused the fabric to rip, but that may be asking too much.
Not only that, but it is hard to get the pad in with the opening up at the end where it is bunched up. It is hard to even get it un-zipped.
The original claytor has a piece of material swen on top of the bottom of the hammock. It is swen at the head and foot ends, and along one of the long sides (the side opposite the entry side.)
You just slide the pad bewteen the bottom of the hammock and the material.
I wonder if Tom went to sewing up the pad sleeve to add strength to the hammock. Is it possible the weight claims were failing and he needed a quick fix? Then we people complained about the swen up sleeve maybe he tried the short end zipper as a solution hopping that keeping the long sides swen would resolve a weight failure problem while still allowing a pad to be slipped in.
It would not work for me because I cut a 72" long walmart pad in half and slip the pieces in sideways to keep the bottom spreadout and give me shoulder coverage. I can't imagine hou I'd get those pads in and out of a sleeve that only had an opening in the head or foot end.
Until that issue is resolved I'll have to stop recommending claytors.
Ah.. Ya I was told that Claytor went back to the original design of including the pad sleeve after hearing all the negative feedback about sewing it all the way up. I didn't realize the original design was a length-wise opening.
It was very difficult for me to get my pad in the little opening at the head of the hammock. The opening isn't wide enough to fit a pad without folding it. I manged to jam it in there, however. Then like I said before, the zipper tore away from the fabric after 2 nights in the hammock. I'm 190ish pounds, btw.
Now, for what it's worth, the structural integrety of the hammock doesn't seem to be overly effected by the torn zipper. I may try to sew a heavy duty zipper on in it's place, but for now, I seem to be functional with the zipper broke and the opening always wide open.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks