Tiny Holes Concerning me...

[hanging pirate]

if it is only at the ends and you don't have the $ for new fabric how about:
1: shortening slightly and adding a structural ridgeline to help get your angle right. (make your rope 83% of your hammock length.)

2: layering your 1.1 with your 1.9 an making a double layer hammock. bonus being strength and if you use a pad leave a small section open so you can slide your pad inside.

hope this helps.

[L.D. Cakes]

I'm short too but that doesn't mean I have to have a short hammock. Longer achieves a flatter lay with more sag and more room overhead for a ridge line. Mine is not structural, just for hanging things on. My hammock suspension is on the tree above the tarp lines. The straps on the tree determine your hang and the Whoopies fine tune it. And yes they will touch the tarp lines but it doesn't hurt anything.
Hope this image helps

[old4hats]

Just a guess, but this problem could possibly be a result of the suspension problem you posted about in another forum. Possibly excessive tension on the fabric?

[SunshineHiker]

I am 5' 2.5" exactly.

Ok so I can shorten it a bit more but it's also only 3 yards of fabric so it's only about $15 of fabric. It's not going to break my my bank to buy some more. But it getting to the point where this is my second hammock to give me issues mere weeks after finishing it and only a few test hangs. I'm not buying and making a new hammock every 2 months. So I have to solve what is going wrong before making another one.

The constraint that limits my solutions is I'm an UL Backpacker first, Hammocker second. If I can't get hammocks to work, I'm going back to ground, even though it's really the last thing I want to do. I'm not carrying a 3lb shelter. Sgt Rock seems to make it work without ending up on his backside, and I wish I could figure out what I'm doing different.

[SunshineHiker]

old4hats - I think you're right.

L.D. Cakes - We must have been posting at the same time, because I didn't see your comment untill I hit submit. Anyway If I go much longer, I'll have added more weight than I really want. My hammock with suspension is already 13.2oz and that's with dyneema line and everything.

[L.D. Cakes]

if it is only at the ends and you don't have the $ for new fabric how about:
1: shortening slightly and adding a structural ridgeline to help get your angle right. (make your rope 83% of your hammock length.)

2: layering your 1.1 with your 1.9 an making a double layer hammock. bonus being strength and if you use a pad leave a small section open so you can slide your pad inside.

hope this helps.

It sounds like the shortness of the hammock and hanging it tight is the issue here. It probably wont solve your problem to shorten your hammock more but LENGTHENING your suspension to create more sag will take the pressure off.

I'm 5'2" and started off with a 9'.5" ENO then made a 10' hammock that lays better for me than my 3rd 11' hammock I made! I had to make two diff. sizes to find my personal sweet spot.

[Ramblinrev]

these holes are strewn from side to side at both ends and I've got a trip coming up in July and I need to know do I need to replace this before if fails on me or will I be fine? Because we will be on the AT in the Smoky's and I really can't afford for it to fail there.

Without actually seeing the hammock there is no way to tell for sure. But here are some things to look for.

Do the holes run along the line of stitches? If yes.. then you are probably seeing places where the weave is shifting and bunching up. If that be the case... check for any broken threads in the weave. A shifting weave is not a big deal. That happens quite frequently and while you need to keep an eye on it... I would not worry about catastrophic failure from that condition.

Broken threads indicate a more serious problem and I would consider changing the suspension attachment. My straps larkshead around the gathered fabric. That would avoid some of the tension causing the separation.

If on the other hand the holes are away from the stitch lines you have a very different problem. In that case you either have something abrading the fabric or the weave itself is faulty. I would keep a much more active eye on the situation. But still look for broken threads. If the weave is intact then I would expect the hammock to remain usable for some time. But obviously I am in no position to be able to promise any specific level of performance.

[SunshineHiker]

Without actually seeing the hammock there is no way to tell for sure. But here are some things to look for.

Do the holes run along the line of stitches? If yes.. then you are probably seeing places where the weave is shifting and bunching up. If that be the case... check for any broken threads in the weave. A shifting weave is not a big deal. That happens quite frequently and while you need to keep an eye on it... I would not worry about catastrophic failure from that condition.

Broken threads indicate a more serious problem and I would consider changing the suspension attachment. My straps larkshead around the gathered fabric. That would avoid some of the tension causing the separation.

If on the other hand the holes are away from the stitch lines you have a very different problem. In that case you either have something abrading the fabric or the weave itself is faulty. I would keep a much more active eye on the situation. But still look for broken threads. If the weave is intact then I would expect the hammock to remain usable for some time. But obviously I am in no position to be able to promise any specific level of performance.

Based on this info and a careful examination of each hole, I concluded that it is a bunching issue. The holes do run with the threads and the threads have kind of pulled away from each other and there is some puckering in other places To the best of my sight, I could not see any frayed or torn threads. I currently have it whipped by a piece of leftover Amsteel and the whoopie larkshead knot arount the Amsteel. I'm thinking this was a design error on my part and if I just rewhip it into a knob at either end and throw my suspension larkshead over that, it may relieve any undue stress. That plus the suspension issues I was having being solved may at least stop any more damage not a part of normal wear and tear. And I promise Rev, I won't come after you if I end up on my butt anyway.

[gmcttr]

FWIW...the amsteel is normally larks headed directly on the ripstop behind whatever style of whipping is used. I have never had a problem with this, even on 1.0 oz ripstop nylon.

As others have concluded, the hang angle probably was the culprit.

Another late thought. If your whipping and attachment was similar to the following photo, I wonder, if the fabric was pinched up in between the whipping wraps or the larks head and whipping, if it might cause the "thread bunching holes"???

[SunshineHiker]

This is how I had it whipped

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/a...ictureid=14938

And this is what I switched to today

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/a...ictureid=14939

the second way is per Knotty's sticky Gathered End Hammock

Also the holes start about 6-8 inches below the whipping so I don't really think that it is being caused by the whipping.