First hammock build

[timbo337]

I've been looking at some of the setups on here lately, and thought I'd post mine. It turned out pretty well! I threw it together 2 days ago, and now it's hanging out on my apartment deck right now. I slept in it last night, and it's really comfy when on the diagonal.

I'm using a rather different whipping technique than the usual on this site. I gather the ends, then fold the ends back towards the middle of the hammock about 5 inches. The support rope ties around this nook. I tried the 'traditional' whipping with a shoelace, but it kept slipping after a few minutes, and getting the sides of the hammock to be the right tension was a big trial and error process. I finally gave up on those, and used this technique.

I need a sewing machine to hem the edges, and add a bug net, and sew in a pocket for pad, and make a tarp, stuff sacks, yada yada yada.

Costs so far: $10 for 100ft of poly rope (rated to 300lbs), $2 for 'biners', $3.50 for fabric (walmart $1 bin, I'm pretty sure it's some kind of polyester rip-stop, water resistant until you stretch it a little...) Total: $15.50 My roommates like it too.

[tight-wad]

Looks similar to Youngblood's sheet bend on the end. Different knot, but same concept.

Are you planning on hiking/camping with it? If not, then breaking biners or ropes from an apartment deck won't be too bad. If you are planning on taking it to the backwoods then you might want to reconsider your biners and rope.

BEWARE! I started with a $15.00 investment, got addicted, and you don't even want to know what the tally is now....

[slowhike]

Welcome to HF Timbo. Another Tim from NC here<G>.
Is your rope going through the bend in the hammock fabric, or just going around the doubled fabric?

Be careful when you get in & out until you get the sides hemmed. Those unhemmed sides can sometimes rip from a person's body weight.

[Mule]

Good looking hammock. Be careful also about ripping the trim right off the building. You are on your way to dozens of wonderful hammock creations. Mule

[slowhike]

Good looking hammock. Be careful also about ripping the trim right off the building. You are on your way to dozens of wonderful hammock creations. Mule

Good point Mule. I didn't even notice that.
An occupied hammock puts more stress on it's supports than a person might think. You might want to at least put a ccf pad below the hammock... just in case<G>

[timbo337]

Thanks for the heads-up guys. I drilled those i-hooks into the studs/support beams that sit behind the trim. It's been holding up great the past week. I still don't have access to a sewing machine, I may have to buy one off craigslist. I would really like to make a light shelter for bikepacking (mountain bike touring). My friend who is into kayak touring got me into hammocks (nothing like waking up next to the ocean in hammock...). I think it will be a good solution for an all-in-one lightweight shelter. Long way from that right now though...

See this for an example of mountain bike touring

I have seen guys go with just a bivy and silnylon tarp, + pad (one guy even took a car windshield thermal shade as a sleeping pad!) and sleeping bag. If I could make an integrated tarp/warmhammock (or even either separately, and carry a top quilt) it would lower my sleeping/shelter weight and packing significantly... at least I think.

My planned tour date is June 2009 (after I graduate from college! wooo), so I have some time to prepare

Oh, the tour is actually an unofficial race/time trial -> Great Divide Race

[Mule]

My friend Dave who posts here occasionally put his hooks into studs too and the entire wall was pulled over a few inches. I have double hooks in my garage studs but put them within a foot of the header on each wall. I wish Dave would have gotten pictures of the wall problem. mule

[Youngblood]

My friend Dave who posts here occasionally put his hooks into studs too and the entire wall was pulled over a few inches. I have double hooks in my garage studs but put them within a foot of the header on each wall. I wish Dave would have gotten pictures of the wall problem. mule

I'm glad you posted that, not glad it happened but glad information was shared. I suspect similar things have happened more that folks realize. Often when this subject has been addressed on hammock forums over the years some folks will warn about the possibility of damages when attaching hammocks to structures that aren't capable of handling the high forces hammocks can create. Then a few people will post that they did it and there was no problems and it seems the warnings are then ignored.

Often you don't know until you try and it is crap shoot. You need to consider how painful damages might be. I've heard of door frames pulled out, walls moved, bricks pulled down, etc over the years. Some structures are built pretty flimsy and others are built like the proverbial brick out-house.

Then, there is the luck of just where and how you attached it where mechanical advantages and fulcrums are concerned; as well as body weight, whether you are using a structural ridgeline and if you do, how much extra force are you creating with it. I would imagine if you took a hand full of different hammockers and sent them in a house to hang their hammock from different walls, that you might get as much as a 10 to 1 difference in how the structures were stressed at the key points that would determine whether or not damage was done to walls, etc.

[slowhike]

Very, very true Youngblood. I'm using two 2x4s bolted together w/ 5 carriage bolts & secured at the top & bottom.
The top & bottom don't move, but it still flexes in the middle were the hammock support is.
There's an great amount of force where the hammock hangs... & the less sag, the more force.
If someone isn't sure about how well their idea of hammock attachment is going to work in their house, they would do well to investigate it further.

[mike_ff]

If someone isn't sure about how well their idea of hammock attachment is going to work in their house, they would do well to investigate it further.

Everyone worries to much just hang those hammocks up if the wall and you stay up its all good.

Of course I am NOT serious. When you come up with a method for hanging the hammock STOP and THINK about it. Then if you have any doubts you probably shouldn't do it. I don't know how many calls I have responded to where someone had done something that made no sense at all and gotten hurt as a result. Then I ask them what did you think would happen? you guessed it their answer is always I didn't really think about it. Well not thinking got them an expensive trip to the Emergency Room, and another big sore spot on there now deflated ego. Well its not all bad I guess people like that give me job security

Mike