Smaller hammock, or Where did my calf ridge go?

[Catavarie]

Sorry about the M50! We all have to learn the hard way "don't hang higher than you want to fall".

I'm getting ready to start my own DIY Hammock and considering Hammock Gear's Adam called me 'shorty' the other day when I was ordering my TQ, maybe a shorter hammock would be a good idea...(I'm only 5'2")

I would certainly say it is worth a try. My initial test involved me simply folding a larger hammock down to size and then using zip ties to whip it and tossed a pair of whoopie slings on it. Only took me about 5 minutes of fussing to get it hang ready.

Well we never know how far we can go until we get there.
Thanks for taking one for the team, Cat.

My thoughts are that if the M50 had been ripstop, then I likely wouldn't have taken the plunge. But since the M50 I received from thru-hiker is not ripstop there was not reinforcement stitching throughout the material to prevent failure.

I intend to loose more than a few pounds and try the M50 hammock again, but until then I will be putting a Lean Green V3 together with 1.1 before the Smoked Butt Hang next month.

[MedicineMan]

Cat! Excellent thread. I'm just now getting to it.
After going through the whole thread I too am curious about some of those stated rules like 2 feet longer than your height and the 24+27+ one.
Any time numbers get thrown into a thread like this I want to put up into the clouds the symbol that says Professor Hammock Gotham needs you to crunch some numbers for us.
If this thread grows and gets major traction there could come a time when you go to the Warbonnet site and see 3 or 4 sizes of Travlers/Blackbirds/etc.
So how about a pole...most comfort in which length hammock and how tall are you. Might be a start in gathering data points for Grizz.

[Acer]

Catavarie,,I had the M 90 tafetta fail on me same way as your,,,but I have not had the M 90 ripstop fail as of yet...and I only weigh 165. But your right,,if M50 had been ripstop I think you would have not failed as the material is more durable and not as likely to rip like the tafetta will. After the failure,,I found out I could rip the material with my hand (M90 Tafetta width wise as well as length wise with little effort) but trying to rip the M 90 Ripstop was really super tough and almost impossible the way its made. Good luck in your endevours and keep us posted.

[Catavarie]

Mark 3 of the Lean Green Hammock is done and initial tests are positive. In other words I didn't land on my butt. I plan to get pics at least, maybe a video, up this week of it in action.

As to a question that came up awhile ago as to the material of the Mark 1 Lean Green Hammock. I weighed the bare material and came up with a fabric weight of 2.3oz/sqyd ¿parachute? nylon.

Catavarie,,I had the M 90 tafetta fail on me same way as your,,,but I have not had the M 90 ripstop fail as of yet...and I only weigh 165. But your right,,if M50 had been ripstop I think you would have not failed as the material is more durable and not as likely to rip like the tafetta will. After the failure,,I found out I could rip the material with my hand (M90 Tafetta width wise as well as length wise with little effort) but trying to rip the M 90 Ripstop was really super tough and almost impossible the way its made. Good luck in your endevours and keep us posted.

After reading this I pulled out the remnants of the Mark 2 (m50) and gave it a tug test. I was easier than tearing news print. I'm now surprised that it held me for as long as it did.

I considered getting M90 ripstop, but looking at the weight of the material being the same as 1.1 nylon ripstop I couldn't justify paying nearly triple the cost for the fabric.

I may have a line on some 10 denier ripstop fabric. Waiting for it to come in to verify the weight and material for another shot at the ridiculously light weight version.

For those curious about the weights of the different versions:

• Mark 1 2.3oz Nylon = 12.75oz (108" x 54")
• Mark 2 m50 Tafeta = 4.375oz (108" x 56")
• Mark 3 1.1 Ripstop = 5.75oz (108" x 48"

All these weights include two 6 foot 2.2mm Dynaglide whoopie slings and one 1.75mm Lash-It 94.5-88.5 inch ARL.

The close observer will also note that the Mark 3 is the narrowest of the three hammocks produced so far, this is because I made an error and ordered the wrong width of material. So I'm essentially running a non-footbox version of Sgt. Rock's ghost hammock. I plan to give this one a good test to see how well it performs and if I have trouble with chasing my TQ out of the hammock I will be ordering the proper width material this time and beginning production on the Mark 4.

Until I can locate a a source for 10d ripstop I believe that the 1.1 ripstop is going to be the final material I attempt to build a hammock from as the catastrophic failure of the Mark 2 leads me to believe that in order to go with lighter thinner materials ripstop is a necessity.

[Yotey]

I actually emailed warbonnet asking if it would be possible to get a shorter hammock made. No response yet, don't want to be a bother now that it seems their new model is super popular. I am 5'4, and always felt a bit 'lost' in my HH. Will keep an eye on this thread

[DemostiX]

Yotey:

If there is much tailoring and bugnet zippering, then there is much templating; so there must be lots for a WBBB, and varying the length is either a lot of extra work for the maker or it is more skilled work so that errors are not made in the different hammock.

For a jungle hammock -- one with integrated bugnet -- consider, instead, a Clark or a DD, both of which are shorter. Clark is now going to some longer lengths, and there is at least one HF member who is happier with his longer Clark than with his shorter one, so the latter may be available. 66", I sleep outdoors again every night in an 8' Clark.

[Yotey]

Yotey:

If there is much tailoring and bugnet zippering, then there is much templating; so there must be lots for a WBBB, and varying the length is either a lot of extra work for the maker or it is more skilled work so that errors are not made in the different hammock.

For a jungle hammock -- one with integrated bugnet -- consider, instead, a Clark or a DD, both of which are shorter. Clark is now going to some longer lengths, and there is at least one HF member who is happier with his longer Clark than with his shorter one, so the latter may be available. 66", I sleep outdoors again every night in an 8' Clark.

Yeah, I can definitely understand that, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask at the time. XP

I'll look into your suggestions, thanks!

[Downhill Trucker]

Even as a taller person (6'4"), this thread is interesting to me as my most recent hammock was bigger than my last DIY but I wasn't sure if it was any more comfortable. I went from 10'6"x58" to 10'9"x64", and I think I actually prefer the smaller hammock. FWIW These hammocks are channel designs like an ENO with no structural ridge line.

Any one out there have a copy of ED Speers book? I always wanted a copy... It might have some info on the topics discussed above.

Comfort is important, but a smaller hammock allows easier sight selection, smaller tarp or more coverage from existing tarps, all along with saving weight and cost. You guys might be on to something here...

[vampiresmiley]

I am generally a fan of XL hammocks, however, I am intrigued by the success some have found in the sub 10' length. I currently use a 10' SL 1.9 with dynaglide whoopies for backpacking, which is okay, but not as comfortable as my much larger hammocks. I would like to see if I can go even smaller and lighter with an improvement in comfort.

I was looking at the M90 ripstop, but also decided based on cost to go with 1.1 in varying widths to see give it a try. I am intrigued by the .75 ripstop, but based on your results with the M50, I think I'll wait and let someone else put their butt on the line.

Michael

[Darby]

Well, Ed certainly knew hammocks. And Pods, and Snugfits and SPEs! ( That is, Ed and Youngblood! )

When I bought mine, it was actually the longer of his two models and was called the 8.5(ft), vs the 8.0 model. His very last models were called 9 footers. I asked him about this, thinking I might want to get one. But he told me there was no real change in the hammock, but in the way of measuring. Somehow he decided other manufacturer's ways of measuring were dif than his, and that when he measured by their way ( end of knots vs inside knot to inside knot? ), he came out more like 9 ft, and that 9 ft sounded better for sales. So I'm not sure if the hammock is 8.5 or 9 ft long, or exactly how to measure. But, it is obviously my shortest hammock, and is very comfy and at or near the very best as far as being comfortable in the calf area, no pressure points worth mentioning.

Wish Ed was still here. I guess after so many years he burned out on hammocks. I have not seen anything from him since he sold out to TTTG. BTW, wasn't his rule of thumb that you always made your hammock 2 ft longer than your height?

Not trying to hijack this thread,just to clarify:

Ed didn't get burned out, he became very busy as a geologist and couldn't devote the time required to Speer Hammocks, so he asked us to assume production of his products.

Cheers, Dale