I'm fairly new around here. Mostly reading and gleaning. Not much experience to share...yet. With that said I humbly come to you Gravity Defying Elders of Suspended Blissful Slumber for wisdom.
I'm a teacher/bus driver/parent/sponsor/substitute coach at school. I make too many trips a year where sleeping on the bus is likely if not mandatory. My 6'2" frame does not fit in a seat very well when seated much less if I am trying to catch a nap before my turn to drive. I can usually wrangle a pair of seats to crash in but it is just an effort in frustration to try to get comfortable. Stringing a hammock across the bus is temping but just not feasible.
Soooo, I started thinking about hammocks and hammock chairs and wonder if I could make a "hammock" that could be strung over the seat cushion portion of the pair seats. This would allow my upper body to be in a more natural sleep position and my legs...well...I'm not too sure about them yet. They may just dangle (which I'm sure would get uncomfortable) or maybe I would make a foot loop. They may just end up on the edge of the seat across the aisle.
Here are the restrictions:
- It cannot hang from the overhead rack (too much weight)
- It cannot extend into the aisle (safety)
- It cannot attach to the side of the bus, window frame, or arms of the seats (weight issue again)
- It cannot extend into another seats space.
What it needs to do:
- Be reasonable flexible in mounting options
- Be easy to transport
- Be easy to set up
- Support 200+ lbs
- Support without touching the seat cushions
Without much sitting in a bus and scheming yet I have come up with this idea.
Make a "bridge" hammock with webbing loops on each end of the bridge. If the bridge is a few inches longer than the distance between the fore and aft seat headrests the bridge would hold the hammock left to right and the webbing would keep the bridge in place.
A second bridge could be fashioned to hold the butt end and connect (webbing) to the arm and/or chair frame so it is not taking too much weight (keep the attachment close to the anchor points). It could be long enough to roll up or out for differing seat widths.
If a foot loop is employed it may attach to the luggage rack since it would not have that much weight on it.
Another option is trying to make a sling chair (see attachment) would fit the majority of typical bus seats--sideways--but it looks like more engineering than is possible for me in the next couple of weeks.
I figure to spend some time on a few buses I have access to and start mocking up something quick. First outing is about two weeks away. Texas to Florida non-stop. One night outbound, two nights on the way back.
Any suggestions or ideas. Anything that can help me cut the experimenting/prototyping down will be helpful.
I hope to make 2-3 (wife and son) but I'm not as worried about them. Now, now, before you start thinking me the cad I may be, my wife is 5 foot nothing and can curl up on a barstool and sleep. My son, like many of the kids, crawl under the seats and sleep on the floor. So see, I'm not THAT heartless. If I can come up with something workable and have the time then I'll take care of them also.
Ready........GO
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