Ever since I bought my first yard of Cuben Fiber I have thought about trying it for a Hammock. Since it now looks like half or more of my AT Hike this year will be during the warm season and maybe also the rainy season I have decided to find a SUL way to move into a Hammock.
In the past it seemed to me that sleeping in a SUL Bivy and using a light sleeping pad of some kind along with a Poncho / Tarp over head was the lightest way to go. I have several light Hammocks made out of silk but they are still in the 12 to 14 ounce range and they still need a tarp of some kind for rainy nights. Using Cuben Fiber for both the Hammock and the Tarp I should be able to get real close to the ground set-up weight. I am hoping to use the Hammock without a sleeping pad so that will save me 5 to 10 ounces. If I do have to use a pad it will still be smaller for the Hammock than if I was on the ground.
I don't know where the fine line will fall when it comes to total weight between the lightest ground vs lightest hammock set-up but I expect I will find out.
This is Cuben Fiber Hammock ver. 1.0. The Cuben Fiber I am using is just a little heavier than what I like. It weighs about 0.47 ounce per sq Yard. The Cuben Fiber for the Hammock body weighs a total of 2.36 ounces. The fiber density of this material is very high so it should be more than strong enough. Time will answer that question. The Cuben Fiber Hammock is 50.5" wide by 126" long.
The Black webbing is the kind Ed Speer Hammocks uses on his line of Hammocks and he will sell the webbing to anyone that wants to make their own Hammock. The small aluminum fittings are some I made to connect the short piece of the black webbing to the Hammock and to connect the white cord. The black webbing and small aluminum fittings weigh 0.85 ounces for the pair. The white cord is a 3/32" Spectra core low stretch something from West Marine and will go from the aluminum fitting to the tree. I will use tree huggers and the white cord will attach to the tree huggers.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery....php?i=601&c=4
I am going to try and take a timed picture with me in the Hammock after I have used it awhile. I don't want to run and jump into this one till I have a few hours laying in it.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery....php?i=602&c=4
The knot holds the Hammock in the webbing.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery....php?i=603&c=4
Weight to date:
Cuben Fiber for the hammock body - 2.36 ounces
The two pieces of black webbing and two small aluminum fittings - 0.85 ounces
The white cord from the black webbing to the tree - 16 foot at 0.05 ounces per foot = 0.85 ounces
Tree Huggers - Speer Webbing - 2.89 ounces a pair
Total Weight Hanging for ver 1.0 = 6.95 ounces
I will try and nap in this hammock for a while everyday to test its durability.
Bookmarks