Hammock for Tall/Big Folks

**regultr** · 05-19-2009, 06:38

Okay hammockers........help me find a hammock.

I am 6'6" and 275 pounds. From my experience, my height and weight both have played a significant role in being unable to find one that works. A couple years as I purchased a handful of hammocks to try them out and none of them worked. Those included were a Hennessey, Jungle Hammock, Mosquito Hammock, and a Travel Hammock. The Travel Hammock was the longest, but was also a big piece of junk (IMO) and stretched entirely too much. I liked the simplicity of the Hennessey, but hated the bottom entry. I did not try a Speer or Clark (Speer because at that point I felt like it wasn't going to work after the others failed and Clark because of the weight). The Blackbird is nice, but again, I'm too big. JRB Bridge is very comfortable, but it isn't long enough and I get quite a bit of shoulder pinch.

With that said, could someone give me a recommendation about what might fit someone my size. It will probably need to be 10' or bigger.

Thanks.

**HitchHiking** · 05-19-2009, 06:48

Would Brandon do a custom to length bb if possible?

**TinaLouise** · 05-19-2009, 07:01

clark makes a 200model that longer and wider than the regular model

**Ramblinrev** · 05-19-2009, 07:10

buy three yards of polyester pants fabric as cheap as you can find it. It can be completely and totally ugly on some remainder rack somewhere. You want it at least 60" wide. That stuff should be reasonably easy to find. Stabalize the cut ends with either a serger or rolled hem (if you sew) or a flame sear if you don't sew.

Set up a real quick/simple suspension system so it is fast and easy to mess with. Then just plain and simple play. Grab the end of the fabric length and squeeze it together with your hand. Do a z-fold and strap it down with a couple of quick release straps. The straps for an old pair of bicycle toe clips is what comes to mind. Crank it down tight. Attach your suspension to the hammock and hang it with reasonable sag so the suspension lines are at about 35* angle. Climb in... make notes.... Adjust the length of the bed resetting you z-fold to a new distance apart. Repeat...until you find the length you like. Get the measurements.

Two reasons to start with heavy pants polyester. 1) Sense of security. You _might_ be able to get comforable in a 1.1 ripstop nylon hammock at your size and weight, but i wouldn't be comfortable messing with it. 2) It won't stretch. You are going to want a good non-stretch fabric at your size. After you get the basic sizes you can invest in some good lighterweight taffetta and make your permanent design. But for now, cheap, fast down and dirty are the keys to the kind of exploring you will need to do.

BTW you don't _HAVE_ to stablize te cut einds of the fabric but with the amount of handling this is likely to get while you experiment, I would be more comfortable with something I did not have to worry about fraying.

**T-BACK** · 05-19-2009, 07:12

Regultr,

I'm 6'4" and 270lbs and I feel your pain. I usually make my own hammocks now but I used a HH asym when I first started to hang and was pretty comfortable in it. I too did not like the bottom entry or having to stake out the sides. I cut the netting off so that it had top entry and set it up to use a tent pole to hold the sides open. I would be happy to send it to you to try if you would like. It has no netting currently but a piece draped over the ridgeline works in all but the worst bugs. It would at least give you an idea of the comfort. The reason I now make my own is to save weight. Most of the "plus size" commercial hammocks are mongo heavy IMO.

**plowhorse** · 05-21-2009, 21:51

ramblinrev and t-back are right. the best thing to do is make your own. i'm not 6'6", but i am 6'1", and i weigh 350lbs. There are a lot of hammocks out there that won't carry that much weight. so I took rev's advice back in jan, and found some medium weight polyester, knotted the ends, and used some ratchet strap webbing for suspension. Total, it cost me about 50 bucks( went extra long on the fabric, 4 1/2 yards). I am planning on upgrading to a blackbird eventually, but even then I will probably have to have it made out of heavier fabric.

**HikerRanky** · 05-22-2009, 22:24

I am 6'6" and have a standard Warbonnet BlackBird in double 1.7. When I purchased it from Brandon, I weighed in at 270 lbs.... Get the adjustable webbing suspension, and you won't regret it.

I just put up a YouTube video of my setup.... I'm not in it, but it will give you an idea of my kit.

Hope this helps...

Randy

**opie** · 05-23-2009, 21:49

6'3 pushing 275 here. The ENO double is plenty large enough for me and both my 6 and 3 year old.

Im contemplating getting a single cause the double is so big.

**regultr** · 05-26-2009, 11:55

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their comments and direction. I ended up ordering an ENO Doublenest just to try out. It is due here on Friday. After ordering it, staying awake at night and pondering the Blackbird, and reading HikerRanky's comments, I decided to put in an order for the Blackbird. Brandon said I should see it in about three weeks, so I'm pretty excited.