Internally Accessible Gear Bag (HH only)

**elcolombianito** · 05-31-2009, 22:38

Originally Posted by Knotty

Let us know when you make one...

Ill also be waiting for that!

CR0M, I've hung my gear hammock in this way when possible (i mean, hanging under the entry slit, so i can access the gear thru the slit's opening while being inside the hammock), but I had not thought about this way of adapting it to the entry slit, i really like it. Congrats...

PD. Still loving the "sketch"

**gunn parker** · 06-01-2009, 04:48

Looks good to me. I am able to open the slit with my hands while sitting upright.
What did you use to create the drawing? love it.
Gunn

**CR0M** · 06-01-2009, 06:00

Thanks guys, hope somebody gains something from it.

Ramblinrev - For me, it's impossible to open the entry with my feet, I guess the hammock is still too new, so I have to open it by hand - even then it's tough trying to pry the velcro open with my fingers. Having tabs would make things so much easier. Maybe instead of tabs, foot loops could be used for the mobility restricted..? will have to think on that one.

Lori - The gear bag is just a pack cover, and would be waterproof anyway. So a privy is one option, yes

Just remember to take your kit out first...

Pan - True, the initial concept is inspired by the JRB, but you have to open the hammock to the mossies and midges to access the bag. Also I don't like putting load on the foot tie-out as it pulls the hammock out of shape. Slinging underneath and anchoring to the head tree would take the main load off the hammock.

Gunn - I am a designer / illustrator and use various software, for this I used a version of Fireworks - quick and easy

**T-BACK** · 06-01-2009, 06:09

"Blowing a Hoolie", I love it. I hiked part of the AT with a great friend who spoke the Queen's English. I tried to learn and then mimic (it was a sad attempt) some of the awesome sayings that never transfered across the pond. I will certainly place this one in my repertoire. Back on topic...What a great idea with the Velcro. I use my HH sometimes while canoeing It is too heavy IMO for carrying on my back but works well as part of a bug free zone in the swamps where I do most of my paddling. I have changed mine to a top entry because the Velcro hurts my legs as I pass by it. I have never gotten around to sewing the slit closed. Now I will not. I picture making a smaller bag (maybe a sylnylon pack liner or large stuff sack) with a pull string attached to the bottom. That way I could open the Velcro and pull the string to invert the bag. Once I find what I'm looking for, I would just push everything else back into the bag. Tons of storage without taking up room inside. Brilliant! Bloody good show! (See what I mean

)

Lori,
While your suggestion would make for a more multi-use piece of gear, I think I'll stick to my pee bottle and cat holes. I know a female hiker who double bags and then carries her...never mind, I digress.

**headchange4u** · 06-01-2009, 08:40

I like the design and love the illustration. I hope you build a test model.

**CR0M** · 06-02-2009, 07:28

Bought a Haglofs pack cover and a couple of metres of velcro today, also salvaged an old webbing strap from a belt for the tabs. Nothing else but paracord needed

Will start sewing tonight.

**sclittlefield** · 06-04-2009, 21:34

Absolutely brilliant CROM. And I know who to employ next time I need a graphic done for some new gear mock ups... That was really well put together.

**CR0M** · 06-24-2009, 18:14

Today saw the first trial of the gear bag prototype after completing stitching yesterday. Had to stitch it all by hand as the machine isn't working properly

Anyhoo. First impressions are good... sorry for page bigness

^ The pack cover I used is a Hagloffs, medium sized, and it came in a nice muted colour instead of the orange that seems to dominate the market for these things. I stripped out the bungee cord around the edge and threaded paracord in to add strength and rigidity - no need for a drawcord here, so tied the ends off for use as the 'head' anchor point. At the 'foot', 2 strap loops were already in place so stuck a mini carabiner through both and made that the anchor at the other end. This needs tweaking.*

Sewed alternate velcro strips along the length of both sides, checking and re-checking that the hooks / fluff were opposing the hammock velcro (i'm not ocd or anything but sewing on the wrong strips would've just been my luck if I hadn't repeatedly made sure). Added the 2 webbing pull tabs at the same time.

For this test I loaded the bag with the hammock tarp and my boots, which are pretty heavy Salomon hide/plastic hybrids.

^ Attaching the bag to the hammock velcro was a bit fiddly to start with and required knees on ground, but once it was stuck along one side I didn't have to mess with it again. Surprisingly the velcro took the load quite well on it's own, but on trying to enter the hammock it did try to pull free due to sideways stresses. I anchored the head to the prussic tarp clip with a piece of shock cord; this is necessary to allow the bag to sag with the hammock as ballast is added, namely me.
The foot anchor was just a length of paracord pegged to the ground under the hammock head - the idea of attaching to the tree as in the original diagram doesn't work with the paracord, as it causes a 'butt tightrope' effect.**

^ Once the bag was secured I took a deep breath and entered the hammock with it on my left. Getting in was as no trouble, the bag caused very little obstruction, if any.
Once in, I had to close sections of the velcro by hand as it didn't snap shut as well as it did without the bag. Also noticed there were small gaps in the velcro that let daylight in at both ends of the bag where the thickness of the material prevented the entry from closing fully - an issue caused by the current anchor positions. Closing with fingers remedied the leaks quickly and easily.***

^ Accessing the bag is easy enough, but with the weight of me in the hammock, holding the bag open requires some brute force. I found that a gap of around 6 inches is about as wide as I could open the bag by pulling on the tabs alone, but that is enough to see what is in there, and once I got a hand in between the velcro, it was easy to rummage around inside. To exit the hammock (on the left), as I haven't sewn tabs to the entry, I had to use fingers to pull the side open while pulling both bag tabs to the right, this wasn't as much of a problem as I thought it would be, but in the dark I would want something to grab so tabs will be added later.

In all I am quite pleased that I have a bag I can access without having to open the hammock now, after my last trip to rainy Dartmoor the benefit of being able to grab extra clothes or store a bulky fleece jacket out of the way while remaining bug-free, dry, snug and cozy will be a tremendous boon.

Success!

However. In retrospect:

* Load bearing needs to be amended. At the moment, the anchor points are at the top of the bag at each end, which are in the way of the velcro and prevent the entry closing properly (***). These I will move down to below the velcro line, which should solve the problem.

** In addition to this, to prevent butt floss syndrome, I plan to sew a short but 2 inch wide webbing strap to the foot end which will 'sling' comfortably under the nether regions, and then attach a shock cord tensioned length of cord (similar to tarp tensioner) which will anchor to the head tree as per original diagram. Having stretch at both ends of the bag should ease any stress on the velcro.

Final afterthoughts:

The idea of sewing one side of the bag directly to the entry slit and keeping it as a permanent fixture has crossed my mind. Also using 2 (or even 3) small bags inline instead of 1 large one is also a possibility...

Tired now. Off to a bed that doesn't sway.