Hammock Shapes -- Assymetrical?

[GW Sears]

I have been daydreaming about how one could affect the finished shape of gathered end hammocks by the shape of the end hems.

As I understand it, the body of a symmetrical hammock is a rectangle, while an asysmetrical hammock has a parallelogram for a body. In both case the sides are of equal length and the ends are of equal length, with all edges straight.

Has anyone ever tried shaping a hammock by cutting the ends in a curve to flatten out the hammock's cross section? This might gain some of the advantages of a wider hammock without the additional width (and weight).

[gmcttr]

It's been tried many times. If you are thinking of concave curves to draw up the center (or lower the sides), a minor amount may or may not work as you are thinking, but a deep curve lengthens the sides too much and they tend to fall away under you leaving you with the laying on a rope feel.

You can quickly try any end configuration by whipping the ends and pulling the fabric in the center or edges to have the same effect as cutting curves.

[GW Sears]

I wasn't thinking in terms of an arc, so much as in an ellipsoidal curve, to flatten out the center area, without changing the edges much. This would provide a little more room for the shoulders.

[MAD777]

I've tried several curved end hammocks and have settled on a 3" cat curve, only at the foot end, making the hammock longer along the centerline than at the edges. I find this helps a bit with the dreaded calf ridge.

All my other trials were too radical and were uncomfortable.

[amk27]

Why would anyone have desired a curved one? To save weight? If so, the saving will be marginal, just compare the square areas of the two; even if the asymmetrical one would have been 40% less, it is gonna be 100 - 150 gr only in mass, add here new guy ropes and stakes.

If you looking to gain more comfort, then the size matters. I have not believed in the saying until I tried a 3 m long one, it really made the difference. And the mode of gathering matters greatly, try folding it to form an accordion shape with different amount of folds before gathering, mine has 8 folds, no calf or whatever else ridges.

[gmcttr]

I wasn't thinking in terms of an arc, so much as in an ellipsoidal curve, to flatten out the center area, without changing the edges much. This would provide a little more room for the shoulders.

Any shortening of the center makes the sides longer than the center and progressively allows them to fall away.

Again, you can simulate any end shape while whipping the ends and try out many shapes without having to use more and more fabric.

[sargevining]

Why would anyone have desired a curved one? To save weight? If so, the saving will be marginal, just compare the square areas of the two; even if the asymmetrical one would have been 40% less, it is gonna be 100 - 150 gr only in mass, add here new guy ropes and stakes.

If you looking to gain more comfort, then the size matters. I have not believed in the saying until I tried a 3 m long one, it really made the difference. And the mode of gathering matters greatly, try folding it to form an accordion shape with different amount of folds before gathering, mine has 8 folds, no calf or whatever else ridges.

This has been my experience. Long and wide makes the difference. When I went to a 12 foot long x 64" wide channel end rectangular hammock with a 10 foot ridgeline, the "calf ridge" didn't disappear, it just became irrelevant as there is plenty of room for me to lay my legs beside it. Using 1.1 ripstop also made the increase in weight irrelevant as well, at least to me, as the comfort matters more and I can save those ounces somewhere else.

[hutzelbein]

I have done extensive testing with shapes cut in the ends. I tried different curves, w-shapes and whatever I could imagine. A lesson I quickly learned is that very small changes in length had a huge impact. After making over 20 test hammocks, I decided for the time being that none of the shapes increased the comfort enough. I usually had a ridge where the hammock fabric was shortest (lowest point on the curve), which didn't feel great. Comfort-wise, I had more success with using different fabrics and whipping styles. But that doesn't mean that experimenting is hopeless. Maybe you find a shape that works great. If you do, please post it

[GW Sears]

Why would anyone have desired a curved one? To save weight? If so, the saving will be marginal, just compare the square areas of the two; even if the asymmetrical one would have been 40% less, it is gonna be 100 - 150 gr only in mass, add here new guy ropes and stakes.

If you looking to gain more comfort, then the size matters. I have not believed in the saying until I tried a 3 m long one, it really made the difference. And the mode of gathering matters greatly, try folding it to form an accordion shape with different amount of folds before gathering, mine has 8 folds, no calf or whatever else ridges.

The idea is not to curve the hammock, but to change the cross-sectional curve. I have extremely broad shoulders that have suffered numerous injuries, so anything that puts more pressure on the shoulders than on my back becomes downright painful by the end of the night. As a result, finding the sweet spot takes a lot of thrashing around every time that I get in. I think that perhaps flattening the middle portion of the cross-sectional curve might gain me something. My first thought is to use a wide piece of material, and to apply a curve to only the central section, leaving 6"-8" on each side untouched.

I like the idea of making tests by positioning the fabric when you whip it. Once I found the curve I liked, I could mark it with allowance for a hem and then make a permanent whipping. I don't mind the fall -- it's that sudden stop at the bottom that annoys me.

[XTrekker]

I've tried several curved end hammocks and have settled on a 3" cat curve, only at the foot end, making the hammock longer along the centerline than at the edges. I find this helps a bit with the dreaded calf ridge.

All my other trials were too radical and were uncomfortable.

+1 to this. I have made quite a few hammocks with different variations of this and have settled on almost the exact same method as Mad777. Its good to see that someone else reached the same conclusion based on trial an error.