Putting a bean bag hammock in a bedroom

[hammock12345]

Hi everyone,

I stumbled upon a bean bag hammock a few days ago and it really looked awesome. It's basically a square cloth connected to 4 ropes or whatever you'd wanna use. I'm really new to hammocks and I don't know much about the physics or what kind of material i would need to use. I was hoping to get some insight on inexpensive material to make the hammock and how to connect the rope to the material so that it could support at least 400 pounds. I'd like it to support more than that if that's even possible but I don't know how much that would affect the ceiling. I have really strong rope that can hold 800 pounds so I'll probably use that but if you know of a cheap and good looking kind for a roomthat would be awesome too. I'd also like to somehow make it so I can lower and raise 2 ropes to angle the hammock forward to watch tv. I was thinking of using really good carabeaners too so I could have an open room if I needed it.

[Algonquin_bound]

I'm not a hammock expert by any means, but I'm somewhat familiar with them, at least as used in backpacking/camping applications, which is how I use mine.

I don't know what a bean bag hammock is. Maybe you could post a link or describe what you have....

Also just FYI, your hammock when hanging, will have to be attached to the walls, not the ceiling. You might want to look at your rope too.... 800 lbs sounds like alot, but the stress on that rope could be less or more than the weight actuallyin the hammock depending on the angle of your suspension. I think the 'safe' load for suspension is 5x the actual weight limit of the pressure on the line. (I stand to be corrected, but think that is right....)

That being said I would feel comfortable with something less than 5x the stress applied, but everyone has their own comfort level. I currently use 7/64" amsteel blue as my suspension, which is rated at 1600 lbs. It's cheap, (less than 25 cents per foot....), it's light, and holds more weight than I'll ever need it to.

Welcome to the forums, (and hammock bliss...)!

There's alot to learn just starting out, but it's pretty simple. Now nearing the end of my first hammock season, (i'm hoping for atleast one more trip out....), I've learned a lot since before my hanging days. None of it complicated, but it's nice to have a great resource like the forums here!

Cheers!

[Osulagh]

I've seen these before long ago, and just going off memory, here's my thoughts:

For material, I don't know. You'll need material that's able to hold weight and sew a flat bottom portion to support everything. The top would need excess material to support loft as the bean-bag material would fill that. Whatever that material is. If you're only making this for indoors, then ripstop might not be the best choice, though a double/triple layer 1.9oz would be more than enough to support the bottom.

Make sure to get climbing rated carabiners. Dunno about the rope. Amsteel would probably work well.

Ceiling beams are typically pretty strong, so as long as you get a good hook into them you'll probably won't have a problem.

For everything else, unless a expert would waltz in here, the "do it yourself" portion of DIY will probably be your best friend. Experiment, test, repeat.

Best of luck!

[Ramblinrev]

Ceiling beams are typically pretty strong, so as long as you get a good hook into them you'll probably won't have a problem.

Ceiling beams can be very deceptive. Make certain sure they are solid and not just boxes but up for decoration. I've seen some "beams" which on closer examination have been simple combinations of 1" lumber never intended to hold weight. Especially if the beams have been painted you want to make sure they have not been pieced. If the beams have been covered by plaster or plaster board they are most likely not pieced, but you may want to take the age of the building into consideration. After the 50's or so, the used of milled lumber for joists became more common. That means a "2X4" is actually only 1.5" thick. I personally do not recommend attaching hammocks to architectural pieces unless you know exactly what you are dealing with. Plenty of people disagree and that's fine.

[hammock12345]

this is what I was thinking about making. My Grammy warned me just today about back problems that can develop due to the hammock being hung wrong. I was curious if anyone had any insight to the degree that the hammock needed to be at for the best back support because I'll be sleeping in it everyday.

[SilvrSurfr]

I wouldn't call that a hammock; rather a suspended beanbag. You're probably going to be on your own figuring out the best angle to hang it, because it's not a hammock.

The general consensus for camping hammocks is 30 degrees off horizontal, but for that beanbag you'd need a mighty big room to get a 30 degree angle.

Plenty of folks here sleep in a hammock every night. Most of us consult the hammock hang calculator to figure out angles.

http://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator/

Again, probably doesn't apply to this thing because it's not a hammock. I also question whether 800 lb. rope is sufficient for the forces at hand.

[hammock12345]

would it be possible to make a sort of frame around the material and use the ropes to go straight up? Maybe like a square box and then put the bean bag on top of that. I don't know what would be best but I'd like to hear everyone's ideas because there's a lot of ways of doing things

[gnarus8429]

Cost wise and I think comfort wise any decent hammock here would beat that out every time. Check out some of the full time sleeping rigs here before you buy one of these. For the $400 price tag on one of those you could do a decent hammock $75, an under quilt $100, and mounting hardware $50. Maybe another $50 for a stand if you don't want to mount it to the wall. Very cheap for a great bed. If your just looking for the cool factor though the bean bag hammock looks pretty neat.

[SilvrSurfr]

would it be possible to make a sort of frame around the material and use the ropes to go straight up? Maybe like a square box and then put the bean bag on top of that. I don't know what would be best but I'd like to hear everyone's ideas because there's a lot of ways of doing things

Sounds like you're describing a bed - only instead of standing on the floor it's suspended from the ceiling.

[gnar]

I think it looks sweet