I just finished two identical hammocks, one with a zipper and one with velcro.
I like the zipper better. Hook on the velcro catches the bug netting sometimes and can be a pain.
My wife likes the velcro one better.... tomato - tomatoe , potato - potatoe
Adding the two zippers on mine doubled the cost of my hammock.... now the thing has cost me about $25.00. Darn!
I just completed a Desert Camo HH Clone that has velcro on one side and a zipper on the other side. When the netting or cover is attached I'll probably use the bottom entry most of the time but I could use the zipper side pretty easy too. The velcro is there just to hold the other side together. I might have used a zipper all around but I didn't want to buy more zippers when I could steal them off a couple WalMart fleece bags I had.
The zipper is much easier to use.
Stoikurt
"Work to Live...Don't Live to Work!"
A couple of weeks ago my wife and I went camping in Florida and I hung my hammock in the campground. I removed the netting top and went topless for the duration of our trip .
I noticed while breaking down camp that the zippers of my hammock were full of sand stuck between the teeth. Now if I had not noticed this and tried to zip the bug netting back on the hammock I would have probably run into a big problem and possibly catastrophic zipper failure. That would suck if it happened on the trail. A simple shake of the hammock removed all the sand, but if I had not noticed it it could have been bad. The zippers I used, taken from $10 Target sleeping bags, were listed on the package as "self-healing" but debris in the zipper teeth is something that I will pay a lot more attention to in the future.
“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." -Terry Pratchett
that's a good point about using zippers in sandy places.
i guess it would be a good idea to give the zippers a few good wacks w/ something (tarp stake?) to knock out the sand.
I too will something make and joy in it's making
I'm sure velcro will still stick together good, but it can pick up a whole lot more sand and debris than a zipper can.
Stoikurt
"Work to Live...Don't Live to Work!"
Thanks for the imput everyone. I have finished two since I originally posted my question. I have put zippers on both of them and they work great. The one before those two I used velcro on and yes there is a problem with bunching, but it still works fine.
A tip for finding zippers cheap is to try a local upholstery shop. The one here has been cutting and selling me 8 foot lengths of zipper with a double pull closure for under 6 dollars. Number 5 zipper is the size. Daughter and I went for a river hike wed with an overnite and I took my latest built hammock. Have posted a few pics in the gallery. Not sure if it will work but will post a pic of the hammock and a close up of the slip knot that I use to tension the hammock. Wondering if anyone else has tried that method and has a horror story to share as to why they abandoned using it.
Amazing what you can do
When you don't know how.
Green Therapy
mabe this time? As a further point of interest to this method, I weigh 205 and have given it the "bounce" test as well as having marked the rope the slider was on and have not seen it slip yet.
Another good source for zippers I have found to be any local upholstery shop. The one here cuts them to length ( 8 feet ) for me and the cost is six dollars with the pull.
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