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  1. #1
    Senior Member Graybeard's Avatar
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    Velcro or Zipper???

    Just finished sewing up a Speer kit and giving it the first series of test flights. No unhappy landings. I do find, however, that sealing up the velcro closure of the bugnet is a bit tedious in daylight and I can imagine it being frustrating in the dark. By dumb luck I happen to have three 8-ft. long YKK separating zippers that we bought forty years ago from REI. (That's when REI was still a bunch of climbers having trouble finding sources for climbing hardware.) So I'm toying with the idea of replacing the velcro on one side of the hammock and bugnet with a single 8-ft. long zipper.

    My question is: Will I discover a down side to the zipper that is just as big a nuisance as the velcro??? I don't need a remedy worse than the ailment!

    What say you who have experience with both?
    bob

  2. #2
    Senior Member GrizzlyAdams's Avatar
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    if you have one pull tab, placement is critical. When the zipper is closed you want the tab up by your head so that it is easy to reach. Having it down by your feet makes it a real pain to sit up, lean way over, and find that tab.

    That's the only one I think of off-hand.

    Grizz

  3. #3
    Senior Member Mule's Avatar
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    Suggestion: Don't "replace" the velcro, but rather just install a zipper right next to it so that the whole thing is completely removable. That's what I did to my Bear Mountain Bridge. Mule
    Predictions are risky, especially when it comes to the future.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Graybeard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by skskinner View Post
    Suggestion: Don't "replace" the velcro, but rather just install a zipper right next to it so that the whole thing is completely removable. That's what I did to my Bear Mountain Bridge. Mule
    Excellent thought, with further benefits that you didn't mention. Since the black velcro is currently sewn on with black thread and would be a bear to remove, I was thinking of just cutting it off, which is obviously a one-way modification. If I play this right I can add the zipper with a contrasting thread, try it out, and if I don't like it I can remove it and still have the velcro intact.
    bob

  5. #5
    Senior Member headchange4u's Avatar
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    Zippers are really great...unless they screw up while on the trail. Velcro can be a pain to get lined up and closed and is really noisy, but it is lighter than a zipper and there's like a 0% that it can screw up on you.

    I was a big proponent of zippers until the one on my HH clone messed up recently. Got me thinking Velcro has it's merits...
    “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



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  6. #6
    Senior Member Graybeard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by headchange4u View Post
    Zippers are really great...unless they screw up while on the trail......
    Indeed---reminds me of the adage "All merits are relative, even though not all relatives have merit."
    bob

  7. #7
    Senior Member TDunc's Avatar
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    I first did velcro (had rolls of it in the shop)... went and bought double pull zippers for the next ones and have been very happy since...
    IMHO = Zippers are zippy!
    ------- AKA "4D's" ----------------
    "Oh yeah, to keep it on topic. I sewed on my hammock today"

    "A night above ground makes the next days ride even more enjoyable"

    "As for his secret to staying married: "My wife tells me that if I ever decide to leave, she is coming with me." -- Jon BonJovi

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  8. #8
    Senior Member Hector's Avatar
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    > Will I discover a down side to the zipper that is just as big a nuisance as the velcro???

    Hee hee -- that's why I use a Hennessey during bug season. I avoid both!

  9. #9
    Senior Member Graybeard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hector View Post
    > Will I discover a down side to the zipper that is just as big a nuisance as the velcro???

    Hee hee -- that's why I use a Hennessey during bug season. I avoid both!
    Hmmmmm. Seems to me I remember something about a bird in the hand.
    bob

  10. #10
    Senior Member neo's Avatar
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    i hate velcro and omni tape periodneo
    the matrix has you

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