Gathered End or Channel ?

[jima59]

I'm going to do the channel and gather it with the idea I have the option to change it later. I also have looked at knottys postings and pictures and they are being a great help. They are convincing me to go ahead with this project and have fun. Thanks for all the help.

jim

[WV]

A channel is a channel,once made there isnt a real chance of changing the lay of the hammock.

A gathered end can be adjusted back and forth and tweaked to how you like it.

I made a channel, then whipped below to gather it. I didn't like the floppy edge of the hammock, so I took it apart and folded down one corner of the end, putting an angle in the channel. Then I restrung the channel and re-whipped/re-gathered. It worked great. Since then I have used this to improve a hammock with a footbox and bungee cord in the sides. I like Demostix's idea of multiple curves on a test hammock for experimentation, but I'm pretty sure you'd need to whip and gather after running the channel to make it strong enough. I'd like someone to suggest the ideal curve for an end channel to give good tension to the edge and the right degree of support under your head. I can do that with my earlier adjustable hammocks that have the end replaced with multiple strings (every 3" along the end, with tiny whoopie slings for adjustment) but they are somewhat laborious to make.

[Syb]

Syb, how many lines of stitching do you use on your channels? And do you double over the fabric, or what? Inquiring minds want to know.

I sew a 1/4" rolled hem on the each of the short ends of the hammock. I repeat the process on the long edge (sides) and then go back and don another rolled hem, just shy of 1/2" to create the channel. This has held up well for me. In a sense, yes the fabric is doubled but I'm not sure it matters much because the ball created by the gathering of the fabric creates the "stop" to which your suspension is attached. Does that makes sense? Hmm... would pics help MAD?

[Syb]

I made a channel, then whipped below to gather it. I didn't like the floppy edge of the hammock, so I took it apart and folded down one corner of the end, putting an angle in the channel. Then I restrung the channel and re-whipped/re-gathered. It worked great. Since then I have used this to improve a hammock with a footbox and bungee cord in the sides.

WV, this is giving me some great ideas. How far down did you fold the corner? Did it create too much tension on the long edge? Did your footbox hammock have a bugnet sewn in? Curiouser minds want to know.

I have 3 hammocks in production right now (doing my best to let my ADD get the best of me) and I want to experiment with your ideas.

[hppyfngy]

Hey Syb,

Q: Will two people with ADD get more or less done than one person with ADD?
A: LET'S RIDE BIKES!

(Apologies to anyone suffering with ADD. I've learned to appreciate mine.)

[WV]

WV, this is giving me some great ideas. How far down did you fold the corner? Did it create too much tension on the long edge? Did your footbox hammock have a bugnet sewn in? Curiouser minds want to know.

I have 3 hammocks in production right now (doing my best to let my ADD get the best of me) and I want to experiment with your ideas.

Folded the corner down about 3 or 4 inches, I think - maybe less. The triangle might have been 3" - 6" - 6.7" (the fold on the hypotenuse). It does make the edge tight, but not excessively so. I found myself wishing I had a little more tension just inside the edge, so try using 3" - 12" - 12.35" (maybe ... I think ...). Without a footbox, you could do the same thing at the other end ... possibly ... if you feel like it ... etc.

On one hammock there wasn't enough edge tension, so I undid it and folded it again. Gets tough to find the channel after a while when you do that. You're better off guessing right the first time.

Bugnets were sewn along one edge (right side, foot side) and draped over a bungee ridgeline. The left side was sewn only down to the shoulder tie-out point. The rest draped over the side of the hammock with a flashlight pocket to weigh it down. Make the pocket narrow and deep or you'll spray flashlights around when you flip the netting back to sit in the hammock.

I used a structural ridgeline above the bugnet so it would be available to tie prussicked UQ support lines to. I'm learning a lot about underquilts recently, simultaneously getting better at them and liking them less and less.

No pics - it must not have happened. Maybe I dreamed the whole thing. Actually I slept in one of these hammocks pretty comfortably a couple of nights ago, dreaming by then of the next one. Good luck.

[MAD777]

I sew a 1/4" rolled hem on the each of the short ends of the hammock. I repeat the process on the long edge (sides) and then go back and don another rolled hem, just shy of 1/2" to create the channel. This has held up well for me. In a sense, yes the fabric is doubled but I'm not sure it matters much because the ball created by the gathering of the fabric creates the "stop" to which your suspension is attached. Does that makes sense? Hmm... would pics help MAD?

Excellent, Syb! Thanks

[MAD777]

Hey Syb,

Q: Will two people with ADD get more or less done than one person with ADD?
A: LET'S RIDE BIKES!

(Apologies to anyone suffering with ADD. I've learned to appreciate mine.)

This is PERFECT for my wife!!

[DemostiX]

<snip> I like Demostix's idea of multiple curves on a test hammock for experimentation, but I'm pretty sure you'd need to whip and gather after running the channel to make it strong enough. I'd like someone to suggest the ideal curve for an end channel to give good tension to the edge and the right degree of support under your head. I can do that with my earlier adjustable hammocks that have the end replaced with multiple strings (every 3" along the end, with tiny whoopie slings for adjustment) but they are somewhat laborious to make.

Several interesting things here.

First, we can be very wrong about materials. If nylon, channels, and contemporary polyester thread were not strong enough, we would not see commercial vendors making hammocks with them. There is no reason to expect intuition about which are strong and strong to what. For example, I couldn't believe that so much rope was being carried on rope until I read about sailing usage, and further that Dyneema (tm) and similar can have no better chafe guard than more of the same, it is that chafe resistant.

Second, I'll bet there is no predictability on the way the nylon fabric find will behave under the kind of load we apply, and our loads in particular. We don't know what we have, beyond one or two parameters. You need only to look at stretch vs % load curves for rope of different materials to see that. This accounts for such variation in experience, for example of discomfort with the edge. The more reason, I think, and a very strong reason to be able to adjust what you've made to your needs.

Third, I would much appreciate learning more what you've learned from your multiple whoopie strings along the edge that allow you to shape the effective arc of the end channel and tune your bed.

[MarshLaw303]

I don't believe Syb is talking about a channel end hammock. I believe he is talking about a hammock with a drawcord tube on each end used to whip like WB or Knotty's video. A true channel end hammock would need a much larger channel than 1/2" and it would nee to be heavily reinforced.





These pics from Knotty's instruction show the end channel used to make the whipping ball or bundle at the end. This is what I believe Syb is talking about. This would not be enough strength for a channel end hammock where the suspension is just put through the channel like on a switchback, DD, grand trunk, claytor ect...

-Tim