Has anyone built a bridge hammock out of 1.0 hyper D? I have a gathered end that is just a little short for me that holds me fine (185#), that I would like to turn into a bridge hammock, Im just concerned about it holding me. Does a bridge put anymore stress on the fabric?
Yes- 210 lbs here. Single layer HyperD 1.0.
I've made about 6 now, longest on a single one is about 20 nights.
the only issues thus far were my own- errant stitch or poor design. That said no failures or problems when built right. I am trying some pretty wild ideas so stress is pretty high on mine and even with a few bad stitches there have been no serious issues.
I'm in the early stages of planning for a bridge build myself. I'm thinking of going with PolyD 1.2 or 1.4. Is there any special stitching/sewing technique that I should take with the lighter weight fabric?
Personally- just general light fabric technique worked okay, such as-
Don't bar tack or space stitches too close.
Sew anything that counts through multiple layers.
Back up critical or high use areas with extra fabric (bridge channels, etc.) One of Grizz's videos shows how he added extra fabric to his channel ends as an example. Because the bridge is on a curve, it works better to add an extra strip of fabric, rather than trying to increase the seam allowance and "roll" extra layers in.
Don't "Miss"- this is really the only issues I've had- a stitch getting away from me and hitting body fabric when it shouldn't have, or causing an unintended pucker or crease.
On the Bridge- go slow and keep the weight bearing sides smooth, puckers increase the stress on an area.
One small tip that I noticed- if you are doing a flat fell seam of some sort in a weight bearing area (like an endcap to body) then make sure the lap of the seam goes to the body side. I had a little seam elongation in the body fabric when I flipped the seam the other way.
The easiest way to go is to keep the bridge poles "out"- 6" or so past your head and feet. This puts much less stress on the ends.
When you move the poles in (ala Grizz and others) there is more stress on the body fabric around the pole attachments that you need to be careful with. I started with a basic bridge to get the feel for it before I tried anything fancy.
Thanks for the input. Ill probably start mine tonight. JustBill I will make sure to extend the webbing well past the hammock. Ill let you know how it goes.
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