Who would think buying a hammock was so hard...?

[Ramblinrev]

Has anyone tried making hammocks with the scouts? I made a simple one this weekend in 10 minutes with an extra sheet I had lying around. Accordioned the ends and tied up with a sheet bend. Fun diversion that ended with a nap .

Two problems come to mind. I find a sheet too short to make a long enough hammock. Depending on the age of the scouts that could be an issue. The second concern has to do with using old sheets. Sheets that have been used can can a wear pattern in then which is not all that obvious. It could take a really good eye to find weak spots in the sheet from rough heels (that's where my wife wears out sheets first) or just thinning of the fibers from use. Body oils can weaken natural fabrics and blended fabrics (cotton/polyester) can wear unevenly in such a way that it does not matter on a mattress but asking it to support a full body weight can be excessive.

My advice if you want to do this with scouts and bedsheets is make sure you get a sheet that's long enough for the height of the scouts and make sure they are new. Polyster sheets from Wal Mart are not all that expensive in a twin bed size. But again they are somewhat short by the time you get the ends gathered and knotted.

[Pope686]

Im also new to this forum Sabot, but Im throwing my 2 cents in the ENO onelink was my first system and like most the only problems I ran into was the Rain fly I would just order another trap from some where? I love my ENO hammock and it is still what I use just picked up some new things here and there.

But if time is a problem any small blue trap that the troop may have will work for a weekend

here is a web site that really helped me when I got started in hammock camping

http://www.tothewoods.net/JeffsHikingPage.html

It just so happens that jeff is a member here at the forum so he may have something to say