Lightweight hammock - what fabric?

**SGT Rock** · 07-30-2015, 21:50

Originally Posted by craige

Don't do really tight stitches... think of perforated paper

8-10 stitches per inch will be plenty strong with 3 rows.

Excellent point. I usually open mine up as much as my machine will allow.

**Tucson Tom** · 07-31-2015, 00:14

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

Excellent point. I usually open mine up as much as my machine will allow.

Good tip, thanks for this. I wish I could dive into this tomorrow, but maybe on the weekend, shouldn't take long at all.

**Jedediah300** · 08-01-2015, 19:02

Well, I'm 6ft 220lbs been making my hammocks for yrs out of 1.1 various ripstop material. Never had a problem. In fact the first backpacking setup I made is almost 10yrs old and it's still my go to summer setup.

**Snowball** · 08-02-2015, 01:36

Originally Posted by Jedediah300

Well, I'm 6ft 220lbs been making my hammocks for yrs out of 1.1 various ripstop material. Never had a problem. In fact the first backpacking setup I made is almost 10yrs old and it's still my go to summer setup.

Impressive! You must take very good care of your gear.

**Jedediah300** · 08-02-2015, 02:00

I've probably got a dozen or more setups, and I'm always playing with one thing or the other. So one hammock might only have 1 or 2 nights in it.

**MattK** · 08-03-2015, 16:01

I have my NylonD 1.0 hammock set up with the suspension through the end channels. I have logged a lot of hours in it so far, and no signs of needle hole elongation etc. See below for how I sewed the channel.
end channel.png
This is a picture of the channels after I had half a dozen or so hangs. I took the suspension out so I could examine the stitching for signs of stress/failure.
IMAG1998.jpg
I had added the bar tacks on the ends just to make sure the stitching didn't come undone here. On a previous hammock I had there were threads sticking out all over the place after swapping the suspension a couple times. Probably completely unnecessary.

**Snowball** · 08-10-2015, 05:19

Yesterday I finished a 1.0oz HyperD hammock. About 1 year ago I made a 1.1oz hammock and I did not like it ( became a donor for other project). First impression, I must say I am positive surprised. This one is very different! It is early days and I only slept in it 1 night but if it stays like it is I doubt it will be the last in HyperD 1.0. It does stretch a bit but in a positive way (6’ 194lbs). The plan was to make it 11’ but I made a mistake several in fact so its approx 10.5’ .
Lesson learned:

When making it I tried a different approach, hemming it first before cutting to length/shape. Big mistake! This is very thin material and the hems/side seams will shrink the length a bit so the fabric wont lay flat when you mark and cut.
And the rookie mistake (embarrassing for me). Always add seam allowance + the channel length(both) to the finished length you want.
This lighter material is easier to sew and handle than I expected.

If I decide to make another hammock in this material I think I will go for a more narrow design and take advantage of the stretch.

**barbermike** · 08-10-2015, 08:10

If you really wanna go ultralight, some people were experimenting with using Momentum M50 fabric a few years ago. Myself included. If I remember correctly its 0.5oz a sq yard. My M50 hammock, which is an 11' hammock, with suspension and stuff sack included weighs only 6.05 oz total. If you look in the "for sale" part of the forum, I just recently listed my M50 hammock for sale, in my thread I have a bunch of links to the original threads where people were making M50 Hammocks. You may find some useful information in those old threads.

**geneaut** · 08-10-2015, 08:22

I'm kind of hefty ( I wander in between 250 and 265 depending on what part of the year it is ). I've never felt the urge to try 1.1 fabric, but I might one day just for the heck of it.

I think I might head down from 1.9 into the 1.4 or 1.6 realm first though.

**Topplestack** · 08-10-2015, 11:39

When I'm making a hammock for someone else. I'll go with 1.4oz at the least and usually go with 1.9. I won't make a 1.0/1.1 for anyone. For myself, one of my favorite hammocks is a 1oz single layer. 9'6"x46" hammock. This picture is from back in 2009. I recently took out all of the stitching and reused the material with some upgraded hardware. Packed down it's about the size of an energy drink. I'm not entire sure about the weight yet. I need to get it on the scale, but I think it's around 8oz total with suspension.
1924131_103212981963_2962004_n.jpg

I've reworked the whipping since this picture was taken. Actually, I've probably reworked it more than a few times.
1924131_103212971963_520520_n.jpg