Hammock Attachment methods

[jeff-oh]

I can't confirm the movement theory - and I have tried every way I could find or think up. I still use different gathering methods, depending on the hammock. The only no-no I have found is: don't suspend the hammock from a channel if the fabric is 30D or lighter. This method puts a lot of stress on the bottom seam, and I have had hammocks disintegrate in this place.

This nails the concern I had. The method I saw was to take the loop, feed it through the channel and just hook a biner through the two ends of the loop. So yes all the stress would be through the stitching. As I am a heavier guy and do not use hammocks with the highest quality fabric, failure at the seams is a concern. I also thought I saw a Shug video on whipping the ends of a gathered end hammock where he showed pulling one side higher on the gather than the other and doing the similarly on the opposite end to encourage a flatter diagonal lay. The use of the CL loosely through the channel was to also mimic this "staggered" gathered end.

Thank you for the rely.

[hutzelbein]

So yes all the stress would be through the stitching. As I am a heavier guy and do not use hammocks with the highest quality fabric. Failure at the seams was a concern.

If it's a 70D fabric, I wouldn't really worry. These fabrics are very tough. I have made a few hammocks with cheap 70D fabrics, and they have held up well, even when they were abused e.g. by several kids, jumping around in them. I have had 2 adults and 3 kids in one channel end hammock; the combined weight was probably more than 400lbs. No signs of failure. I would be a bit more cautious with a 40D fabric, but so far I have never had reason to really doubt it.

I also thought I saw a Shug video on whipping the ends of a gathered end hammock where he showed pulling one side higher on the gather than the other and doing the similarly on the opposite end to encourage a flatter diagonal lay. The use of the CL loosely through the channel was to also mimic this "staggered" gathered end.

Not sure what you mean by "staggered gathered end" but there's little you can do wrong with whipping. If you don't like the lay, simply open the whip and try a different one. That's the beauty. The only limit is your imagination

Here's another approach:

[cougarmeat]

I read in a previous post of this thread that a triple stitch was stronger than most hammock material. If that is true, that's great. But before I read that I was also concerned about putting the stress on the stitching. So I'd use a dog bone or loop (aren't they all "continuous") and go through the channel twice (I think ENO does that). I snug that tight, then do a half hitch or two behind the gather and run the remaining dog bone loop or rest of full loop out through the middle of the gather rather than over the top. I'm guessing I thought that would give me symmetry in case I wanted to flip the hammock over and use the other side.

[SupraLance]

Another thought on this, since I have a 10' hammock and would really rather have a 10.5' hammock, it seems the wider the end channel is splayed out, the better, as this would mimmick a longer hammock. I had planned to replace the thick factory cord (tied to maintain a 6" diameter loop through the channel) with amsteel CL's, but realized this bunches the channel much closer together which probably shortens the effective length of the hammock. Although it wouldn't pack well, a 6" metal ring through the end channel might effectively lengthen the hammock by allowing the end to be splayed out more. I won't try that, but I probably will stick with a thicker line though the channel tied so it doesn't cinch down.

[hutzelbein]

Another thought on this, since I have a 10' hammock and would really rather have a 10.5' hammock, it seems the wider the end channel is splayed out, the better, as this would mimmick a longer hammock. I had planned to replace the thick factory cord (tied to maintain a 6" diameter loop through the channel) with amsteel CL's, but realized this bunches the channel much closer together which probably shortens the effective length of the hammock. Although it wouldn't pack well, a 6" metal ring through the end channel might effectively lengthen the hammock by allowing the end to be splayed out more. I won't try that, but I probably will stick with a thicker line though the channel tied so it doesn't cinch down.

I don't think that you will achieve the effect you're after with cords or webbing. Have you tried mini spreader bars? It's not easy to get it right, but it helps a bit. However, a longer hammock has always worked better for me than any work-arounds I have tried.

[Redoleary]

On my current hammock I have a continuous loop of mule tape thru the end channel and a buttonhole sewn in the center of the end channel, the hammock ridgeline goes thru the button hole and attaches to the mule tape thereby not affecting the bunching up of the fabric. Is it better or worse than anything else? IDK but I feel good about it At some point in the below video you can see what I mean.