Having thought about it a bit more, the above comment is probably the best reason to get into making your own gear - not to save money but to get a degree of customization that is not otherwise possible. A case in point is the rope bridge hammock I recently bought made by kitsapcowboy. It has a group of features that are flat out not available on any commercially made hammock. It's well beyond my ability to make, but if you have the skill set then your gear can be anything you want to design. Grizzly Adams, jellybean, hiking dad and others I'm sure DIY not to save money nor because cottage vendors don't make good stuff, but because doing so scratches a creative itch.
The rest of us are sometimes lucky enough to substitute money for skill and enjoy the end products.
"...the height of hammock snobbery!"
I don't sew, but no-sew DIY summer TQ/UQs have served me well for many (many/many) years
Summer UQ = a lightweight throw quilt (down or synthetic), 4 tarp clips and some 1/8 shock cord. Just fold the quilt corners over about 3" then attach tarp clips and shock cord for a 10 min project.
Summer TQ = a lightweight throw quilt with KamSnap (or hand sew) foot box up to my knees.
Yes, it is about 6 oz heavier than what high quality cottage venders offer but in the summer I can handle it.
Winter = I agree with the above post. DIY is a nice way to know your gear but only if you have a desire to learn the skills for DIY and cost saving alone is not a good reason.
Enjoying the simple things in life -
Own less, live more.
I'd say with your apparent skills you could make practically all of your own gear! Some of the threads on the forum would familiarize you with the terminology used here as well as the design concerns people have faced. UQs and TQs probably require the most putzing. I believe you'll find everything you need to know here if you invest the time in searching threads.
Let us know when you're ready to launch the new business.
I successfully DIYed my first hammock. I didn't do anything really ambitious, just simple 11' gathered end, but enough to know weather or not I enjoyed the hammock, and enjoyed DIYing. Don't think that's too far out of reach for most folks. I would encourage anyone with the inclination to try it out. Just make sure when it comes time to make the stuff sack to make it bigger, a lot bigger, than you think you need.
I'm a welder.... I take great pride in building things. I do it for a living and love it, that being said I'm fully aware of the fact that not everyone has that mindset.
However, I've never even touched a sewing machine, as of june 22nd I didn't know what a bobbin was, but I researched enough on here to place my first order from Dutch. On June 26th my order arrived and I unpacked it, and googled "how to sew a hammock" a video of a sweet lady (jellyfish) sewing a yellow hammock popped up, I then watched all her videos and discovered she's making basically what I am, just from Kyle instead of Dutch, so I sat at the sewing machine one or 2 nights a week for a hour or so. July 26th I took MY tarp and hammock into the woods! I could have finished it in one weekend, but I camp every weekend. I very much enjoyed learning how a sewing machine works, loved taking little pieces of others designs and melding them into my perfectly designed and built hammock and tarp. I fly RC planes, and spend all winter building and summer flying. I won't count my time because I enjoyed the hobby of building.
To buy a .9 xenon sil winter tarp (I think he only sells a 1.1), a chameleon netted asymmetrical hammock (closest comparison to what I built) I would have spent $370+... I learned a new hobby, made exactly what I want and for less than half of retail. I'm building my perfect down underquilt shopping cart as we speak.
I agree that one of the strongest incentives to make your own gear is customization, and after a while customization becomes outright invention. Some of the stuff we make can't be bought. That doesn't mean everybody should do it. HYOH. (And think about little things in your gear that you'd like to change a bit.)
I started with a diy costco underquilt and now have a EE Revolt 40 degree. The diy route was to save money in order to see if i would like hammock camping and i did so i started buying better gear as money was available. Thanks.
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