Homemade Asym Hammock with a Trapezoidal shape

[Coffee]

I started with a piece of fabric 12'x5'. For now I am using cheap walmart cotton fabric. Below is a pic of the diagram I used.



1. I measured down 2'4" on one side and drew a line to the opposite corner. On the opposite side a drew the same line starting in the opposite corner. This is a little hard to explain, the diagram above shows it a little clearer. I cut the fabric along the line. This gave me a trapezoid with the angles of 65 degrees and 115 degrees.

2. I measured along the top edge a length of 66". I measured over 1/3 this distance (22") from the short edge of the trapezoid. I then followed the directions Arkwater posted with the expection of knotting the ends.

Below is a pic of the foot end.



Below is a pic of the head end.



Sorry for the self portaits, but there was no one else around. The finished product allowed me to lay realitively flat on the diagonal and was pretty comfortable. The finished distance knot to knot was about 8'. I am still new to the homemade hammocks area, so this is a work in progress. I need to make the sides a little tighter and work on my hanging (getting the sag right vs the HH).

I tried a couple different larger angles, but 75 degrees felt the best. I think angles too much smaller than that would not work out very well in terms of comfort or construction.

It uses about 10.7 square yds of fabric. 1.1 oz ripstop would give a fabric weight of 11.7oz and 1.9 oz would give 22.oz.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Arkwater]

I tried a cut like that on mine after posting, but not as drastic as yours. I think I measured down 8". Looks like yours turned out a little better than mine as far as a-sym. I think it warrants a little more testing. Try using a zip tie to whip instead of knots. Easy to cut and rewhip!

[Coffee]

Thanks for the zip tie idea, the knots get a little hard to remove. I was trying angles to 45 degrees on a 5'x2' scrap piece. Somewhere after 65 degrees it seemed too much fabric was up on the sides and not a lot of gain in asym. If you can't tell the engineer in me likes to over analyze things.

How wide is everyone else's homemade hammocks? I am thinking about trying 4' wide to save some weight.

[Arkwater]

tried a couple a 4' and it was just too narrow for safe sleeping. 54" is as about as narrow as I can stand.

[headchange4u]

You may also want to try a structural ridge line like on the HH. You could use the through the whip suspension to attach it. It may help with the sag.

I am going to have to go to Walmart and buy some fabric to test this hammock out.

[Coffee]

Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to add a ridgeline to add a ridge line to my finished hammock.

Let me know what you come up with for you version.

[Coffee]

I am still trying to get the sag right. I am having a lot of shoulder squeeze problems. From what I understand is the main fix for this adding more sag to the hammock? I have a lot in it, but I am still getting some squeeze. Can I whip the ends differently to help this? I am also still using cheap walmart fabric. I think this is also making the problem worse. I am planning to use 1.9 oz ripstop for the finished product.

[Arkwater]

The best solution I've found for squeeze is more (longer) fabric. The further you can get away from the ends, the less squeeze you have. If you are still knotting the ends, untie if you can and whip. That will give you about a foot on each end.

[Coffee]

The best solution I've found for squeeze is more (longer) fabric. The further you can get away from the ends, the less squeeze you have. If you are still knotting the ends, untie if you can and whip. That will give you about a foot on each end.

Am I using a different knot than you? All I do is tie a 1/2 hitch close to the end. I am using a strap on the inside of the knot. The knot is probibly only taking away 4 or 5 inches tops.

[Arkwater]

I just used an overhand knot before I started whipping. Not sure how much my knots used either, but most who use knots say to allow about 18" for the knots.