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  1. #1
    New Member Tobus's Avatar
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    Tube-style bug net with bottom/side entry

    My laptop battery is about to die, so here are the pics real quick. I made this today from cheap fabric-store mesh.

    It's just a tapered tube (seams top and bottom). Widest at the middle and tapering to about 12" wide at the ends. It closes with draw-cords at the ends.





    Entry/exit is through the zippers I put on one side, near the bottom. These are 22" zippers that close towards the middle. One faces in, one faces out. So when you're inside, you can close the outward-facing one first, then the inward-facing one. And vice-versa after you get out.

    It also makes a handy shoe storage area, which pulls the netting down to keep bugs off my backside, and tightens the netting up top so it doesn't flop in my face. (Those are my wife's shoes... she was in there at the time.)




    Total cost was about $15. Total weight is exactly 9 ounces.

    Not bad for a first-time bug net with absolutely no plan, eh?

  2. #2
    Senior Member Timberrr's Avatar
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    Nice Work!!
    I've been thinking about doing something very similar. ( along with 100 other projects ) I have a Chrysalis which is nice and closed up for cold weather and too closed up for warm weather. I want to remove the attached tarp with its little screened "windows" and replace it with a wrap around bug net like yours, and then use a separate tarp.
    I can't really see where your zippers are. Do you have a more detailed pic of the zippers that you could post? Or maybe a drawing? In fact, a pattern of the whole thing would be super helpful!
    Thanks!
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  3. #3
    Senior Member Aardvark's Avatar
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    Great look.... let me know how well the zipper does with the bugnetting..., and how did you get the net sewn to the zipper? I'm getting ready to do a net also.
    .... the Aardvark (earth pig)... a rather unremarkable creature whose sole claim to fame is that it is the first animal listed in the dictionary.
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  4. #4
    Senior Member Fronkey's Avatar
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    Looks awesome man! Great job!

    Fronkey

  5. #5
    Senior Member lizzie's Avatar
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    Very nice! Mind sharing your dimensions, and where'd you get the fabric... under $15 bucks is a good deal!

  6. #6
    New Member Tobus's Avatar
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    I can't really see where your zippers are. Do you have a more detailed pic of the zippers that you could post?
    They are in the last picture in my original post. Below the hammock body, but above the shoes. You can see where the zippers meet in the middle.

    In fact, a pattern of the whole thing would be super helpful!
    The picture below probably best illustrates the shape of the net. Here it's hung from the hammock ridgeline (I have three small ribbons stitched to the top seam of the net so I can tie it to the ridgeline to keep it from getting off-center).

    Total length: 100 inches
    Depth at mid-span: 36 inches
    Depth at ends: 12 inches




    I did not use a pattern for this, and in fact I would not recommend doing so. The way I built it, I just measured two lengths of mesh, 102" long, and stitched them together using a double rolled hem. This created the top seam. Then I had my wife lay in the hammock while I draped it over the ridgeline and pinned the material underneath the hammock to get the depth and taper I wanted. I marked the material to that shape, then cut it (I eyeballed the curve shape). But before sewing the bottom seam, I went ahead and did my end channel seams and stitched the zippers on the side. The long bottom seam was the last part.

    You will definitely want to measure it to YOUR hammock, with somebody laying it it, in order to make sure it fits. Pinning it underneath the person while they're in the hammock really is the best way to go, for determining the shape/taper of the tube.

    and how did you get the net sewn to the zipper?
    Honestly, this was the hardest part of the project, and the part I'm least happy with. I just laid the zippers on the netting material and pinned them in place. Then I stitched them both down on the sewing machine (both sides). After they were stitched down, I was able to unzip them and cut the material to create the opening. If I had tried to cut the opening first and then stitch each side of the zippers down, I'd have never gotten it done.

    Even doing it the way I did it, the material stretched a lot and I had to keep fiddling with it. The stretchiness of the netting makes it very difficult to work with. But the bright side is that since it's so stretchy, it's also very forgiving. It's easy to gloss over mistakes by stretching the material back to where you want it.

    and where'd you get the fabric...
    I bought the fabric at Hancocks Fabrics several weeks ago. It was an unmarked material laying on the remnant/clearance table. So I'm not sure exactly what it is. They barely had the 6 yards of length that I needed. The price they rang it up as was $1.69/yd. That's probably not the price you'll find it on the regular rack, though.

    So the material cost me just over $10, and the zippers (which I bought at "Hometown Crafts" on sale for $1.99 each) cost me about $4. I am not counting the cost of the small ribbons or the thread or the end channel closure cords in my $15 total.

  7. #7
    Senior Member oldgringo's Avatar
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    Don't forget to leave room for an under quilt.
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  8. #8
    New Member Tobus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldgringo View Post
    Don't forget to leave room for an under quilt.
    Good point. For those of you who use underquilts, you'd want to do the measurement with that on the hammock.

    Where I live, it rarely gets cold enough to need one (and I think underquilts are an overcomplicated solution anyway), so I made no provision for one.

    The good news is that mesh is so stretchy, it shouldn't take much accommodation for an underquilt. In order to avoid having a net that droops too much when not using a UQ, it would probably be best to make a net that will be form-fit to one (while not being so tight that it compresses the insulation).

    For me, there are only about two months in the year where temperatures get low enough that a simple pad and sleeping bag aren't sufficient. And during those months, bugs are not an issue. My intent is to build myself a "pea pod" type sleeve for insulation, and leave the bug net at home.

  9. #9
    Senior Member chickenwing's Avatar
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    That is a really good job.. I like it
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  10. #10
    Senior Member NCPatrick's Avatar
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    Looks good! Nice job. Looks like you most likely have enough room there for a light underquilt. Zippers really aren't that hard, especially if you use a zipper foot attachment.


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