in my experiance, the bridge hammock looks alot more complicated than it really is. If you use strap webbing as the support member, (on the sides) its pretty easy sew. (you can use amsteel on the sides of the bridge, but its alot harder to sew in my experiance--but it is lighter...............) Also, there are 2 ways to mark the curves on the side of the hammock---you can use all kinds of math forumlas (most which are way over my head
) Or you can just take a tent pole, and flex it into position while you mark the curve. (and from what I've read, the results are pretty much the same)
The other thing I ran into was, I made a bridge using the same tablecloth material the tablecloth hammocks are made out of (taffeta) It looked great, but after a little use, I noticed some strain along the stitches on the sides---I suspect that with continued use, the seam would fail (maybe due to my weight and the thread count of the material?) So, I used ripstop instead with no problems.
You can make the spreader bar fittings warbonnet style---with some aluminum bar from homedepot, a drill, a file and a hacksaw. It takes a little time, but its not hard! In summary, a bridge is actually pretty easy---you can do this! (PM me if you need help!)
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