My Home Made Hammock Questions ??

[V8Mondo]

Hi Everyone,

I have made my own hammock following some ideas from you knowledgable chaps on here...Thanks.

I have not put it into commission yet although, I am sure it will work well.

OK questions:

I want to attach a bugnet over the top supported with a ridgeline of course.
Now to attach it to the hammock I was going to use velcro along the edges to enable removal when required. Then provide end panels to the bugnet to prevent wind blowing up my arse etc...this means the bugnet is an easy straight sew down both sides too.

First, I am not sure how to provide a good seal of the velcro at the narrow ends below the solid panels to the bugnet?? Ideas welcome.

Second, what is a good width for the bugnet to allow the headroom over the hammock? I know this is the 'what is the length of string' type question...but do you have a formula or ration to use that works here?

Third, I have made the hammock from 4oz ripstop nylon. I have sewn the hems already of course...does this mean that I cannot now make it so I lay on the diagonal? Or is this determined by the way I fold and tie the ends of the material?

Fourth and final, I have double layered the hammock to allow for a sleep mat to be inserted in the layers. I was going to create a 'pocket' for the mat, but as I did not want to sew through the material at all. What would you recommend for this? Glueing patches of velcro to form the pocket is on my mind, not sure it would be robust or allow the material to move over itself during use etc... Any ideas?

Any help appreciated here. Great site and lots of knowledge on tap. Thanks.

Regards, V8

[Merganser]

Most asymmetric lay hammocks are made from a rectangular piece of cloth. They have tie outs on them in strategic locations to give them their shape. You cay lay diagonally in just about any end gathered hammock even without tie outs. Length and width of the fabric are going to have a bit impact on comfort. How you whip the ends has interesting effects on how the body of the hammock lies but I don't think it provides much in the way of asymmetry.

When I made my hammock I read Hennessy's patents and did a ton of research online, quite a bit of it on or following links from this board. (There is a really good DYI article on making a Hennessy clone here.) I read Ed Spears book. Most importantly I experimented.

Try whipping the hammock different ways. (hint: try whips where you fold the outside edges to the center as the first step) Hang the hammock and put a full length rectangular sleeping pad in it, diagonally, the way you want to lay. Use the location of the corners as a starting point for choosing tie out locations and go from there. Get some tarp grippers at Menards, et al. and try tie outs at different positions. Don't sew until you find just the right spot.

Lining up long runs of velcro is a pain. I sewed the bug net directly to the back side and ran a #8YKK coil zipper (two sliders) along the front side for entry.

[Ramblinrev]

whipping an angled end of the hammock bed will result in a level of asym shape. However, I was not pleased with the effort that it took. To my knolwedge the parallelogram shape for the bed is not very popular dispite the write up in received on the forum.

The HH hammock body is a rectangular piece of fabric with the bugnet being th component which sets the asym tie outs. If you are making your own gear you can play with tie outs going where ever you want. Grip clips make fast easily adjustable tieouts for experimenting with DIY placement. The whipping/gathering strategies do make a big difference in how the hammock lies. How you pull the corners as opposed to the center of the bed makes a difference in how the edges hang.

There is a ton of stguff available on the forums or linked to from the forums and people are constantly tweaking and experimenting.