Have not done any DIY projects for last 6 months due to medical issues with a pinched nerve in the neck causing extreme arm pain and a house guest staying in my DIY room (actually one of the kids bedrooms I took over when he moved out ). House guest left and either the new dosage of pain meds and or Physical Therapy did the job and the pain is mostly gone.
Went with Black and Forest Green Argon 1.6 fabric from Dutch (http://dutchwaregear.com/argon-1.6.html ) as I have heard so much about it. As usual Dutch had it shipped out fast. Had to be a double layer as I weigh in right at the max recommend load rating for a single layer. This is no big deal as most of my DIY hammocks are doubles. Ultra Light I am not in the hammock area. I build industrial strength
The fabric does feel slightly slick and did feel like it was a little bit slippery when sewing, Could also have been my imagination.
Had my son help me fold the two fabrics together and pin them to length and then cut to length.
I then proceeded to sew the two layers together with a 1” overlap of the black over the green on the sides and 3” end channels with three rows of stitching to make sure end channels do not fail (which has worked so far on all my DIY hammocks ). I do not leave an opening for a pad as I use UQ's. I may go back and add some UQ hooks later.
I added four 1” wide grosgrain tie outs placed 4 ft in from the ends of the hammock, two per side. May not need them but figured it would be better to do it now so I could incorporate them into the seam.. Wanted to use 3/4” wide grosgrain but did not have any left and did not want to wait to get any.
I took about 3 days of sewing an hour or two each day taking my time as I was in no rush and wanted to think about each step as it had been awhile since I had made a DIY hammock. Also made a double ended stuff sack with the left over black argon fabric. Decided that the hammock also needed a storage pocket so I made a 12” long by 6” deep pocket and added it to the black side of the hammock. If I had thought about it sooner I could have sewn it in with the seam but it still looks decent. Also added a “Neusiok Trail Gear” logo tag that I now add to ID all of my DIY sewing projects.
Finished the hammock a week ago but it was not until last night I found where wife had packed my spool of Amsteel 7/64 ( got thru Redden Marine http://www.reddenmarine.com/samson-r...ue-spools.html during one of their sales ) when the house guest showed up.
I cut two 4 ft lengths and used a double fisherman's knot as shown here http://www.animatedknots.com/doublef...Categ=climbing to make two loops. Then I threaded a loop thru the sewn end ( be sure to hold on to one end so it does not get pulled thru ) and then larks head the knotted end thru the other end of the loop. I them create a semi loose mushroom head with the fabric and wrap the Amsteel around the inside edge of the mushroom a couple of times and then stick my finger thru the end of the mushroom to create an opening just big enough to grab the Amsteel loop and pull it thru and tighten everything up. I then larks headed some cinch buckles onto the Amsteel and finished it off with some 1” wide Camo Straps and used a pair of 1,500 lb rated binners from Lazer Designs shttp://www.lazerdesigns.com/Merchant...uct_Code=CLOAD.
This total rig weights in at 1 lb 14.2 ounces. Like I said, not ultra light but industrial strength.
Was ready to go outside this am and try it out but of course it decided to start raining. Wife got home from work and the rain stopped so we went out to set up the hammock and take some pictures.
Initial results....it holds me just fine. I think for me I need it to be a few inches wider. Out initial test got cut short as the skeeters decided that it was meal timeand chased us off. Will try again later when it is safe to go back out.
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I am 6ft 2 and currently 270-275 lbs.
Originally Posted by gunner76
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