Home made hammock

[Too Busy]

I was at Wal Mart earlier this week and they had 2.5 oz nylon in the $1 / yard bin.
I bought 3 yards and a spool of nylon upholstery thread for hemming the edges.

Well 45 minutes and $4.84 later I have a hammock... Or well my son has a hammock, this one is for him.
I had some low stretch rope lying about in the garage and used masonry cord for whipping the ends.
I followed the directions on Just Jeff's page

http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeGear.html

I spent a couple of hours in it as a reward for all my "hard work" :lol: and it's not bad. It's not a HH, but you can't get a HH for less than $5 either. :wink:

 

[Kayak Jack]

Good on ya, TB.

I have a couple of curtains that are in need of mending, and a pair of socks with holes in the heels, and the knee of some Levi's are ......

Haunt the HH net site looking for sales on "blems". Nice buys, sometimes.

 

[oldsparkey]

Don't mind Jack , he can't knit socks much less sew up the holes in them so he just wears the tops.

I do like the link you posted and can see why you made that hammock , the guy has a lot of great ideas and I plan on using some of them.

Chuck.

 

[Too Busy]

I did a modified "W" gather. I started with the full W and it raised the center line of the hammock too much and created a deep pouch on either side of center.

I undid the whipping and modified the W so the center of it was only about 6 inches high. This worked out great for me.

I think that I'll add a fixed ridge line so it has the same amount of sag every time.

Jack
My mom made me learn to cook, clean, crochet and sew becuase she didn't think I'd ever find a woman who would put up with me. Luckily, I've been married to the same woman for almost 18 years. She does the hemming and mending.... I just sew special projects.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Good for you, TB. I do all the stuff but sewing and windows or ironing. I cook up some fairly tasty things around the house.

 

[oldsparkey]

Good for you, TB. I do all the stuff but sewing and windows or ironing. I cook up some fairly tasty things around the house.

OK.. All ya guy's gather around ... Jack is going to open another can of Bushes Baked Beans. I sure wish he heats them before serving but they are good cold with some Vienna's. :roll:

Chuck.
PS. I never said this but Jack does come up with some good camping chow.

 

[Kayak Jack]

'Bout time you said sumting nice about me. Been a while. I'll mark today on a calendar.

 

[Kayak Jack]

TB,

You are on to something there with the "W" gather, and the guy line. Tom Hennessy must have worked a long time to get those ideas, and they sure do work. I Like the way you think.

If you have any pictures, I'd like to see them. Whether or not you have pictures, I'd enjoy a back channel kick around of this project. If you want, email me.

 

[Too Busy]

I didn't take pictures, I just followed the directions and pics on Just Jeff's page. The link is in my original post. Click on the home made gear tab and follow his decription.

The best part about experimenting with it is: Once you get your lined secured to trees, you can remove the larks head know from the hammock, remove the whipping, re-gather, re-whip and test the "new" shape in less than 10 minutes.

I got lucky and got it comfortable on the second attempt. I could probably spend an entire afternoon tinkering with different gathers and different ridge line lengths to get it right.

Oh yeah, for the ridge line. I used some 1000 pound braided nylon. I tied it to the hang rope on one end, put a truckers hitch in the middle and around the other hang rope.
The trucker's hitch let me change the length of the ridge line just by pulling it tighter and throwing on a slippery half hitch while I was laying in the hammock.

 

[bearridge]

Friend TB,

Thanks fer that link. That pichur of Jeff looks like he mite be 150 pounds 'n 5' 9". I got feelin' that the taller 'n heavier folk will have a harder time in a hammock. I aim ta test this come fall. If I give it a try now, I'd likely turn out like a pig in the blanket. :mrgreen:

regards
bearridge

Little Bill Daggett: I don't deserve this... to die like this. I was building a house.
Will Munny: Deserve's got nothin' to do with it.
Little Bill Daggett: I'll see you in hell, William Munny.
Will Munny: Yeah.

 

[Too Busy]

I'm 6-1 and 200
I sleep WAY BETTER in a hammock than I do one hte ground. I'll never go back to sleeping on rocks and roots

 

[oldsparkey]

Friend TB,

I got feelin' that the taller 'n heavier folk will have a harder time in a hammock. I aim ta test this come fall. If I give it a try now, I'd likely turn out like a pig in the blanket. :mrgreen:

regards
bearridge

There you go ... Again ... with the Negative Waves , :roll: think negatively and have negative things happen , :evil: think positive and positive things will happen. The poor hammock is doomed before it gets a chance to prove itself.

Personally I'm with Too Busy on the idea of sleeping up off the ground either in the Hennessey or the Lawson Hammocks. Easy to set up , comfortable and you can sleep anywhere there are some trees , posts , pillers , rocks , geezers playing checkers ( they don't move ) or vehicles with roll bars. :lol:

Chuck.

 

[bearridge]

I already spent the nite in mine. Got 2-3 hours sleep 'n a rash on my head. I dont wanna pitch a tent ever dang day....but I gotta git some shut eye at nite 'n no big fellas on here have ever got good sleep in one. At least when I asked, nobody raized a e-hand.

 

[Kayak Jack]

My buddy Kevin is 5' 17" tall, weighs a lot of stones (as the Pommies say) and he likes his Hennessy. I don't think height is a factor, Br'r Bear; something else is. Could be elevation of one end is too high/low? Could be that you forgot to retighten the hammock after laying in it for a minute or two? Could be the mat you used?

You seem to have more difficulty than all except Dougie. He still prefers a tent after having slept in a Hennessy. But, then, he also LIKES to portage.)

 

[bearridge]

Truthful Jack,

I learned how ta tie the knots 'n how ta keep my head frum bein' too high. I figgered out how ta lay sidewise cross the ridge. It finally got comfortable ta lay inside......even dozed a few times, but the first all nite try wuz a horror movie. It started off too hot fer a sheet, then in the wee hours it wuz colder'n a well digger up in Idaho.....even on two 3/4 size pads cut ta fit 'n duct taped together.

The rash come frum my head agin the skeeter net. No.....it wuz not skeeter bites. Took over a week ta go away. I hope it wuz jest bad luck. I caint wait til fall ta try it agin, but I wuz hopin' ta hear that one big, tall fella had done okay in one. 5' 17" iz mitey dang tall......so there must be hope.

regards
bearridge

Work is the curse of the drinking classes. Oscar Wilde

 

[Kayak Jack]

Most of MY height is side to side. I understand the heat part; I sweltered a couple weeks ago on the Au Sable. 81 degrees at midnight - AARRGGHH!!

If you were cold later on, was it through the pads? Or, where you overhung off of the pad? I sometimes wake up and have squiggled around off the pad and an arm or leg of cheek gets cold.

I hadn't heard of the mesh giving a rash! Heck of a thing. You might set up the hammock again, and take some soap and water to it, then hose it down? I've never heard of a rash, but the hammocks ARE assembled in China. WTH knows what may be on them? A week-long rash sounds more serious that just being scratched or mechanically irritated. It sounds like a chemical of some kind. Had you sprayed the netting with bug repellent of any kind?

Had it been Chuckie, I would have guessed he had mild embarrassment over being with no clothes in front of college girls. (I hope he doesn't think this is about sex, or something!) Or, Yakus Eyetallianicus - if HE had a rash, we may have thought he OD'd on Dago red, for gosh sakes.

 

[bearridge]

Friend Jack,

I took yer advice on tapin' two pads together....then trimmed the corners a bit ta fit in the head end of the hammock. It wuz too hot fer them pads til after midnite when it got cold. I put the pads inside....then it wuz jest plain uncomfortable....mainly frum the mesh on my forehead 'n the buzz of skeeters outside......kinda like in that movie "Zulu".

I will wash the netting jest in case we git anuther recall on stuff made by them dang Chinamen. By the time it cools down here the skeeters will be gone.

thanks
bearridge

The news and truth are not the same thing. Walter Lippmann

 

[oldsparkey]

Bear...

I have a deal for you , one you can't turn down. :roll:

You send me the hammock along with a check (a good one for 33 1/3 ) for what you paid for the hammock and I will make sure you have it when we go camping together on a river.
Consider it a storage and avability fee on my behalf for consideration of you and the hammock , was going to say yours but it would be mine to loan out to you on a river trip.

Disclaimer :
You ( the renter and X Owner ) will be resposable for any cleaning , repair , stain removal or damage when setting it up or taking it down to the said hammock. Camping at or near any Lakes , rapids , waterfalls , and rockey water excluded.


Your friend..........

Me.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Br'r Bear, I picked up on your original description of the pad.

I'm also wondering how you got the mesh on your head. I've never been able to get into that kind of a contortion. Was Bambii in there with you? I TOLD her to stay home that weekend!

You either (1) rolled so far to the side, that you were partially hanging in the mesh. Or (2) pulled yourself up so far that you jammed your head up into the end of the hammock. You have to struggle to do either one.

I'm having some trouble trying to figure out what you were doing in there. You didn't listen to Swampy, did you??!!

 

[Kayak Jack]

Too Busy,

We've kinda wandered off your trail here, please reinstate us into your story? I'm the one who got all the others to try a Hennessy, and I'm interested in our progress and opinions.