Pics of my first DIY Hammock plus some Questions

[peterbennett9]

Hi, i have just completed my first diy hammock (see pics). I made it out of a sheet of rip stop nylon, with asym tie out points, whipped at each end in the 'W' formation with paracord and attached at each end to 1 inch polypropylene webbing via a loop in the webbing which was made into a larks head and pulled tight over each end behind the whipping. Im very pleased with the outcome but have some questions:

1. the edges are very slack, i have pulled the long edges through more when whipping but they are still quite slack, how much slack should their be?

2. the whipping keeps slipping towards the end, i think this is in part due to the larks head in the webbing slipping towards the end and putting pressure on the whipping and in turn making it slip. Any tips on how to prevent this? Im using about 5 turns in the whipping, is this enough? Any tips on getting it as tight as possible? And also any tips on preventing the webbing slipping towards the whipping?

3. how long are your straps at each end? i dont think mine are long enough

Any help greatly appreciated

Peter

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21397973@N07/5434428247/in/photostream/

 

[WeThePeoplexfbm]

no ideas about hammock but i do like the trees and place look like bastogne^^

 

[mrcharly]

I don't think your support trees are far enough apart (move them, lol). You need the straps to hang down, otherwise the forces go up due to leverage.

Your hammock seems very baggy and wide, I'm not sure how well that will work. My experience of home-made hammocks is that there is a lot of stretch in the material and you don't really want it to sag much before getting in.

 

[peterbennett9]

How wide would you advise it to be? It's 150 cm wide, il try and shift those trees tmrw

 

[Highbinder]

For the flappy ends, you could try re-whipping it. On mine I have whipped it but go through the end channel - I have floppy ends but it's comfy so don't mind too much. JustJeff shows a few different methods. The W is supposed to be tighter sided

As for suspension, I use 6ft webbing, with 8ft max whoopies, plus an extra 5ft length of amsteel with loops on either end as an extender. It's more than enough for anything I've come across so far!

I don't understand about the whipping slipping, can we get a close up pic?

 

[Teepee]

Ripstop can be quite slippy, especially the zero-pososity parachute nylon. Tighten the whipping with pliers and give it more wraps. Getting the right tension can be done by rewhipping or putting a curve in the hem. My advice is keep re-whipping until you have achieved hammock nirvana. I think the Shug rewhipped one of his 12 times before getting it right. My diy ripstop nylon has been re-whipped 4 times and im still not happy. I used the cinched channel whipping.

 

[mrcharly]

How wide would you advise it to be? It's 150 cm wide, il try and shift those trees tmrw

Do you lie lengthways, widthways or diagonally? The blogs I read advised lying diagonally, and I found that worked with 1m wide fabric.
I've just read the links and realise how you've done it. I used the old-fashioned knotted method.

If your whipping is slipping, try doing it tighter. The whipping they show in that link looks neat but isn't the strongest way. One of the best is actually the simplest - start with material in centre of length of whipping cord. Tie cord round material with a simple overhand knot. Pull very tight. Repeat with next knot hard adjacent to the first. Continue.
This doesn't look as neat but resists fraying, has less chance of coming undone and can be pulled very tight. Wear gloves if you want to apply serious force.

 

[peterbennett9]

Highlander i dont hve ne close up pics but what i mean is say i whip the hammock 15cm from the end then put the larks head in the webbing on 20cm from the end, it is slipping and contacting the whipping knot, putting pressure on it and the two are slipping up the fabric to about 5cm from the end.

Mrcharly il def be trying that other knot out, im goin to lie diagonally on it

 

[Trev]

Hi ,
I think the problem could be that using webbing won't allow the larks head knot to tighten properly , so it's slipping . Try replacing it with a suitable length of braid/rope etc .
Cheers , Trev .