Lightweight hammock - what fabric?

**SGT Rock** · 07-30-2015, 09:35

Right now with my Argon 0.9 hammock I feel like I am walking on eggshells every time I sit down on it. My first 1.1 hammock was the same way when I started using it. I hope that I get over it LOL.

I find it reassuring I'm not the only one that gets gingerly into a hammock when stepping down a notch on material.

**sargevining** · 07-30-2015, 10:49

I'm about to experience one of the BIG advantages of lightweight fabric. I'm headed out to the 4th Annual Texas Butt Bake to hang for four days in heat index temps in the low three digits.

Laying in that 1.1 hammock cools me down. The material is thin enough for me to feel even the slightest air movement beneath me and spreads my perspiration over a wider area that promotes evaporation. This will be the third year I've used this hammock at a Butt Bake.

**SGT Rock** · 07-30-2015, 11:35

I agree. My son, HOI and I recently hiked a section of the BMT, and nit was HOT. So hot we would get up at 0530 every morning so we could break camp and hike our miles before it got too hot to walk. Of course part of the problem with this is when it is really hot, you are now dog tired and want a nap. With a 1.0 hammock and no quilt or pad it was like laying in a nice cool bed. Ok, maybe cool is a stretch, but it was better than laying on the ground and the cooling properties of the hammock was VERY welcome.

**craige** · 07-30-2015, 12:35

I've been using the 1.1 rs and HyperD 1.0 from ripstopbytheroll for a while now with no issues. I'm 6'3" and weigh around 230lbs. You should be fine if you find the hammock comfortable. Don't keep sharp things in your pockets

**MattK** · 07-30-2015, 15:12

I definitely was very slow, careful, and cautious when I first started using the NylonD 1.0. Big jump from the standard ENO fabric (4oz/sqyd or somesuch).

I have more confidence now, but...

Don't keep sharp things in your pockets

...I still am careful about it.

**Tucson Tom** · 07-30-2015, 19:40

Originally Posted by sargevining

I made a 12 foot long 67" wide hammock out of the 1.1 MarPat that DIY Gear supply sells. I slept in it every single night for two and a half years---both in my home and in the field-

I am rereading all of the comments and following the links. I do searches in this DIY forum and read until my head spins, then ask questions. What Sarge Vining says is pretty convincing.
But I am not looking to blame anyone if things go wrong, just wanting to benefit from the experience of others. I'll try a couple of light hammocks and if something rips, I have some pieces
of material for other uses and have gained experience.

I just got my package from Dutch, including 7 feet of orange-red "brick" colored PolyD 1.2 Not flame red, but a more mellow color. Anyway for the price (it was from his remnants listings).
I will have $14 invested in a single layer PolyD 1.2 hammock that will weigh about 7 ounces. That doesn't sound bad.

Now a question (as I hijack my own thread). On the hammock I now have I dutifully sewed a channel, threaded it, then pulled it tight and whipped the resulting bundle with the same cord
that threaded the channel. Then a larks head (aka girth hitch) connects my suspension to the whipped bundle at the end. This seems very much belt and suspenders. The sewn channel
is bearing absolutely no load and could have been sewn with one line of stitches (or omitted altogether). Some weight could be saved here (and some length gained) if the suspension itself
actually went through the sewn channel. Help me here. I'll go read posts and see if I can find examples about what others have done, but I am thinking that I took someones instructions
too literally when I did my first hammock 3 years ago......... If this is all too confusing, I can take pictures.

**SGT Rock** · 07-30-2015, 19:50

What I have been doing is running my leader through the channel and that is it. I triple stitch the channel though. That said, I was concerned about the Argon .9 hammock so not only did I tripple stitch, I ran the leader through the channel and then back round the body again before doing the larks head that way it added a little extra bite to the material. I don't know if it is needed, but that is about as close as I get to whipping a hammock. I quit trying to whip hammocks years ago.

**craige** · 07-30-2015, 20:23

Originally Posted by Tucson Tom

Now a question (as I hijack my own thread). On the hammock I now have I dutifully sewed a channel, threaded it, then pulled it tight and whipped the resulting bundle with the same cord
that threaded the channel. Then a larks head (aka girth hitch) connects my suspension to the whipped bundle at the end. This seems very much belt and suspenders. The sewn channel
is bearing absolutely no load and could have been sewn with one line of stitches (or omitted altogether). Some weight could be saved here (and some length gained) if the suspension itself
actually went through the sewn channel. Help me here. I'll go read posts and see if I can find examples about what others have done, but I am thinking that I took someones instructions
too literally when I did my first hammock 3 years ago......... If this is all too confusing, I can take pictures.

The end channel plus whipping definitely isn't necessary. I normally do a double stitched channel, put a cable tie through it and tighten it down then larkshead a continuous loop/suspension against the bottom of the channel. It does add a little extra fabric but I've seen a few posts where the stitches holes have elongated and look a little precarious when the suspension is straight through the channel. With heavier fabric I'd run it straight through the channel and I'm sure many are fine with light fabric too, but I'm probably cutting it fine with weight limits already. Plus the resulting ball on the end works well to hang my underquilt from.

**Tucson Tom** · 07-30-2015, 20:37

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

What I have been doing is running my leader through the channel and that is it. I triple stitch the channel though. That said, I was concerned about the Argon .9 hammock so not only did I tripple stitch, I ran the leader through the channel and then back round the body again before doing the larks head that way it added a little extra bite to the material. I don't know if it is needed, but that is about as close as I get to whipping a hammock. I quit trying to whip hammocks years ago.

OK, Well this makes sense all right and would make things simpler and cleaner -- and would make that triple line of stitches all important. It is tempting to make up another pair of whoopee slings first, then run the loop end of the whoopee through the channel then form the larks head leaving the whoopee permanently attached to the hammock. This is what I do anyway now with the hammock I am now using. No whipping is grams saved.

I have heard people talk (or read what they have written actually) about gathering the end of the hammock in specific ways. Done "like the warbonnet" some say - which of course conveys no information to someone who has never seen a warbonnet. I think I am going to try the whoopee through the channel and see how that works out. Unless someone "speaks up" with pertinent advice to the contrary.

And I see what craige has said about watching stitching holes enlarge. I had pictured that in my mind already. Well, I could keep an eye on it and transition to whipping if the stitches look like they are getting too stressed. I wonder if part of the trick is doing the sewing neat and tight so all the stitches share the load.