ok... my motto has always been: when i don't know about something, i don't know what i should not be able to do... it has worked pretty good for me so here goes.
i'm interested in building a hammock for my daughter. i think i would enjoy camping in a hammock but i don't think my son would like the idea of sleeping alone in the woods. my daughter is much more independent (which i suspect is part of the reason she wants a hammock).
anyway, we live in a desert. we often go to the forrest to camp, but there are some good hikes right close to home. unfortunately, desert landscape doesn't lend itself to "hammock camping". i don't think they make saguaro huggers, and i would guess that thin bug netting wouldn't help much when the enormous and very heavy saguaro comes crashing down on her (saguaros have very shallow roots).
so, to keep our gear to a minimum, i think i'd like to design a bridge hammock that can also serve as a 1 person tent. here are my thoughts:
(totally new at this hammock stuff so forgive some of the names i give things)
use thick silnylon for the body and the draft protector ends
attach bug netting over the body and the draft protectors designed to hang from the ridgeline (mitten hooks)
where the ridgeline attaches to the suspension line put the same type of hardware that i put where the spreader bars fit into (so a piece of metal with 5 small holes -- one for the spreader bar, one for the ridgeline, one for the suspension line and one for each of two guylines that i'll use to pitch it as a tent)
when hanging as a hammock, the two guy lines just become drip lines
when pitching it as a tent, use the guy lines with stakes and the spreader bars as tent poles. this would give me an "A" frame with the ridgeline on top
make sure the bug netting height when hung as a hammock was a couple inches less than the length of the spreader bars so that when pitched as a tent and clipped in with mitten hooks to the ridgeline it would pull up the sides of the hammock a couple inches to create a tub for the floor.
when hanging as a hammock use a not fully inflated, insulated air mattress as your underquilt
when pitching as a tent, fully inflate the air mattress.
in both cases, put a tarp over the ridgeline if needed
what am i not thinking of here? this seems like it would completely work. essentially, one could hike from desert to forrest (like the AZ trail) and still get some hang time without the need to carry two different shelters. all the components of one work for the other (i guess i can't figure out a use for the tree huggers when pitching as a tent... yet).
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