People's Bridge Hammock - first glimpse

[WV]

Thanks, hodad. Recently I've been concentrating on hammocks for larger hangers, so the fabric choice (double Dobby 1.9) and the hammock design (wider overall, especially at the foot end) haven't been chosen for ultralight hiking. Comfort and strength are my are my prime goals. That said, there are features of these PBH models that would appeal to the inner gram weenie. Firstly, using trekking poles as spreaders or "going bush" (as in bushcraft) and cutting your own spreaders in the woods eliminates the need to carry additional spreader poles. I don't advocate cutting a pair of saplings or green branches for each night's stop, but using pockets does allow emergency replacements for broken poles. Once I took a new PBH on a day hike to "test out" (i.e. - nap), but found that I forgot to pack spreaders for it. I didn't have trekking poles with me, but I found a large dead pine tree lying on the ground, cut a couple of 1.5" diameter branches, and whittled the ends to fit in the pockets. I had a very successful "test" and awoke as usual with a black and white dog lying under the hammock. Also, using pockets that let the spreaders extend past the edge of the hammock means that I can get good rain coverage with a smaller tarp, because I attach the pockets to the edge of the tarp. The pockets were also designed to protect a cuben tarp from being punctured by pole tips (which I've done).

After I outfit a few more friends and relations, I'll probably try my hand at another lightweight PBH and custom tarp combination, but it probably wouldn't classify as "ultralight". I'll yield that designation to Sergeant Rock, whose work I admire. He talks the talk and walks the walk. I haven't decided which fabric(s) I'll use for that. My current insulated PBH is 1.6 Argon with some sort of downproof fabric in the 1 oz range (Momentum 90?) for the bottom layer, and it's certainly a breeze to backpack - with an Aarn Pack to distribute the load efficiently and a dog who can carry 12 lbs. to "distribute" it further.

[PharmGeek]

Very cool! I made my first bridge WV and really like it - I'm just waiting on crafting an UQ for it now

The poles for me work - but to get to the width I want (36 inches as I recall) I had to extend both clasps - the smaller diameter pole slipped on me - the larger remained. There is a fine white powder that has accumulated in those areas that I suppose helped it slip - I may need to try different poles?


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[WV]

Have you tried TeeDee's trick of putting a dowel inside your trekking pole to limit how much it can collapse? I believe you could use two different sized dowels to fit the middle and bottom pole sections. Don't use dowels that fit snugly; they can get stuck in there, and you'll want to take them out for hiking.

[PharmGeek]

Have you tried TeeDee's trick of putting a dowel inside your trekking pole to limit how much it can collapse? I believe you could use two different sized dowels to fit the middle and bottom pole sections. Don't use dowels that fit snugly; they can get stuck in there, and you'll want to take them out for hiking.

Oh hmmm - yes! I need to really figure out how to do that! Thanks


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[Overland]

WV. I'm going to attempt to make your PBH. I've read this article many times and I'm going to make one 85 inches long (32 plus 53) using 44" at the foot end and 55" for the head end with the 24" measurement at the knee ridge. This should keep the angle the same as in your 76" design (I hope). I going use the Ariel method for the channels with 2" webbing reinforcement at the knee ridge. I'm thinking about 38-40" spreader bars at the head end and 28-30" at the foot end. Anyway that's my current thinking. I'm interested in your stuff stack. Can you please share the dimensions ? It looks like a trapezoid. Thanks.

[BlackWolf]

Oh boy, I can't wait to get home and read this thread.

[WV]

Overland, the stuff sack/pillow case is trapezoidal only because it was cut out of the triangle of material cut off the sides of the hammock bed. Use a rectangle if you have more fabric.
I'm pleased that more people are experimenting with this design, and I continue to experiment myself. There are a few ways of strengthening narrow part where the knee ridge is formed. One (large) hanger noticed that the channel thread was starting to fail right at the angle. I restitched the side seams using stronger thread. Gutermann Tera thread is made for upholstery and it is smaller diameter than the Mara threads, so stronger thread will work in my old Singer 15-91 sewing machine. Tera 80 is the thread that was too weak, so I used Tera 60. That has worked well for side channels for some 300 lb. + hangers. Recently I learned that Tera 40 is similar in strength to #69 Nylon (which is too fat for my machine), so I got some, and it's great. Wawak.com has all three grades of Tera thread.

For my last two hammocks I put a 2" pleat at the knee ridge. This may be overkill. It depends what fabric you use. I like 1.6 or 1.9 oz. nylon. Dutch's 1.9 oz Dobby nylon/poly blend is really nice. I'm using some 2.4 oz Hexon right now, which I'm sure is stronger than necessary, but I like it.
Knee ridge pleat- side view.jpg

[Just Bill]

Alex over at Dutch's place turned me onto the Tera 60... which thus far is quickly replacing my Mara 70. I believe the Mara 70 is technically stronger, but the Tera stitches so smoothly and cleanly that I in the real world I think it does better in that it results in a consistent line of stitches everytime.

I'll have to check out that Tera 40 one of these days but the 60 has been holding in even the big guy bridges so my confidence in it slowly grows.

[Overland]

Thanks for the info WV. I'm going to use Dutch's 1.6 Hexon. I'm 6.2, 230#. I'll try the pleat at the knee ridge and get some Tera 60. Thanks again

[WV]

Easiest way to do the pleat is to fold the fabric once and stitch close to the fold. The seam won't be load-bearing. Then fold one end back 2" and sew the fold down with widely spaced stitches. Turn the hammock over and sew the other edge of the pleat the same way. I do this before I mark and cut out the sides, with the angle centered on the pleat. Invariably I end up with one end an inch longer than planned and the other an inch shorter, so it's best to leave some goof-allowance at each end of the hammock. The planned measurements are pretty aribitrary, though, so my goofs (where I didn't leave end allowance) have all worked okay. I've noticed that people's body proportions - length of legs vs. length of torso - can vary a lot, so the optimum placement of the knee ridge wouldn't be the same for everybody. In my shorter hammocks I notice that my head is very close to the end of the hammock, but there's extra room blow my feet, so maybe I should change the proportion. Either that or my legs are too short.

Tera 60 is a good choice. I follow a kind of hierarchy of measuring. After I measure and cut the fabric, I remind myself that those cuts are on the bias and the length can change if I'm not careful, so the critical measurements are the 4 pieces of blanket binding, which has far less stretch. I pin the channel pieces every 3" to keep the fabric from moving while I sew the first of 3 side seams, and then I put the amsteel in the channels. At this point there is a locked brummel in one end of each piece of amsteel. I now sew the side cords in place for 6 to 8" at each end instead of putting strap loops to attach to. Sew through the hammock fabric, the channel sleeve (polyester blanket binding), and the locked brummel with 4 rows of stitching at one end of the hammock, then tie it to something solid (door handle) and stretch the fabric and the amsteel taut to measure and mark the amsteel cords. Just as the measurement of the channel was more important than the measurement of the fabric, the lengths of the amsteel cords should be exactly the same, and they should be about 1/2" shorter than the channels they run in. You can get them that way by puttin a whoopie in each end. It's a trial and error process. Keep measuring to make sure they end up even. (There are other tricks to make it easier, but you'll figure out what they are as you go along.) Finish them by sewing through the bury of the whoopie and the fabric and the polyester channel the way you did on the first end. I add two more lines of stitching on each side, sewing through the hammock fabric and the channel, but not the amsteel. This is when I add a reinforcing piece at the angle, too.