XL Hammock Shorter?

[coachsmith50]

Hey guys, I am contemplating making a new hammock out of one of the XL line of fabrics available now. Does the wider fabric allow for a shorter hammock?

And can someone, who has had experience with both comment on the added comfort of the wider hammock vs the added weight. Is it worth it to you?

Thanks guys. Love this forum!!!!

[sqidmark]

I made a wide hammock with the exact same hope. Wanted to use a shorter tarp. It didn't work out for me. After much experimenting it turns out that 11' is the minimum length I'm comfortable with regardless of width. I'm only 5'4" but have numerous old injuries/ailments that are definately factors. The only truly helpful advice anyone can give is to try it for yourself. For an initial impression, maybe you'll find one at a group hang that you can try. Still, you won't know for sure till you spend a night or two in one.

[Double]

If going with a shorter hammock it helps to add a foot box to it. It seems counter intuitive but it's less fabric, and you can fit under a smaller tarp. So you save weight but not so much on the hammock side of things. I'm going to add a foot box to my 11.5' Hyper D hammock and whip the ends at nine and ten feet to see how it feels. I really want to make a Robic 1.7 hammock like this so I can cut down on length and actually fit under my 11 foot tarp at the same time.

This is my thinking on a shorter hammock. Then again I'm 6'4" and when on a diagonal I'm right against the edge of the fabric. So the extra width from the Robic will help with that too. The foot box doesn't need to be made out of the same fabric as the hammock. You could go with 1.0 Robic to save more weight. They recommend that you run some Lashit/Zingit through the foot box side hem to give strength. This is the tutorial that first peaked my interest about foot boxes. Granted I don't think I'll go as extreme with cutting the angles on the end of the hammocks like he does, but you never know. My two cents.

[hutzelbein]

Width doesn't do anything for me if there is not enough length. If you have ever used one of those super short "double" hammocks (like the ENO double), you probably know that the sides come up pretty high. It feels like a bath tub, and I can't lie at an extreme angle without being bent into a banana shape. The question is, what the best width-length-ratio is. If you're doing a DIY hammock anyway, here's how to find out: you'll probably have to order 4 yards of fabric anyway. If you don't trim it, you would get a hammock slightly longer than 11' (depending on how wide your channels are). Hem the long sides, but before you sew the channels, whip the fabric at different lengths and spend a night in it. You should be able to quickly determine the perfect length for you.

[kitsapcowboy]

Hey guys, I am contemplating making a new hammock out of one of the XL line of fabrics available now. Does the wider fabric allow for a shorter hammock? And can someone, who has had experience with both comment on the added comfort of the wider hammock vs the added weight. Is it worth it to you? Thanks guys. Love this forum!!!!

If your primary goal for moving to a short widebody hammock is weight savings, it may not be worth it for you.

I'm 6'2" tall, and I used a shorter, wider hammock than my standard-width 11-footer to hang comfortably in a confined space, rather than to save weight.

I wanted to hang a hammock inside the playhouse I built for my daughter, which had interior dimensions of approximately 85" x 61" (after you take into account the corner posts and R-13 wall construction of it's 8' x 6' footprint); thus, the diagonal distance between interior anchor points was only 105", five inches less than my usual 110" ridge line length.

I was able to hang a short widebody hammock in this space that was 124" (10.3') by 72" (6.0') and get a comfortable lay equivalent to my standard 11-foot hammocks. I was actually able to obviate the SRL because, unlike hanging from slings or straps, the post-mounted anchors are hardpoints fixed in space, so I just hung my continuous loops on some heavy-duty hooks screwed deep into the corner posts.

However, as hutzlebein pointed out, it took a pretty wide hammock to make up for a small reduction in length and achieve the same lay. If one does the math, the short widebody 124" x 72" hammock comprises 12.7% more material with 8928 sq in than my standard 132" x 60" hammock with just 7920 sq in, so even with the lightest materials, its still going to weigh at least an ounce more.

Again, as hutzelbein points out so astutely, a widebody hammock achieves its roominess and relative comfort by enclosing a larger "pocket volume"; the perimiter of the hammock at the hems remains determined solely by the hammock body length. If you make a hammock wide enough, it will wrap around you 360 degrees. The extra comfort many find in a wide hammock is afforded to the occupant because the hammock body is soft and flexible, so within the deep pocket of a widebody hammock, one can find a good diagonal by pushing out a bit at the shoulder and feet without as much constraint from the fixed length of the hemmed edges.

YMMV, depending upon how tall and/or broad you are, but you get the idea of what you're trading off. HTH...