I'm new to hammocking but I want to give it a try. Here in New England, there are very few decent stealth campsites for tents, especially higher up on a mountain. With a hammock I believe I would have more choices as to where I could camp. I just ordered materials from ripstopbytheroll for a hammock and fronkey style bugnet. I plan to make a simple channel end hammock as per Kyle Baker's video using 1.9 oz ripstop nylon (because it's cheaper than the lighter fabrics). I have a couple of questions. On the Fronkey style bugnet, I thought of overlapping the two pieces to create a 1" channel which you could slip a dedicated bugnet ridgeline through. This would keep the bugnet centered. Would this work and if it would, is it a good idea or not? Second question: I've been looking at bridge hammocks, thinking that they give more shoulder & foot room. What about slipping an 18 or 24" aluminum tube through the end channels of the hammock and attaching the lines to the ends of the tubes? You'd bunch up all the hammock channel onto the tube and connect the amsteel cord to the ends of the tube (attachment details to be worked out yet). Any feedback or suggestion would be appreciated.
I've already made an emergency rain tarp with multiple tie outs, which was a lot of work (all by hand, no sewing machine) so a hammock seems like a really simple project compared to the tarp.