Gathered end hammock question

[cscornette]

Thanks! After looking at the video on the Streamliner I'm definitely going to try my method. I'm 6'4", and I'm pretty happy with the length/width of my second design, actually. My issue is that at my head the fabric flops instead of supporting. I think losing a little length on the edge will pull that in and give my head the support it needs. I'll probably experiment with pulling ends and whipping to get the depth of the curve right before I cut. Cheers!

[Just Bill]

That's the thing, though: if the fabric is perfect (for me), shaping the ends doesn't really improve the lay. It just changes it. It might be as good - but different, not better.



Hm, I need to go back to that one, and do more experimenting. I didn't notice any improvement, but the longest piece of fabric I tried the parallelogram with was 5m / 16.4'. That's probably too short, especially if you want to have the hammock have a decent length. From the experience with my only prototype, I could never justify butchering a piece of fabric that would yield 2 hammocks. But I think I have an uncut piece of fabric that I could whip into a parallelogram hammock and give it another try.

Agree with your first point... for me it does tune things a bit even with perfect fabric. But there is a reason I got into bridges, lol. Even with 'perfect' I still need a little tweak to use a GE.

If you tried the TZBrown parallelogram... probably not worth going back for you.

I only say that because (other than the education) the primary purpose of that one is to reduce the RL distance and keep the net/tarp super compact.
For a shortie hammock... it's awesome. But if you weren't trying to recreate a long hammock in a small package for weight/space saving reasons then I don't see the advantage.

So 'stretching' it out isn't worth it... because you are not gaining anything in my opinion.

The version of it I enjoyed used 13'6" of fabric... I've since moved on from the design but not the concept.
I could probably dig up the old pattern if you're interested.

[cscornette]

Not a good solution - at least with a 3" cat cut. The edges were WAY too taut, to the point that it was almost impossible to get out of. I may try 1/2" or so of taper just on the ends to see what that will do. I've got a couple regular straight cut hammocks I can try just sewing a taper into the corners of without cutting fabric. Then I can play with how much taper by just pulling the thread and re-sewing... Feels like a rabbit hole, but it will be fun to play with.

[4evrplan]

Funny you should ask this question, because just a week or so ago, I finished disassembling and remaking my homemade hammock with 3 inch convex cat curves on the short ends. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to spend more than about 10 minutes in it, but my initial impression was that it was very comfortable and not too tight at all. That may have a lot to do with the fabric though; it's bargain ripstop, not very strong stuff, but double layered in my implementation. Here's the thing though, at the same time I added the curves, I also cut the width down to about 51-52 inches or so, so even if I had spent more time in it, I wouldn't be able to tell you which modification made more difference.

[G-Rat]

Not a good solution - at least with a 3" cat cut. The edges were WAY too taut, to the point that it was almost impossible to get out of.

Did you also have an inward cat cut on the long sides? Note that the Streamliner has both and I believe they complement each other. I suspect that reverse cuts on the short ends with straight sides could quickly become uncomfortable.

I'm quite fond of the support while laying in my Streamliner, but the tautness of the long edges does create a very different feel than a standard (rectangular) GE hammock. I can still sit upright in my Streamliner by folding it in half, with the fold under my knees and the edges under my butt.

And yes, it's definitely a rabbit hole....