Originally Posted by WhollyHamaca
WhollyHamaca,
How does the 60x132 hammock you made compare for sleeping and getting
out of compared to the 156x90? I'm 5'8 160# and don't like the ones with high sides.
WhollyHamaca,
How does the 60x132 hammock you made compare for sleeping and getting
out of compared to the 156x90? I'm 5'8 160# and don't like the ones with high sides.
I find the 60" width is easier than 90" to get out only if you're comparing them with simple gathered or through-channel ends, but I fold & whip my 90" hammocks to give them soft sides that eliminate the high, tight bathtub sides you'd get if you just gathered. The way I fold it (see post 36 above), I find the 90" hammock is actually easier to exit than a gathered 60", and it has a much bigger sweet spot for comfortable sleeping. And the added width is great for fully supported transverse lay. I also like to hang mine with about 45* sag, not the usual 30* as for camping. More sag = softer sides = easier exit. With so much sag you need a sufficiently long hammock to get a reasonably flat lay, or you'll slide down and be scrunched up in the bowl that forms in the center. I don't know optimal relationships between hammock length, width, and sag, but for me a longer, wider hammock with lots of sag and folded/whipped ends does the trick, and I can exit easily even on a bad day. YMMV.
Yes, the wide sides of mine do flop over at the head quadrant. To help with that and to gratify my inner lounge-lizard I clip a small saddle-bag there for Kindle, phone, small notebook & pen. It hangs outboard at about shoulder-height, and the weight keeps that edge off my face. I've considered shaping the hammock sides a bit to reduce that high floppy edge (or just a Knotty stretch side), also cutting a slightly concave curve on the opposite exit side to soften that edge, but I don't want to cut up my nice cotton cloth so I haven't experimented with that yet.
For what it's worth, I measured my 90x156 cotton tablecloth hammocks again today after I saw your question. Turns out they only shrank about 6-7 inches each way, not a full foot, so maybe they stretched out again with use? Or perhaps there was tape-measure operator error the first time. I don't recall if I measured them right out of the package, so the dimensions listed are size before factory hemming? Anyway, we've been using the same ones for at least a couple of years now (not counting the 60" one I made last autumn for my brother) with no signs of wear that I can see, even with two cats hopping in and out of them most nights. We wash them weekly like bed sheets (plain unscented detergent, cool or warm water, no bleach) and either line-dry or cool dryer.
Best wishes in your quest to discover what works best for you!
Has been using a cotton hammock in the yard for years, needs to be maintained. Do not leave in the sun or in the rain for long. Wash with fabric softener
I'm really liking my 1.6 Argon 11' for every-night hanging. I have it set fairly low to the floor so I can just sort of "roll" out.
This post is out of date, as I'm sure you've long since your first post you
have long since made your indoor hammock....... but, I made my indoor
hammock out of a canvas painters dropcloth....
It works great, and allows for a sweet diagonal lay. The drop cloth has
two seams at each third of the width running lengthwise... fold in thirds
at seams, whip ends and hang.
I also have the 1.6 Hexon, which is a sweet hang, too!
Hope you have found / made a good one by now. (cheers)
dance lightly, with the earth; listen to her song
Nah, not out of date, even if the OP who asked has reached a decision. The question and its variations (see "Similar Threads" list at bottom of the page) still has currency as long as somebody comes along who finds the suggestions & opinions useful, or who shares another one! But "best" in this context is highly subjective, and for a given person it depends on a lot of variables that can be weighted for relative importance to individual needs and preferences. Also, materials come and go, become more or less easy to find or affordable, etc etc. So what's best for one may not be best for another, and maybe this year but not next. It's a multidimensional moving target! But this is a great forum for generating and sharing and critiquing ideas, methods, materials, and experiences so we can benefit from trial-and-error failures and successes without having to figure it out again ourselves.
Re. your canvas dropcloth hammock, it seems you've found a fabric that works well for you! For those who may want to replicate your success, can you recall the details of the particular dropcloth you bought? (Brand and where you bought it, size you bought, size of the finished hammock, anything else you think is helpful). I guess it was really big since you folded it into thirds (for a triple-layer hammock?) before whipping the ends.
I ask because there are so many dropcloths for sale out there of varying qualities. For instance, on the cheap end of the scale I bought a 9x12 cotton canvas dropcloth from Harbor Freight. After washing and drying to shrink it, the weave was still too loosely woven to keep paint drips off the floor. It seemed strong enough to make a couple of hammock chairs if I made them double thickness but it felt coarse and rough. Before I could hang it for a room divider, my brother swiped it and made himself a whipped end hammock in about 5 minutes! His new dropcloth hammock is too coarsely woven for me, but he has thick gnarly alligator hide and he says it feels good -- maybe it exfoliates his scaly crust while he sleeps! It's only been a few weeks, too soon to say how well it will wear, and if it will stretch out of shape or tear out under his 220 lb weight. (He hangs it low and has a gym mat on the floor in case it tears.)
My point is that what works great for one person may or may not work as well for another, but the experience of those who have tried is valuable data for the next person to build on. If you can share the details of the dropcloth hammock that's working well for you, it might be just what somebody else is looking for -- including my brother when his cheapo one bites the dust! I hope yours continues to bring you blissful and relaxing sleep for a long time!
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