Built a Bridge and now I want to change it

[Cruiser51]

I have been having a lot of fun with DIY gear and have completed a new gear set (tarp/UQs,TQs,GE hammock) and it all works great. Soooo .... looking for new stuff to do, I made a new bridge, to the following specs:

36" x .625" spreader bars (Easton)
2 x 1/2" kevlar ribon edge suspension
Dutch titanium bridge hardware set
Hexon 1.6 material
Length 80" x 48" (Depth 15"), cat cut 6"
Dogbones 30"
Sewn in encaps (double to make storage pockets)

.... after setting up and trying out some pads/underquilts and various hang scenarios, I have decided that I like it, but feel I can improve it a bit with a few changes, so I will deem it a prototype (for me), usable ...but i think another version is in order.

Changes I am planning:
Front width to 55"
Front pole to 43" x .725" (Easton)
Edge webbing to 1" kevlar or 1" UMWPE, folded in half (making it 1/2" for rolled edge)
Hexon 1.6 to Hex70 2.2
Eliminate the endcaps and allow hammock to continue up about 2/3 of the dogbones

- Front width change (pole + material) is to give a bit more shoulder width, the center will also get another inch or so as well from this change
- The 1/2" kevlar worked really well and was easy to work with, but is expensive and I felt something a little more substantial might be better
- The material change was from a post I read on materials best suited to bridges
- I don't winter camp and those endcaps seem to limit storage and movement in the hammock ... it makes sense to extend them out

I canoe/portage, so a few ounces is not as important to me as a good nights sleep .....

I was hoping to get some criticisms/comments on any of these changes, hopefully to make the second version the final one.

Brian

[GrizzlyAdams]

I've not used kevlar straps for webbing, but have experience with it as tree straps. ISTM the weave is a bit loose which would concern me about sewing in a loop, and I have started a 'tear' in one as a result of using a soft shackle instead of a loop or carabiner, the thin cord applied under pressure to the strap tore it. Might happen where the loop attaches to hardware or cord. I don't have experience with UMWPE but would definitely look at that before 1" kevlar.

The thing to be aware of with the hammock extending up the dogbones is the depth of the body. Too deep and things you want to store go sliding out. Too shallow and they come sliding back in. The easiest thing would be to 'fit' that piece of the hammock after the load-bearing stuff is worked out and hanging. Get someone in the hammock so you get its shape under load and then use pins to position the body beyond the spreader bars to get the depth of interest. You might also consider a small endocap-ish sort of thing that goes up just a few inches to keep stuff you've tossed there from sliding out.

One reason to include endcaps is for an integrated topside bugnet. As a former denizen of Minnesota and sometime explorer of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area I know that in season you must have protection against mosquitoes lest you are carried off at night, With your design you would need a non-attached full enclosure sort of bugnet, which would be your next DIY project unless by happy accident the commercially available independent nets can accommodate the spreader bars.
My weight goes between 190 and 200 lbs depending on the state of my diet discipline and Hexon 1.6 has been fine for me. A heavier weave will mean more secure and longer-lived stitching on the suspension, and since weight is less of a concern (at least until you do one of those half mile portages ) the heavier fabric will also feel like it has less give, sort of like a firmer mattress, which I like.

Finally, there is no such thing as.a 'final version'!