“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.”
- Edmund Burke
Two questions...where are people finding the 40" spreader bars?
Next question: I've looked at a lot of these Ariel-style designs and I'm wondering if there's a reason I haven't seen anyone use a single piece of amsteel (per side) and just splice a small length in to create the loop for the spreader bar tips?
Thanks!
You would need to order a 17" with ferrule and a 26" without... or two 26" poles.
FWIW- for a few bucks more I'd just do the double 26" and trim them to be equal length when taken apart.
Use .75" Easton aluminum poles from quest or Tent pole technologies. Don't forget the tips.
The aluminum can be cut easily with a copper pipe cutter. I suggest you cut at the tip side only- so your joint is always factory to factory.
I considered splicing in a piece as well... but ultimately (especially with the Big Guy sizes) I didn't think it transferred the load as cleanly.
You'd create a "D" shape rather than an oval. Maybe not a big deal on a 200lb person but it would put a bit of twist on the suspension.
If you think about it- you're basically working with three pieces per side regardless. I found it easier to work with two ends and a middle of different colors and found I actually had more accuracy overall that way as well. You're also more or less doing the same amount of splicing regardless (4 loops each end, and 4 eye loops).
The only real reason I could think of was a gram weenie desire to eliminate about 2' of cordage in burries. But that's about 4g and not enough savings to justify it IMO.
So overall- fer me at least I didn't think it got me anywhere and good ol Grizz likely already thunk it out afore he shared it too.
Thanks so much, Bill! I appreciate that input and will probably just follow the directions of those who have gone before . One more...I didn't know if you're willing to share (or already have shared) your dimensions for your happy medium bridge. I completely understand if not, and I appreciate all the advice you've given to this forum!
I'm still waffling between a 36" and a 40" spreader bar. I already made an end bar bridge with 36" bar over 48" fabric and it's not bad, but definitely more squeeze than I like to spend the night with. I'm inclined to think that moving the bar in like these recessed style do might just be enough to solve my problem, and I remember reading somewhere that the Happy Medium Bridge moved the spreaders in even further than the Ariel.
At this point; I don't share my patterns. I do try to share what I can but unfortunately I've got well over $10k into things and until I recoup some more of that I won't be giving out the final patterns. What is equally frustrating and amazing is even 1/4" changes in dimension can alter a bridge.
That said; I wouldn't be building any bridges if it wasn't for Grizz's counting grams video. And that wouldn't have been around if others hadn't shared and discussed their work with Grizz or the Jack's put out the BMBH in the first place. So I do try to help as much as I can without sharing my specific bridges that I sell.
My Happy Medium is very similar to the Ariel on it's surface and our bar to fabric ratio is very close. But you did read somewhere correctly that my bars are further recessed and my ends are longer. The Ariel is a really perfect back/side general sleeper with that perfect balance on the recess between getting more bedspace without feeling the bars. The Happy Medium is more versatile and supportive and while most folks 'get over' the recessed bars after a dozen nights; that extra recess is much more notable to the user initially. But that gets you the extra pain management features as well as improving belly sleeping. So it's all tradeoff's regardless.
Worth a thought: I have been working on my 'Just a Bridge' model for about 14 months now... which a Town's End revisit on end bar models. Point being- I'm working with 36, 38 and 40" bars for that model and I am really enjoying the 40" bar size as a fair comparison to the Happy Medium.
Recessing the bars does more for you than squeeze, but if you're considering the 40" bars regardless it may be worth trying an end bar model with those bars first. Especially given your comment that the 36" end bar was getting you close. There is a lot you can do with simply altering bar sizes.
If you did a solid job on that current model structurally (the bigger bar adds more stress) then you could play with the bars a bit. If you pick up the 26" poles... you could start with a 40" set for the head and use your 36" set at the foot. If it's just too much, then cut the next one down to 38".
Keep in mind: I don't think it's a big secret but without giving out dimensions or the pattern... A Ridgerunner is basically a symmetrical end bar bridge with a larger head pole and a smaller foot pole.
The Ariel and my Happy Medium are both truly symmetrical bridges. The pattern and the bars are the same on each end.
My Luxury/Big Guy is a truly asymmetrical bridge in that the pattern and the bars are different sizes for each end.
The RR is a symmetrical pattern, but uses asymmetrical spreader bars. The only issue with this when you take it too far is the wedge shaped bedspace in the RR. That said, many folks like that bedshape and it's a good backsleeper for sure.
So you could try just playing with the spreader bars first as a 40" bar over 48" fabric isn't too bad. That may be enough to 'pop' you out of the shoulder squeeze without screwing up your side sleeping ability.
If it's a bust... you have the 40" bar now and can pursue a larger version of an Ariel or your own variation next.
Thanks so much for the response. As I mentioned I truly appreciate all of your contributions to this forum as well as your obvious passion for bridge hammocks. This has been very helpful and I'm pretty sure I will be building a recessed bar bridge in the very near future. I'll be sure to share whatever I end up with.
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