Here's the 'plan' I'll be following for this first attempt; everything I see says about 3" deviation at the ends & 5" on the sides is the max worth looking at, and the sides require the most adjustment of any part of the hammock. I won't do the side cuts at first, since I want them to follow the true as-used tension lines while I'm inside it, but I expect them to be assymetrical catenary/hyperbola shapes like I've drawn.
One last question; in looking over whipping vs. channels, has anyone tried pleating the fabric before sewing into channels? Seems like a way to get some of the results from whipping (such as "W" style whipping that spreads the calf ridge into two parallel ridges) but in a much more controlled, easy to see/measure manner. Once gathered, I can't see how pleating stitches only 6" or so from the end would be significantly stressed by a person lying in the thing.
Oh, the 59" width will increase to whatever the wide Dutch Hexon stuff comes in at. From what my way-too-thorough research has shown, width is the biggest factor for a comfy, flat diagonal lay. Length is what helps even out lines of high stress like the calf ridge. That fancy Ninox thing has a notably wide floorplan, and I can't help but wonder if that's the real 'X factor' more so than the end channels. With so much width, I expect there to be a ton of unstressed floppy fabric in places, which I'd be able to hack away to open things up & reduce bulk.
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