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  1. #1
    New Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Stewart, British Columbia, Canada
    Hammock
    Little Shop of Hamocks Warrior
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    Dutch Rectlangle
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    Hammock Gear 10°
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    1

    Question First DIY Project, Need Some Advice

    Taking on my first hammock related DIY project, and it's a doozie. Making a tarp, and both insulations in ~20°. I have years of experience with sewing, albeit not with such light denier fabrics. I have no experience with down insulation, and with the cost of material, I'd rather avoid any mistakes.
    Ordered fabrics and accessories from Ripstopbytheroll, and the down was sourced locally from one of the hutterite colonies.

    Tarp fabric is 1.1oz Silpoly PU4000
    Insulation fabric is .66oz Membrane 10 Tafetta
    Baffle fabric is .50oz Noseum Mesh
    Down is 100% pure 950FP - no feathers
    Thread is Gutermann Mara 70
    Brother JX1710 Sewing Machine

    I have a few questions for the more experienced crafters and hangers out there.
    Tarp
    I forgot to order reinforcement material for the tie out points, would it be strong enough doubling up the 1.1oz Silpoly at those points?
    Top Quilt
    Having a hard time deciding between the standard design of vertical baffling for the torso and horizontal baffling for the footbox, or Karo Step baffling. I've done a few days research on both and the community seems divided between them. I'm trying to find the long term benefits of both designs. Short term benefits, ie: ease of down filling, or less sewing are of no concern.
    Underquilt
    Wondering about suspension channels, is it better to use the light Membrane fabric for the shock cord channels, or to sew in grosgrain loops for the shock cord channels?
    Thread
    Guessing at the needles required for such lightweight material. Microtex 70/10 is my assumption.

    Thank you to the members of the forums for the wealth of information. I would never imagine taking on a project of this magnitude without everyone's help.

    As the project progresses, I will provide updates and pictures. If everything turns out well, this may turn into a guide for anyone who wishes to attempt it.

  2. #2
    Senior Member MAD777's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    White Mountains, New Hampshire
    Hammock
    DIY, WBBB & Switchback
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    HG cuben,OES Spinn
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    DIY 3/4 UQ/TQ, UGQ
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    Dynaglide / Dutch
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    10,950
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    39
    I'll take a crack at a couple items. But there's hardly any right or wrong way to go about most of the things for camping. It just needs to be functional.

    Tarp: I like to use the same material as the tarp for reinforcement as it will have same stretch characteristics. (that may not be scientific, LOL). Of course grosgrain needs to be used for the attachment for durability.

    Top quilt: I've made both styles, Karo and straight baffles. Personally, I like Karo for thin, 40° quilts and straight baffles for thicker quilts. I don't want down shifting for colder quilts.

    Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
    Mike
    "Life is a Project!"

  3. #3
    New Member MattB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Mid Michigan
    Hammock
    Chameleon
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    DIY 12' Hex
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    EE TQ / AHO UQ
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    45
    No experience with down, only Apex so I’ll not address those questions.

    I’d use a thicker fabric for the channels to be a little more wear resistant on the UQ but not grosgrain. I’ve one RSBTR UQ kit that I used grosgrain and one I made channels out of the 1.1 ripstop. The ripstop channels work better for draft issues. The grosgrain is super stiff.

    Guttermann recommends a 90-100/14-16 sized needle for Mara 70. I use a Schmetz universal 90/14 with Mara 70.

    https://industry.guetermann.com/en/p...finder/mara-70

  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Netherlands
    Hammock
    myog 1.1 HyperD w/ fronkey bug net
    Tarp
    MNT sil 6.6 11 ft
    Insulation
    myog down Uq + TQ
    Suspension
    carabiners+webbing
    Posts
    59
    Tarp
    Doubling 1.1 ripstop will probably won't look very neat. I normally use reinfocement for the tie outs, but silpoly is strong enough to go another route. If you have 10 or 15mm wide webbing you could sew that into the seams where you want to put the tie out points. this is the way my Jacks r better silnylon tarp is made.

    I've done this on my personal tarp.

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/DCYsYzqsbR8HLrvU7

    Top Quilt
    After some google fu for my own projects I settled for an EE revelation model for my TQ. This model gets the most positive feedback on different forums; lightweight hikers, hammock, etc. I've made karo step TQ's but other makers suggest karo is better for UQ because gravity helps with lofting. Karo step won't work as good in a TQ because the down will shift easier and you get cold spots on your shoulder when sleeping on your side.

    Underquilt
    I'd go with 1.9 ripstop if you have it. Grossgrain is overkill imho. I think membrane will work as the channels won't wear much. And what MattB said.

    Thread
    'Microtex 70/10 is my assumption' and will work for mara70 thread.

    Good luck with your projects!

  5. #5
    Senior Member Cruiser51's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Bowmanville, On
    Hammock
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    472
    Tarp - doubling is likely fine, I did that with 1.1 silpoly, but watch the PU4000 coating .... it requires a different seam seal
    TQ - using both vertical and horizontal baffles, is relatively new and I suspect will take some "figuring", there is a lot more support of rht e horizontal baffles, might be the wise choice for first time doing a TQ
    UQ - I have made 2 UQs and did a clew suspension on both, it seems to be a lot less bother and works really well for me ... maybe look that up, the thread is very long and has lots of info
    Thread - I get Mara 70 from either Dutch or RSBTR, to match whatever fabric I buy, they do the colour matching chore for me

    Brian

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