While perusing the RSBTR site I wondered if anyone has made a hammock from their MTN 1.2oz XL fabric (or similar). A bit of trig seems to indicate that I could make a hammock about 30 cm shorter than my current 3.3m one.
Pros? Cons?
One con might be the large walls of fabric. Also my UQ might not be wide enough to accommodate lying at a greater angle.
Better weight than wisdom, a traveller cannot carry - Viking proverb
I've made several hammocks out of RSBTR 1.7 MTN XL. The widest are 67" (170 cm) wide. Although I needed to play with the adjustments a bit, I've had no problems using my UQs laying at an increased angle. I did find that I had a bit of excess fabric flopping around on the widest versions, which is why I experimented with making others that were a bit narrower and adding Knotty mods to some. I much prefer the knotty mod approach. The Knotty mods really help a great deal with eliminating floppy fabric and have the added benefit of helping to keep my TQs in the hammock when I get in and out.
~ All I want is affordable, simple, ultralight luxury. That’s not asking too much is it?
Back in 2019 I made a hammock from the predecessor fabric, MTN 1.3. I think it's about the same thing as MTN 1.2 is today but I could be wrong. I think I've probably told people from time to time that it is MTN 1.2, but it's actually 1.3 if that matters.Originally Posted by Bob-W
Anyway, there are some pics of the build over on my Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B5yNKbVlXMT/?img_index=1
If I were doing it again today, I'd probably not make it as wide as I did then. People's opinions differ, but I've found that the extra width has little to no effect on my comfort but leads to flappy fabric on the sides. I'd just go with 59-60 inches wide rather than 63 as I did then. The extra width has had no effect on the underquilt fit. I just don't get into much more of an angle in this wider hammock than I did in my regular width hammocks, I guess. I'd also make it 10.5 feet long, as I'm just 5'9" tall and that seems to be the sweet spot for me. That would also give me a little more leeway in centering the hammock under the tarp.
"...the height of hammock snobbery!"
You could hem the sides and make a channel on one end then whip the other end. Using this method, you can experiment with the length and get an idea of how much width you prefer at any given length by observing the amount extra fabric or floppy factor. It is not difficult to narrow the hammock, using a thread ripper to remove some of the channel and then restitch that portion of the channel. Not the neatest but once the CL is tightened all that back stitching will be hidden.
Lurker for years here - Trying to increase my post count so I can sell one of my hammocks.
I have two MTN 1.7 XL hammocks, one is 11.25' long 1lb exact and the other is 10.5' long 0.88lbs. They both give a flat lay. The 10.5' seems to be giving me a flatter lay, not sure why. It could be because it is newer. I made it 10.5' by accident actually, I wanted another 11' hammock for my wife but I screwed it up. I tried it out and was surprised that it gave me a flatter lay, so now the 10.5' footer is mine! They both can have floppy fabric if I lay in it wrong and both have large fabric walls but I don't really mind it. If you do make a shorter hammock in XL width, I do want to hear about how it works for you though.
I should have said in my original post that I was 1.80m tall (5-10 in old money).
One thing I had thought of was to trim the sides I'm not using (I lay head left, feet right) down to "normal" width or slightly narrower by taking wedges from about 2/3rds along the sides. Has anyone done similar?
I'll have a look into knotty mods as well.
RSBTR give a weight limit of 275lbs (or 125kg) for the MTN 1.2 fabric. I'm 88kg, is there enough leeway there to allow for dynamic loading?
Better weight than wisdom, a traveller cannot carry - Viking proverb
I made a 13 footer from the Hyper D XL its 6 foot wide so the sides are rather floppy but it's extremely comfortable. The main problem is that it's too wide for anything but a custom made underquilt.
Some people/venders are making hammocks w/ cat cut curves in the sides. Sounds similar to what you are thinking. I haven't used one so I can't offer any more intel than that.
"Sent w/o me knowing"
Bob-W, I believe SimpleLightDesign (SLD) has a model called a Streamliner that has cat-cut curves on the sides. The pros are lighter weight (no extra material) and have more visibility from the hammock. But I found that created a hard edge under my knees when I got in/out of the hammock. That could just be my fate with my body type and a taller person, with longer shin bones, wouldn't have an issue.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
Shoot I hadn't even considered that as a potential issue! I've got a Hex2.2 XL hammock on its way from SLD. Will have to test out UQs when it arrives.
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