Help! Searching for the perfect DIY hammock fabric

**Holly J** · 04-23-2024, 13:21

I have spent a few afternoons lounging in my DIY hammock made of 1.6 Hyper-D, and I thought it was pretty comfortable. But I took it out last weekend and slept horribly. The fabric just felt . . . hard. (I also had a wicked calf ridge due, in part, to some mistakes I made in whipping that I didn't dare try to correct on the trail.) This was my first try, and I want to try again, but I don't know what fabric to try. Is the problem that I need more stretch? Or would that be a huge mistake? Or should I try 1 oz. Hyper-D? For comparison, I absolutely LOVE the fabric of my Wise Owl XL—it just isn't long enough. If I could find that fabric I would use that in a heartbeat. Does anyone know what fabric they use?Anyway, I need advice and if I can't get it here, I'm assuming I can't get it anywhere.Thanks so much!

**Shug** · 04-24-2024, 05:22

Fabrics very. May take a bit of time to find your groove. In the meantime I can offer some calf ridge remedies.
Enjoy the hammock quest.
Shug

**Cruiser51** · 04-24-2024, 08:41

HyperD is one of the softer fabrics, I find it stretches/moves to conform to your body and has a good hand feel ... in fact I find it a bit too soft for my bridges, but fine for GEs.

Personally, I think you should figure out the design/construction issues as a first step, once you can put together a hammock that basically fits you and is comfortable, then you can try tweeking the cloth. Making small changes in design can have quite large changes in the "feel" of the hammock.

You would likely get better advice if you included specific information on the build/user ( i.e. length, width, user height, weight) and if you are following a design or if this is something you designed yourself.

Brian

**Holly J** · 04-25-2024, 08:12

Thanks, Shug!

**Holly J** · 04-25-2024, 08:16

Thanks. I'll try that. Sorry I didn't include specifics. I'm 5'7", average weight, and I built a very standard rectangular 11-foot gathered end hammock, using RBTR's extra wide fabric. I have whipped and rewhipped it a few times, but I think this last time the middle ended up raised more than the sides (though I pulled the edges to tighten, so those weren't too loose). I'm going to unwhip, re-enforce the channel, and try to gather it the more traditional way to see if that helps. But mostly this was a starter hammock and I'm going to start fresh soon, so I was considering a different fabric.

**Phantom Grappler** · 04-25-2024, 20:02

Fit were me….
I’d get a gathered end hammock from any of our top vendors. The hammock would arrive completely assembled—no whipping.
Fabric Hexon wide 1.6
Get a finished width around 66 inches wide
Get a length of 11 and up to 12 feet long.
Maybe 11 and a half feet long.

Longer hammocks usually have a larger sweet spot, with less tendency to calf ridge pressure.

Order a hammock ridgeline that is about 83% of hammock length.

Watch and rewatch Shug’s video to learn ways to reduce and or eliminate any calf ridge pressure.
His video helped me eliminate calf ridge pressure.
Thank you thank you thank you

**sidneyhornblower** · 04-27-2024, 04:20

Originally Posted by Holly J

I have spent a few afternoons lounging in my DIY hammock made of 1.6 Hyper-D...This was my first try, and I want to try again, but I don't know what fabric to try.

Maybe try something else - or the same fabric - in a regular width. Taller people seem to benefit more from wide fabrics and some people swear by them, but my experience has been that it doesn't have much effect on comfort while leading to floppy sides.

I'm not much taller than you and made a hammock from RBTR wide MTN 1.3 fabric, which has been replaced by MTN 1.2 now. If I had it to do again, I'd not use the wide fabric or would cut it down to a more sedate 60 inch width. I like the lightweight MTN fabric which has just a slight bit of stretch for my 155 pound weight, but the width is wasted on me in terms of hammock comfort or performance.

**Double** · 04-30-2024, 10:33

I love the wide fabric for a lounging in the backyard or basement, but for camping I prefer normal width. It fits my bug net better and you usually have less loose fabric to flap in the wind, aka in your face. I have a 1.6 hyperD banana hammock ( yes it’s yellow and I love it). I also made one with the xl fabric when it came out. I wish I had more knowledge how the other fabrics feel, but the hyperD feels so nice that I stopped my search there.

**Holly J** · 05-01-2024, 10:29

Originally Posted by sidneyhornblower

Maybe try something else - or the same fabric - in a regular width. Taller people seem to benefit more from wide fabrics and some people swear by them, but my experience has been that it doesn't have much effect on comfort while leading to floppy sides.

I'm not much taller than you and made a hammock from RBTR wide MTN 1.3 fabric, which has been replaced by MTN 1.2 now. If I had it to do again, I'd not use the wide fabric or would cut it down to a more sedate 60 inch width. I like the lightweight MTN fabric which has just a slight bit of stretch for my 155 pound weight, but the width is wasted on me in terms of hammock comfort or performance.

Thanks! That never occurred to me. I'll try that.

**Holly J** · 05-01-2024, 10:29

Originally Posted by Double

I love the wide fabric for a lounging in the backyard or basement, but for camping I prefer normal width. It fits my bug net better and you usually have less loose fabric to flap in the wind, aka in your face. I have a 1.6 hyperD banana hammock ( yes it’s yellow and I love it). I also made one with the xl fabric when it came out. I wish I had more knowledge how the other fabrics feel, but the hyperD feels so nice that I stopped my search there.

I think I've just been assuming I needed the extra wide. I'll try regular and see what I think.