Very cool! Not to mention very impressive weight for a bridge.
Very cool! Not to mention very impressive weight for a bridge.
Very nice job, BER. I did a similar thing with Amsteel and didn't find the splices to bad to do. I haven't dared try it with dynaglide, but it now I might.
What prevents the hammock from sliding down the dynaglide? Is it the pieces of webbing, or did you sew through the dynaglide itself? It wasn't clear form the pictures. If its the webbing, does this exert much of a sideways force on the spreaders?
Thanks for the post - always looking for ways to lighten the bridge.
Fairly easy to hang, adjust the sides so they are even and measure for the splicing. I'm an uncomplicated kinda guy!
Thank you WV. The splicing tool you recommended made the cord work much easier than I had expected.
3" on either side of the loop. No stitching required for those loops. Seems to hold plenty tight under load. Dave, if you can't see the horrendous stitching on the grosgrain and the loose threads hanging off, I suggest you see an ophthalmologist!
Thanks. Nothing like the cool stuff you make. Maybe someday...
Ha. That's cuz you don't get to see much of the crappy stitching in my pictures. Almost got homicidal on my thread injector a couple times.
Dynaglide is lighter than tubular webbing. I did not sew through the dynaglide. The first line of stitching is very close to the dynaglide. Theoretically, if my suspension broke, I could probably thread new dynaglide through the suspension channels on the side of the hammock. Can't do that with webbing that is sewn in. Then again, a break in the suspension wouldn't require you to replace the webbing.
I doubled the fold of fabric on the sides, so the dynaglide is in a double layer channel. Hopefully it will last longer.
Thanks. Like your recent tarp!
TY. I think I will use shorter tree straps. The current ones are 6', and the whoopies are fairly short. Longer whoops with shorter straps would be lighter. Then there's the spreaders. Half the total weight right there. I don't have hiking poles. Has anyone tried carbon fiber tubes?
The first line of stitching on the sides is very close to the dynaglide. That keeps the body in place fairly well, though on my initial hang it bunched a little in the middle and the ends pulled about 3" from the bars at all corners. The grosgrain loops that fit over the bars prevent that now.
Last edited by BER; 04-01-2011 at 18:08.
Gnome has made his own trekking poles with cf tubes. I considered it, but the tubes are expensive, so I called a friend who has a cross-country ski business and asked if he wanted to recycle some old poles from his rental stock. He said, "Check back April 1st." I called yesterday, and will learn more next week. If there are ski poles to be had, I'll shoot some your way with the Chrysalis.
Good job BER, I like how you used the webbing to maintain the fabric. I use 7/64 amsteel and just sew through it.
I am trying to find a source some cf tubes for spreader bars. I have found something that I think might work at kitebuilder.com but I an not convinced it is what I want yet.
My newest bridge used end caps like Hangnout demonstrated in one of his videos and I think they are the coolest thing since sliced bread - and easy to do too. (BER you should try them on your next DIY Bridge.... yeah there will be another).
KenDen,
Here's a link I was looking at for CF tubes. I just don't know how the size/strength compares with the 0.625" diameter aluminum.
I was wanting to make the spreader bars in 2 or 3 sections, and I found a .4"OD with a wall thickness of .05" and .281 OD that would fit into the .4 snuggly. The finished weight of each pole would be about 2 ounces. That's about 8 oz savings per pole for about 40$.
Rock West is about 3x more expensive.
I still have not figured out how I would attach it to the hammock. I have a similar set up as you with the ends of the AL tube fitting into a loop in the rope.
point of clarification, not so much surprise as a bit of relief.
Mule tape's strength is in the "long" direction. It is a loose weave, pretty
easy to squish it done in one place just by pushing and wiggling a little. So I was uncertain how it would hold up in practice. Different from being certain it would not hold up in practice. But the forces on it are in the long direction, so it apparently is all good.
Grizz
(alias ProfessorHammock on youtube)
I was planning on using mule tape to do mine and am glad to here there aren't any problems using it.
I have a question about using dynaglide. Does the rope cut into you making it more uncomfortable than using webbing? Or does it only add to a feeling of being less stable than using something wider like webbing?
I like big hammocks - I cannot like.
I was planning on using mule tape to do mine and am glad to here there aren't any problems using it.
I have a question about using dynaglide. Does the rope cut into you making it more uncomfortable than using webbing? Or does it only add to a feeling of being less stable than using something wider like webbing?
I like big hammocks - I cannot like.
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