taking up slack on hammock

[GreenIsle]

Has anyone tried altering the initial dimensions to a slight 'V' shape on either end of the fabric to minimize the slack on the sides of the hammock?

It would look something like this <=>

( I tried to upload a file but it's openoffice.org and it wouldn't upload.)

That's slightly exaggerated but the idea is to cut some material off all four corners at an angle towards the center of each end. That way you are compensating for the pull in the middle of the hammock.

Insted of the usual way of starting with with a rectangle and ending with floppy sides.

Anyway, I'm curious to hear of peoples trials/errors/success's and if this idea has any merit.

[timabababaluka]

Oh yeah! Nothing worse than having hammock sides flopping into your face, or your stuff slipping out of the hammock. For gathered end hammocks, a lot of people bunch up the ends and then pull the top corners out a couple of inches, which in effect, creates that 'V' you mention. I like to modify the whipping rather than alter the hammock because it can easily be undone and retied if the sides are too loose or too tight. There are some members who do just as you describe: a slight, rounded taper in the end channel so that the sides are slightly shorter than the than the middle will do just that. I think it was Aardvark that came up with specific dimensions, but I'm not sure. It's in the Gathered End sticky at the beginning of the diy forum (there are a million posts there, so I'll try to find the specifics for you).

[timabababaluka]

Oops! It was Roadrunnr72 I was thinking of--here is his post:

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...&postcount=139

Hope this helps

[GreenIsle]

Thanks. I'll check it out!

[thejennabird]

Interesting idea! You could definitely try it out and see what happens. As a safety mechanism, you could cut it longer than normal, so that the parallel sides are 11' long with the center "triangle points" extending out even further. That way, if the design doesn't work, you can just cut off the ends and still have a normal 11' rectangle of fabric for a gathered hammock. Does this make sense?

I and a few other members have tried a parallelogram shape for Asym style hammocks and it works great for creating a diagonal sweet spot. I don't see how this would be much different for a symmetrical hammock!

[OutandBack]

I've seen some guys sew a channel along the floppy edges and put some shockcord in to tighten up the material.
hth

[myles to go]

I've seen some guys sew a channel along the floppy edges and put some shockcord in to tighten up the material.
hth

This is exactly what I did to one of my diy hammocks. I put it on the first 4' by my head and my feet and it really help get rid of the flop but does not make a tight side making it hard to get in and out.

[jima59]

I did the gathered end on one end, and the channel end on the other just to try out things on my first diy hammock project. I noticed the side is really tall and floppy even with the one end edges pulled out some. I originally thought this was because I might have used too much width in the material. Is there a specific amount of width you would want to have or should I just adjust the edge ends some more.