Local hammocks

[gmcttr]

With all of that being said, do not let us crush your entrepreneurial spirit. It can be a valuable thing.

[Cuttinedge1]

You don't I could get away with making them pinky promise not to sue us do you?

[samjaynes]

There is too many "tablecloth feel" hammocks out there already... eno, treklight, grand trunk, etc, etc. Now to be fair, they are not the same material, but definitely a step away from the ripstop 1.1, etc.

Search this forum for ripped hammocks, and I am sure you will find some posts on tablecloth hammocks, and defects in the material.

[hk2001]

I agree with all the above.. Your cooking a recipe to get sued.

Even making one out of ripstop and blindly selling it is a bad idea. What happens if some 400 lb guy gets in a 1.1 hammy? What happens if a 200lb guy gets in the same system with a 5° hang angle? Including a structural RL? What if a tall guy gets tired of hitting it while sitting in the hammy and cuts it out?

Make something other than hammocks... Something where people cannot get hurt.

[FLScouthanger]

Cuttinedge1,

I applaud your pursuit of the entreprenurial spirit. Similarly, I commend you for your positive responses to posts that, to a lesser person, could have been interpreted incorrectly as a personal attack: we don't do that here. Rather it appears you took the wisdom and sage advice provided and chalked it up as a learning experience. This should undoubtedly help you in your thought process for future endeavors.

Always remember in business a goal should be to eliminate (or at least mitigate) risk to the business. Often this entails performing testing or other analyses that gives you, as a business owner, a high degree of confidence your product is safe and suitable for consumers. As others have pointed out, to do otherwise would introduce risk. That is almost never good.

All that said, there are quite a few cottage vendors and small business owners that were in the same boat when they started. You might consider getting with them to gain an understanding of how they did it, any "lesson's learned", anything they would do differently, etc., etc.

Again, as long as you've learned something from this, it has been an effort well pursued. Kudos to you.

[Ramblinrev]

Having been rather brutal previously I would suggest a course of action that might have benefits down the line. There was once a program known as SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) which would mentor entrepreneurs in the start up and formative stages. I use past tense because I believe they were absorbed into another program which serves the same function but falls under a different oversight. You might track down the programs available (free of charge at my last knowledge) and sit with them for some guidance.

In this area there is a branch of the Small Business Administration which offers workshops and training in entrepreneur strategies. If memory serves some of them have a cost but are quite reasonable. They are offered through a local university's business division as continuing education programs. The resources are there is you look for them. It beats the "seat of the pants" process.

[Cuttinedge1]

Thanks guys this is very helpful maybe I'll make knives???

[mudsocks]

Thanks guys this is very helpful maybe I'll make knives???

You've got a point there.

(ha!)

[Pipsissewa]

Thanks guys this is very helpful maybe I'll make knives???

Yeah, what could possibly go wrong with that?

Make some hammocks and give them out to your friends and/or scouts. They'll appreciate the gift and when/if a hammock fails, the recipient will just throw up his hands and say, "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!"

Best of luck to you, neighbor!

[Clark]

Maybe you should try to make a way more bad A hammock than anyone has ever even thought about before in the history of hammocks and then sell the idea to a big hammock company like Eno. Then they can have their lawyers figure out the legal mumbo jumbo