First Tablecloth Hammock!

[ihavea4]

Well, I just bought a tablcloth last night and of course a bunch of Dutch goodies. This will be my first attempt at anything DIY, and from what I've read, it should be pretty easy. one question I have though, is what's the easiest way to make a structural ridgeline? I don't have anything to make splices or anything, so would I be able to just tie a knot of some kind to loop the SRL around my whoopie slings? Any recommendations on a knot to use? I'm trying to keep this as simple as possible.

[GoatHanger]

For my first couple SRL's, I just used bowlines. Easy enough to untie and change the length quickly, plus they'll hold. You could use a bowline on one end, and a tautline or rolling hitch on the other. Quick and dirty adjustable SRL.

I have a couple tablecloths on the way. I'll use them for spares when a bunch of people go with me, or probably mainly for the kids. They can beat 'em to death and I won't care, lol :-)

[ihavea4]

Ok, cool. That's what I was hoping to hear. Any guidelines on how long to make the entire rope for the SRL? I'm guessing it'll be just over 10 ft, but that's a total guess. One other question, how long of a cord should I expect to use when whipping the ends of the hammock?

[GoatHanger]

Well, the rule of thumb for the ridgeline itself is about 83% of the hammock length. That's not considering how much line is used to tie your knots, which is even more of you make it adjustable.

You don't have to get crazy on the whipping, even better just run a cable tie through the channel and cinch it up. The suspension will be on the ball of fabric anyway, not the whipping itself.

The diameter of cord will determine how many wraps you'll do on your whipping to create the total length. I mean, you could measure the diameter of the gathered end, multiply times pi, then by the number of wraps you want to do plus the bury... but that doesn't sound like fun to me :-)

EDIT: Here, check this out...
Make a Hammock in 3 Minutes: http://youtu.be/VVyX0McICr0

[MBennett]

In the past I've used a bowline on one end, and used a prusik on the other, where the prusik loops back onto the ridgeline itself... in case you need to make adjustments.