For fun and grins, I made a stab at my first major DIY project outside of stuff sacks and the fleece mummy sleeping bag that can also double as a liner that I made sometime last year. I'm VERY happy with how this came out, especially with my lack of real sewing skills. Thread injectors and I don't get along too well haha
So here she is. It weighs in at just a touch over a pound with the suspension and stuff sack. Stuffed, the whole kit measures in at 8" long x 7" wide x 5" high. I would like to change this stuff sack out and make a bishop that's slightly bigger...This stuff sack wasn't designed originally for the hammock, just a test sew job I made to carry some medical equipment. I found a bunch of taslite at Walmart for just under $2 a yard and figured why not! I'd seen others on the hammock forums make hammocks and one guy even made and waterproofed his own cat cut tarp...Seemed like it would work well. It was also a great break into the DIY world for me. I've been a ground dweller since I started backpacking, but one of my good friends thru-hiked the AT last year and hung the whole way - she talked me into joining the hanging world. So far I'm in love. I have a Bilgy tent that I will continue to use until I can get the rest of my hanging gear under my belt, but this is a good start and I can just go by the Susquehanna (as seen in a photo below), and hang for hours if I wanted to. So relaxing.
I made end channels even though it was more sewing work. I wanted to give myself some options and whatnot. Since it's mine, why not try different things to see what works best for me? Especially since it's my first hammock since I was a kid. I actually like the way this came out. I double looped the whoopie slings thru the channels like Stuart did on the whoopieslings.com youtube video with the ENO channels. While I need to more refine my sewing skills more, I'm so happy with this and can't wait to go hanging some more with it. Trust me, there was no greater relief than not going flat on my tail the first time I hung it and tried it out haha The photo near the river was my first official hang with this system. I must have stayed there for over an hour munching on a snack and enjoying the scenery. The other hang photo is at my moms. She wanted to see how it all went together and try it out. In her words..."This is SO cool!!!". Now she wants one LOL!!!
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