Made my first hammock this week!

[Gumbi]

I decided that I wanted to try hammocking since sleeping on the ground hurts my back and hips. So, I made a test hammock to try it out. I went to Walmart and bought a king-sized sheet, light green in color. I doubled it up to make sure that it would hold my weight, whipped the ends, and used 1/4" nylon rope to hang it with. I was very impressed with how comfortable it was, though it took me a lot of trial and error to get the whipping just right and figure the best way to tie it to the trees. I plan on making one out of 1.9 oz. when I find the material (it's a 45 minute drive to the nearest place that sells nylon).

[russb]

Awesome! Happy hanging.

[CajunHiker]

Does your Walmart have a fabric dept?

[Gumbi]

Does your Walmart have a fabric dept?
Not anymore. They recently built a super center and stopped carrying fabrics. My sheet is a 60/40 Cotton/polyester blend, and seems to dry relatively quickly, but it probably weighs 2.5 pounds. Very strong though; I am not at all worried about falling through. I probably didn't need to double it up either, since I only weigh 155 pounds. It was enough to convince me that hanging is the way to go when there are trees around.

Can you tell me how much I might expect to pay for 1.9 oz. sil at a walmart that carries it?

[CajunHiker]

Nope can't say. Closest stores to me that carry fabric are at least 30mi.
Most hammock diy'ers prefer not to use sil due to it not breathing, which could potentially lead to a sweaty backside. The one time I did find some wmart fab, it turned out to ripstop polyester at about 1.4oz/yd. I made a 12' HH Safari style and it worked great. More recently, my sister found some 1.1 DWR ripstop poly and sent me some to experiment.

[Tonan230]

Does anyone use canvas for the hammocks you use?

[gunn parker]

Does anyone use canvas for the hammocks you use?
Canvas would be too heavy to carry for me. I use 1.9 oz ripstop for my DIY hammocks.
Gunn

[Bulldawg]

1.9 ripstop is the best material. Although if you are happy with your bed sheet hammock, I don't know if I wouldn't just use it for a few short trips to get the hang of things. I buy rip stop at a local fabric shop, they didn't know what rip stop was, but then I asked for flag material and they took me straight to it. Worst case scenario is you buy some online. With fuel priced where it is, most places have fair shipping prices. Buy enough material to make several items and you can really justify the shipping for sure.

[Gumbi]

Thanks for the input, guys!

[Wise Old Owl]

Not anymore. They recently built a super center and stopped carrying fabrics. My sheet is a 60/40 Cotton/polyester blend, and seems to dry relatively quickly, but it probably weighs 2.5 pounds. Very strong though; I am not at all worried about falling through. I probably didn't need to double it up either, since I only weigh 155 pounds. It was enough to convince me that hanging is the way to go when there are trees around.

Can you tell me how much I might expect to pay for 1.9 oz. sil at a walmart that carries it?


most employees in the cloth dept, deny every getting Poly of any kind - very hit or miss.

[tight-wad]

I've found 1.9 oz ripstop in the $1 bin at Wally's world, but it is hit or miss. My favorite hammock is actually 1.x ripstop POLYESTER, dark bluegrey, that I've seen multiple times, in multiple Wallys, in the $1 bin. 1.1 ripstop nylon is much more common, but still hit or miss. You could double up on that. Don't ever expect to find 1.3 oz silnylon ripstop at Wally's. On a recent swing through the fabric dept I saw some coated ripstop camo in the full price section. I was tempted to purchase for a tarp, but resisted, because it felt too heavy.

Check out hammockforums.net, a spin off from this forum, for in depth discussions on ALL aspects of hammocking.

I'm ~200 lbs, and me and my poly hammock have spent many, many nights together....

[chesnutx4]

http://www.interiormall.com/cat/ncollections.asp?c1=Fabric&c2=Nylon

[FanaticFringer]

www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4182