How to make your own hammock for nothing or next to it.

Wild Ty Laserbeam

Wild Ty Laserbeam

New member
A friend of mine showed me as well as bunch of other people how to make a hammock. I have since taught a whole bunch of folx how to make one too, and now I figured I'll share the design here. I've been through two of these so far. I LOVE it!

1) get a chunk of fabric. About 5 to 6 feet wide by 10 to 12 feet long should work well depending on your hight.
a) Both of mine have been made out of ripstop nylon (what your tent is made of) which breathes really well but is a little too easy to fuck up. It also packs down to nothing.
b) My next one will be made of sport canvas which still breathes well but not as well and is way more sturdy. You can find these at some but not all fabric stores for about $20 for the chunk you'd need.
c) The free/cooler-but-less-practical way is to fuck up a flag. Flags are nice and strong/lite. The problem I found with flags is that the stitch lines create a wierd shape on your back.

2) now take your fabric and wad it up on one end like an accordion \/\/\/\/\/\/ and tie it with an overhand knot. Now do it on the other end.

3) now you need webbing or rope. I prefer webbing. I usually jack some tow webbing from a hardware store. It usually comes in 12ft. and you need two pieces at about 6ft. min. Longer works if you don't mind carrying it.

4) tie whatever knot you want to choke up around the knot in the fabric on both sides(see pictures).

5) at the other end of the webbing tie on some carabiners on both sides.

6) to hang: simply find two trees/poles/rafters/I-beams/etc. the right distance apart, wrap the webbing around until you've taken out enough slack, and then clip the 'biner. Now you can sleep almost anywhere with top notch comfort.

I love hammocks. I have a shitty back and schleping a pack everywhere doesn't help, but the hammock really helps my back get some rest. Also you can just hang it anywhere. It doesn't matter if the ground is graded, rocky, hard, or overgrown. They pack down small and they don't weigh anything. Also it's way easy to rig up a rain fly. Almost everybody I have taught the way of the hammock has fallen in love. Just saying.

Here's some pics to help you get an idea of how it looks and works and rules:
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wow, that does look super easy. do you think sleeping on the ground is colder than losing heat from the bottom while in a hammock?
 
No. That happens to be the one drawback of a hammock. Your sleeping bag will compress underneath you and make you cold from the bottom if it's actually cold out side. The kid who showed me how to make it carries a smaller thermarest which he swears works fine in the hammock and fixes this problem. I'll probably ditch mine for the winter. Or not. I'm staying way south as usual. They are seriously light. Basically just the weight of your biners if you use ripstop nylon. There is basically no excuse not to have one.
 
Wild Ty Laserbeam
DOOOOOOOOOOD that is exactly where i set my hammock up on belle island Richmond Virginia not 4 months ago when my road-dog tomfool and I came through when we got kicked off the juice train!!!
EXACT SAME SPOT!!!

see that pole setting up agaist the iron support girder? was using it for a fire poker, we cooked up some mulligan under that canopy there!!!
awsome dude!!

fuckin hammocks FTW!!!
 
Hammocks are made of WIN. :D
I got a Grand Trunk one, but I'll still make a few for people at Mutant Fest next year. ^-^
 
That's fucking rad. We tried to make a fire that night cause it was pretty cold but failed cause we were too drunk. It turns out all of our friends were sleeping in the vicinity in seperate groups, all entirely unaware of the others.
 
I slept in a hammock like this for one night on a bike trip i did. Set up on two small trees, becuase thats all that was around, i didnt get it set up properly my back was on the ground i couldnt fix it becuase night comes and so do mosquitoes. mosquitoes can bites through mine. and it was fucking hot and not alot of room to breath when the hammock is closed over, but there amazing on nights without squits
 
I'm glad ya'll like it. I've been trying my damnedest to spread the word about this shit. I mean, come on, the next cheapest option is an ENO for like $80 and they aren't half as comfortable if you ask me.
 
wow thank you for this, i was thinking of buying a cheap hammock but this will make things so much easier, thank you so much.
 
Thanks. Great shots of you guys slung up in the box car. I've carried hammocks for years wherever I go and love them. Use one a lot on my boat. Always had cheap store bought but now I've seen your how to I'm going to make some. Do you find the nylon sags out after a while or does the ripstop keep its shape? Have you used other fabrics and if so how'd they work? View attachment 24180
 
Dude! That's a shelter on the AT in the Smokies isn't it! I've slept at them all. And thats a friend of mine in the 2nd picture!
Sweet tutorial
 
@murdermittenkid: you can usually only find ripstop nylon/sport canvas in big fabric only stores or, of course, online

@hamikman: the ripstop holds it's shape really well, but if it were to ever sag, you could just retie your knots to compensate or replace the fabric without having to replace everything. amazing pic by the way. where is that?

@murt: it most certainly is. It's the closest one south of Clingman's dome. who is your friend in the picture? I've been wondering what those kids are up to these days. went to portland, me with them and they got housed up and I never saw them again.
 
i got a milsurp canvas tarpoline tarp 8'x10' it came with those metal eyelet holes all long its sides. it coust about 20-25 bucks i dont remember exactly... but it doesnt pack as small as i would have liked it to, and its kinda heavy but its strong as hell. I use i for a bivy too.

anyway, i fold it inhalf so that it lays from 8'x10' to 8'x5'. and on the side witht he eyelet holes i weave about a 26' climbing rope through the eyelets... it takes some work :s the rope is just thin enough to fit but it takes some patience and some muscle. I weave it through so that about 10 to 13' of the rope is in the eyelets on one side. Then the other 13' feet of the rope i slide inside the crease of the fold in the tarp on the other side leaving about 5' of rope free from the tarp with which to tie to stuff. i do my figure 8 on a bite knot on each end to tie off the rope and caribeaner the knot to what ever im hanging the hammoc from on both ends of the rope.. or if a C-beaner doesnt work ill just tie the rope around a tree or what ever... its all good.

some times for expediency ill just ziptie the elets together on the one side and string the rope thorugh the zip ties. they seem to be able to hold my little 125 lb body without breaking.

ill try to make pictures.

personally im not sure if im going to take the canvas tarp with me this summer... it weighs about 5 or 6 pounds on its own. but as a hammock its pretty rugged i have no fear of it ever tearing from weight or even from punctures what so ever.
 
This is good to know. Im a huge fan of the ole hammock. Ive always carried around one of them fancy hennessey hammocks but after having them stolen three times I refuse to shell out the cash for another.
 
thanks wild ty laserbeam, this looks really awesome and useful. im going to try and make one for my travels this summer :)
 
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