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diy hammock?

Yes, the shoulder squeeze will be much reduced with a longer one. It's a combination of extra material and sag - longer gives more space, not wider. You might find some 1.6m wide stuff if you look.
Have a look at some of Shugs' videos on Youtube - he's a very experienced hammocker and a good educator. He uses a diy 11 footer in most of his vids. He also describes making one of your own (think he calls his hammock the "Green Bean")
Give it a go, there's not a lot of cost in it and as you say, you can make stuff sacks with it if you don't like it. But I guarantee you it will ;)
I also recommend making up a structural ridgeline - this means you can repeatably put up your hammock with the same amount of sag once you decide exactly how you like it.
 
adding more fuel to the length vs width argument i've found a Youtube video where a guy tries out three different lengths of DIY hammock:

it sounds like his vote for a comfy hammock is one that works out to be about twice as long as he is tall (though he doesn't put it in those terms).

and while he doesn't specifically talk about width it does look like they're all around the 1.5m width, at a guess.

and last but not least he also uses a ridgeline throughout. that's making a lot of good sense to me now.
 
Had a thought I meant to post - as you are making a DIY you can start with it extra long and then if you don't like it chop off a foot and sew it up again. You can then test out various lengths and have a definitive answer :)
 
Philmandoo said:
Had a thought I meant to post - as you are making a DIY you can start with it extra long and then if you don't like it chop off a foot and sew it up again. You can then test out various lengths and have a definitive answer :)
Click to expand...
excellent suggestion! spoken like a man who's been there. :) i think i'll do exactly that.

another question if i may: what manner of rigging do you use for your ridgeline? anything fancy or just tied off to the gathered ends of the hammock?
 
It's so easy with hindsight..... :)
I make a loop on the ends of the ridgeline and pop them over the suspension lines. I've also made up a big whoopie sling so I could adjust the length to try out different settings. Basically, whatever works.
 
i'm still planning on giving this a go -- mostly for the DIY thrill of it -- but just learned that there is a company called OneWind that sells 10.5 and 11 foot hammocks on the Jeff Bezos shopping channel for pretty cheap: single layer with all the rigging including a ridgeline for a touch over £30. i spent £15 for the ripstop alone! clearly not going to be saving any money on this project.
 
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