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How to Make Your Own Hammock

Hammocks and individual initiative usually go together like sunlight and vampires. But as the vampire movies show us, genetic mutations happen. So to you inventive DIYers who prefer to make your own hammock, we say welcome. You might find our information and hammock assembly instructions illuminating.

For those who are on the fence about the costs and benefits of a do-it-yourself hammock, here's the simple fact: add up the time and money involved in making your own hammock, and you'll see that it's a better deal to buy one rather than make one. Of course if the challenge and experience of doing it yourself is important to you, time and cost shouldn't be a deterrent. But if you're a hammock enthusiast who's swayed - no pun intended - by facts and figures, consider the following:

Add up the cost of hammock cord (about $13 to $13.50/pound), a giant netting shuttle (about $7.50), a piece of lumber for making two hardwood bars (roughly $5 for a 2 by 4), hammock rings (a pair for $2.50ish), and you're out about $55 for materials if you're making a two-person hammock. The cost of our most affordable hammocks at Hammocks.com? Less than $60. Even a cheap DIY backpacker's hammock will cost about $20 in materials, plus a lot of time spend hemming and sewing with a sewing machine.

Click here to take a look at our selection of hammocks in the $50 to $100 range. Once there, the "Sort By" feature in the top right corner lets you view them in order of price.

MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED

ONE PERSON HAMMOCK

2 pounds of Hammock Cord
1 Gauge Stick
1 giant Netting Shuttle
2 Hardwood Bars, 1-1/2" x 1-1/2", 33" long
2 Rings, 2" - 3" diameter

TWO PERSON HAMMOCK

3 pounds
1 Gauge Stick
1 giant Netting Shuttle
2 Hardwood Bars, 1-1/2" x 1-1/2", 48" long
2 Rings, 2" - 3" diameter

1 - START: Cut a three foot piece of twine; square knot the ends. Hang the loop from a handy nail, hook, door knob.

2 - WIND: Load shuttle with hammock cord (see pictures). Not too full for the first row. Tie free end to the loop.

3 - CASTING ON: Hold gauge stick in your left hand. Wrap the shuttle cord once around the stick-down in front and up behind. Pull the shuttle up through the starting loop. Holding shuttle cord loop tight around the gauge stick, half hitch around both sides of the starting cord. Repeat, until you have made 20 loops around the gauge stick (30 for two person hammock). Snug and even.

4 - FIRST ROW: Pull out the gauge stick. Rotate the work, so the shuttle is on the left side. Hold the gauge stick in your left hand, just under the work. Bring the shuttle cord down in front, up behind gauge stick, through the first loop, and around the loop in a half hitch. Repeat, through each loop in turn, evenly.

5 - ADDING TO SHUTTLE: Soon, your shuttle is going to be exhausted. Reload, as above. Wind on as much as the shuttle will take. Knot the free end to the end of the old cord with a square knot.

6 - SECOND ROW: Rotate the work, so the shuttle cord is on the left. Proceed as for first row. Repeat until done. Fifty four rows are about seven feet. Work longer or shorter.

7 - ALONG THE WAY: Any time after the second row, cut your starting cord and pull it free from the top row of loops. Support the piece as you add rows by any convenient means that holds it evenly - a dowel threaded straight across a row of loops, for instance.

8 - MOUNTING: Drill 20 holes (30 for two person) through each 1-1/2" by 11/2" hardwood bar, 1-1/2" apart from center to center and 2-1/4" in from each end. Make the end holes 1/4" to 5/16" diameter, the rest from 3/16" to 1/4" diameter. Cut forty 50" long cords, twenty for each end (sixty for a two person hammock). Loop the first cord through a ring, thread both ends through left hand hole in hardwood bar. Overhand knot through top left hand loop in hammock net. Fasten each cord, in turn, through bar to loops in net. Do both ends.

9 - SIDE BRAIDS: You need the net to sag in the middle so it holds a body snug. Make two 3-cord braids 3" shorter than the stretched out length of the hammock net-one for each side. Remember that braids end up about 10% shorter than their component cords cut generously and trim later. Thread one end through the outermost hole in support bar. Secure with an overhand knot. Weave in and out through the outside meshes. Thread through the bar at the far end, the outside hole, and secure with overhand knot. Repeat on other side.

Not sure making your own hammock is really your thing? Would you rather just cut to the chase, and get your down time on? Here are some hammock options just waiting to be enjoyed!