Okay after building 6-8 different hammocks and trying all sorts of stuff, like trapezoids, bridge hammocks, too short too narrow etc this is my take.
First off go hang at the hammock forum.
How tall are you and how much do you weigh ?
How do you normally sleep ??
I am 6-3 and 230 and the only length that really works for gathered end for me is 12'
Width should be 5' no matter what length IMO. Even a 11' Hammock is just a tad too short for me.
For your fist hammock Buy 8 yards of 1.1 oz cheap ripstop (not sil) and make a long double layer gathered end hammock. Hem it all around and leave the sides open. You may want to tack the sides in a few places. IE build a 5×12 and that should weigh 15 oz.
Try it like that then if you think you can deal with a shorter hammock just knot it shorter and try to sleep in it like that. When you find the sweet spot and are sure you can deal with that length. Lop it off and seam it.
Alternately if you want to try a small hammock just buy a grand trunk ultralight and change the suspension. Theya re cheap.
W Whip works the best for me.
I do not like the channel, gather and whip method.
Also you might want to leave the end as a tiny channel. Load it with cord like 550 or
whatever and tack the ends and that might forestall a fall if the whipping decides to let go. Happened to me the other day. I think triptease works well for whipping. Seems to have some grip.
Later on you may want to try a M50 double layer. That would weigh about 10 oz for a 5×12 double layer, but I have not tried that yet myself. Not sure how much weight one can handle but a few guys on the hammock forums are playing with M50 hammocks. I do know of one single layer M90 that failed big time.
Use short loops and larkshead on the ends with a whoopie hook on the loop.
Make whoopies with amsteel from above.
I made tree straps from 5' finished length of 5/8" mule tape with one end looped and a amsteel dog bone on the other with another whoopie hook on the free end of the dogbone.
So in total for each end.
6" diam amsteel loop with one whoopie hook
6' or so amsteel whoopie
5' tree strap with looped ends with an amsteel dogbone on one end with a whoopie hook on the free end.
Carry a couple extra dogbones just in case like maybe 2'L and 4'L.
This is similar to Sgt Rocks 2 oz suspension, only I used heavier materials, IE amsteel and wider mule tape.
My suspension weighs 4oz total with the hammock loops, hooks, tree straps etc.
Alternately if you are not too heavy you could just duplicate sgt rocks 2 oz suspension, but it is minimal. I think his whoopies were Dynaglide. If you search for it you can find it.
Also he did a complete hammock setup with tarp in 13 oz but used a nano hammock which is tiny and a small cuben tarp.
Get some zingit for the ridgeline from Zpacks or similar.
The ridgeline should be set about 85% of the total length. I have one end looped with a
tautline hitch so I can adjust the length.
Finally after all that and you figure out the ultimate length of your hammock, size your tarp accordingly. I ended up having to build a 1.1 sil nylon cat cut tarp to get the length I needed. It is about 13.5 feet long or so and shaped like a tadpole tarp and weighs 12.5 oz with zpacks line and adjusters.
If going ultralight permithrin, cover up with cloths socks and gloves and a head net if you can deal with that. I made a drape bug net. Weighs about 10 oz.
Also if you are a side sleeper or a stomach sleeper, you might want to eventually try out a bridge hammock. Difficult build and heavy but with a xlite wide in one, it is like a bed although a bit tippy.
