Hammock for a bed?

[Dgorila1]

Anyone use a hammock for their bed? They're real comfortable and could be unhooked quickly in the morning, providing more floor space.

 

[highdesertranger]

a few people use them. they will chime in. highdesertranger

 

[GotSmart]

I tried, but I could not get it to fit in my Shorty Van. 

 

[ArtW]

I'm curious how that would work, as tha hammock would sag some in the middle
Maybe if you sleep on your back it's ok, I'm a side sleeper mostly

 

[DannyB1954]

Good video about how to shorten a hammock and install it in a mini van

 

[Almost There]

Good video about how to shorten a hammock and install it in a mini van

A shortened hammock will make for a very uncomfortable sleep!!

Most people have to go to a much longer hammock than they first thought to get the proper hang angles and get a comfortable sleep.

It IS possible to put a hammock on the inside of a van although more complicated than you might think.

The uprights in a van were NOT engineered to withstand the cross forces created by a normal weight person in a hammock.

If you want a good discussion on these forces and some info on people who have successfully put them in a van head over to hammockforums.net and start reading. Have to warn you, if you think there's a lot of info on van dwelling here wait until you see how much info there is on hammocks etc over there...

The reason most people don't end up with hammocks, even those of us who are used to them, is because, while you can put them away during the day for more space, you have to design all the interior of a van to accommodate not just the hammock but you when you're in it. This means low cabinetry which in turn results in lack of storage space. Most of us use the underside of the bed itself as part and parcel of our storage system. With a hammock you lose all that.

If you want to try sleeping in a hammock and already have one, take a couple of 6" or better pieces of 2" PVC and use them on the outside of the side passenger door and the drivers side rear cargo door as toggles to which you can attach your hammock suspension. By locking them on the outside you're using the strength of the whole van door as support for the sideways forces created by sleeping in the hammock. It will also allow you to hopefully envision what space you'll have to leave open for when you're using the hammock and where you'll put all your stuff.

 

[GotSmart]

If you want to try sleeping in a hammock and already have one, take a couple of 6" or better pieces of 2" PVC and use them on the outside of the side passenger door and the drivers side rear cargo door as toggles to which you can attach your hammock suspension. By locking them on the outside you're using the strength of the whole van door as support for the sideways forces created by sleeping in the hammock. It will also allow you to hopefully envision what space you'll have to leave open for when you're using the hammock and where you'll put all your stuff.

The problem with doing that is any slipping will tear the door to body insulation, and besides, the setup of this looks like crap.  It would be extremely inconvenient in bad weather.  (Ropes, pipes, straps)  I had designed places inside for things to bolt to.  With my bad leg, I almost got permanently trapped the only time I tried to use it.   I must have looked like a fat turtle upside down in a puddle of oil.  :blush:

 

[Wanderer]

Anyone use a hammock for their bed? They're real comfortable and could be unhooked quickly in the morning, providing more floor space.

No, I use a recliner right now, but am planning on having a folding camp cot, that way I can use my comforter as a cushion and fold it up and stash it in the morning....

 

[Almost There]

The problem with doing that is any slipping will tear the door to body insulation, and besides, the setup of this looks like crap.  It would be extremely inconvenient in bad weather.  (Ropes, pipes, straps)  I had designed places inside for things to bolt to.  With my bad leg, I almost got permanently trapped the only time I tried to use it.   I must have looked like a fat turtle upside down in a puddle of oil.  :blush:

Hahaha, we all look like fat turtles upside down while trying to get out of the hammock until we learn a few techniques. Two feet on the ground, walk your butt backwards in the hammock until it's high enough to stand up. Either that or place a tent peg and pull strap so you can haul your ass out of the thing....rofl.

My first attempt at hanging my newly made hammock had me hanging it just a tad too low - as in my ass was scraping ground when the hammock swung. Try getting out of THAT one gracefully.....

I offered the PVC method as a temporary suggestion while the OP did some research. It is possible to install permanently welded uprights for the two end posts but unless one has a knowledge of the amount of force placed on the uprights, most people under engineer the uprights and end up with a problem.

 

[akrvbob]

I just posted a video on a friend who travels in a Toyota Previa and sleeps in a hammock. My guess is a Previa is shorter than a Dodge Shorty, but I could be wrong. She used the exact same hammock last year in her Extended Dodge van and didn't shorten it.

Here is the video:
[video=youtube]

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I think Almost There hit the nail on the head when mentioning that they get rid of all your storage space underneath the bed. If your van isn't permanently set up for living and it's a multi purpose vehicle (Work van, shuttle kids, daily driver, etc) then I can see it being a great option. I've heard they are great for people with bad backs and even recently bought one to try in the house just for the heck of it. I've been on the Hammock Forum and quite a few members mentioned suffering from bad backs for 15. 20, 25 years plus and a small fortune on different mattresses and chiropractors trying to fix the problem only to end up in the same boat. Soon as they switched to a hammock their problem was solved.

 

[DannyB1954]

If you use a hammock, you don't have to worry about finding level ground to park on. I don't think you need to lose storage space if you have a Hammock, because the hammock sets up in what would be your daytime walk space. You might even gain space because the area that would have been above a bed could be shelves all the way to the roof.
During the 70's I was on an old Navy ship. The beds were canvas lashed to a metal tubular frame, with a thin pad on top. If you liked a really flat bed, you just took the slack out of the rope. If you liked sleeping in a hollow, you loosened the lines. During the day, all the beds were folded up to make more walking room. Screwing 4 eye bolts into the vehicle would give a place to hang the frame from, and the individual support rope, (or chains), could be adjusted for unlevel ground.

 

[RVTravel]

The level ground issue works for camping when you can adjust along the tree trunk, but in a car that would not seem to work as well. It is still mostly fixed to the same points.

 

[DannyB1954]

The level ground issue works for camping when you can adjust along the tree trunk, but in a car that would not seem to work as well. It is still mostly fixed to the same points.

Gravity is a constant. Hang anything from a rope, and you will find straight down.

 

[Almost There]

Gravity is a constant. Hang anything from a rope, and you will find straight down.

Gravity is a constant but that is not what is in play when hanging and sleeping in a hammock.

A gathered end hammock needs about a 30% slope from the hanging attachment point to provide a flat lay whereas a bridge hammock is generally hung with a 25% slope.

Most hangers that use gathered end hammocks like to have the foot end slightly higher than the head end whereas in my bridge, I set up the head end higher to compensate for the uneven weight distribution - my legs and feet are much lighter than the rest of me...

If the attachment points in a vehicle are not adjustable then the vehicle will need to be level to keep the slopes constant.

If I only wanted to live in an empty van with little to no cabinetry and all my 'stuff' was packed in soft sided totes then it would be feasible for me to hang in my hammock every night. Since I prefer cabinetry and storage, it's not practicall!!

 

[towhee]

That's me there in the video. All I can say is that I t works well for me. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Cheli]

I just posted a video on a friend who travels in a Toyota Previa and sleeps in a hammock. 

Great video, thanks for sharing.  I've come across forums in the past of people sleeping in hammocks instead of beds in their homes but I never thought to do it in a van.  She looks quite cozy in there.  Something to think about.

 

[DannyB1954]

That's me there in the video. All I can say is that I t works well for me. Your mileage may vary.

Her name was McGill, she called herself Lil, but everyone knew her as Nancy, (old Beatles song. Your post script reminded me of it). 
I also watched the video. Very nice presentation. 
I went Hammock shopping after watching it, but I couldn't find any that were not made of gold. A couple of hundred bucks for a painters tarp seems high. 
This was in my price range 
For those on small bandwith it is a video of a guy making a hammock from a tarp using 2 steel rings.

 

[Almost There]

Her name was McGill, she called herself Lil, but everyone knew her as Nancy, (old Beatles song. Your post script reminded me of it). 
I also watched the video. Very nice presentation. 
I went Hammock shopping after watching it, but I couldn't find any that were not made of gold. A couple of hundred bucks for a painters tarp seems high. 
This was in my price range 
For those on small bandwith it is a video of a guy making a hammock from a tarp using 2 steel rings.

Try here for better pricing and good quality:

http://www.dutchwaregear.com/hammock-stuff/hammocks/

Also, if you go to hammockforums.net, they have a 'for sale' section that you can often find gently used hammocks at good prices. As a newbie there you can buy but not sell until you've reached a predetermined number of posts - set up this way to protect our members from unscrupulous sellers.

There is also a stickie there somewhere that lists all the manufacturer/suppliers of hammock gear with links to each website.

 

[LoupGarou]

I've spent many nights sleeping in a hammock. I've hung it indoors, outdoors, in the rain, in the heat of summer and a few nights in the winter months. Not all hammocks are made the same. The most comfortable one I've come across is a Warbonnet Blackbird as it has a foot box that allows you to lay flatter.