Stringging a hammock between supports

[Bo T]

Fur trade era. Being old and less pliable I prefer to be off the ground. Would the posts in a wedge tent hold a hammock??

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Nope.

At least not for my 300 lbs, and using standard pine based poles.

An 18th century wedge tent only uses the poles for vertical support of the ridge pole. So when staked the tent pulls ↓ downwards, holding the ridge pole on top of the supports. The poles are too thin and light to hold the weight of a hammock pulling thus → ← , and then there's the side to side problem of swaying to deal with too. Yet that's talking "normal" uprights....

Now IF you changed the poles from 2x2's to 4x4's, and worked out some sort of slot arrangement at the top so that the ridge pole was a 2x4, and would hold against the pulling force of the hammock, and you made some sort of inverted T to act as a base for the ridge poles, then it should work. What you'd do is in effect, make a frame to hold the hammock, and a larger than standard wedge would simply go over it as the sides on a wedge are at a rather sharp angle, and stake it to the ground, to act as a shelter for your free standing hammock frame.

LD

 

[Black Hand]

Fur trade era. Being old and less pliable I prefer to be off the ground. Would the posts in a wedge tent hold a hammock??

A cot would be a better choice.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Not a good idea unless you have doors on both ends of the tent and place it between two trees between two trees using the trees to hang the hammock from. Then you have the issue of rope strength....I've had 1/2" sisal break on me... :nono:
It would also be a short and uncomfortable lay.

A cot is a much better choice and allows more room in the tent.

 

[hawkeye2]

"A cot is a much better choice and allows more room in the tent."

Agreed. I used to have a number of WW2 army cots and often used one with a half inflated air mattress on it. It was comfortable and putting my gear under the cot actually gave me much more room in my wedge than any other setup I had used.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Yep!....Throw a wool blanket over an old army cot....Off the ground and a good night's sleep.

 

[satx78247]

SPOT ON.

General Washington & L&C had/slept in "field beds", i.e., cots. Further, Francis Marion (The Swamp Fox of AWI fame) mentioned his "campaign bed" in a "letter home", so something like our modern army cots must have been well-known/used by the late 18th Century, if not before.)

I find hammocks UNPLEASANT to actually sleep overnight in.

yours, satx

 

[coloradoclyde]

Worth posting again and again.... http://www.livinghistoryshop.com/category/18th-century-furniture/

 

[satx78247]

THANKS for that information. - I've never seen that information/photos before.

yours, satx

 

[Bo T]

I'll start looking for a good deal on an army cot.
Thanks

 

[coloradoclyde]

Thrift stores, Some antique stores, Ebay, Craigs list, garage sales......

 

[Black Hand]

Worth posting again and again.... http://www.livinghistoryshop.com/category/18th-century-furniture/[/quote]
The Encyclopedia of the American Revolution (Newman & Kravick) shows a similar cot.

 

[satx78247]

Fwiw, LTG Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's "campaign bed" looked rather like a WWII-style Army cot except that it was made of metal. = Some years ago it was displayed at The Confederate Museum at Richmond.

yours, satx

 

[sidelock]

I've slept on many an Army cot, from Korea to my last moose hunting camp. I slept well most times.

 

[Black Hand]

I've slept on many an Army cot, from Korea to my last moose hunting camp. I slept well most times.

A mattress/pad of some sort greatly improves the experience.