This is about how to make a hammock from scratch. No fabric or other shop or factory acquired materials have to be used.

We Need Some Rope

Rope, cord, string, thread or twine of body length times fifty.

We will start with grass. The most easy way to create a twine is interweaving strands of grass. Before you use the grass bend it over a medium sharp edge, this will prevent breaking while you weave it. Try to keep each thread at least three strands thick. Add another to keep up before you are out of strand. The woven twine should be most often ten strands thick. This will also work with most reeds, even bamboo though it may be necessary to soak it in water before weaving.

Willow twigs are a little more elaborative. First is to strip the leaves off, take the twine at the end and swipe to the stem. Before we bend them they have to be slightly bruised. They would snap if you bend them directly. Use fresh, not dried out twigs. After carefully bending them and making them easy to twist, rince the strands in water. Now we can weave these into a twine. Only one or two strands for each thread should be sufficient.

This will also work for blackberry or bramble twines only these will have the nasty prickles to be removed first. Rubbing the twine over a stone will probably be sufficient.

This kind of process can be done with many kinds of natural plant fibres. Very popular are also hemp and flax, herbs where the strands are left rotting in shallow water for some time. Miraculously the fibres survive the decay of the process and are very popular as they will survive several years of moist use.