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  1. #11
    Senior Member TeeDee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GrizzlyAdams View Post
    methinks someone brandishing a Khukuri might be mighty persuasive

    Grizz
    You found me out !?!?!?!
    Those who sacrifice freedom for safety, have neither.

    Do not dig your grave with your teeth. (Unknown)

  2. #12
    Senior Member Merganser's Avatar
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    I'd read on another thread somewhere about this issue but it didn't sound quite so severe as it does here. I imagine the diameter of the cord has an impact. My amsteel blue, being a bit wider, might not be bad but I was planning on using some 2.8-3mm dyneema on the "production" hammock. Sounds like that could be a different experience... If I had to stay with the amsteel blue just for comfort I would not be saving that much weight or bulk. This is all making the webbing look like a better option.

    I was at the fair all day yesterday and didn't get a chance to do my suspension. I'll be hanging it tonight so we'll see how it goes.

  3. #13
    Senior Member Merganser's Avatar
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    OK. I have it hanging and I can see where the cord presents a discomfort issue. With the amsteel blue its uncomfortable, but not painful. I wouldn't want to sit with my legs hanging over the edge for just too long. I can just about imagine what hit would feel like with cord half that diameter. Ouch! Think I'll have to browse on over to sailrite and order up some webbing.

    I have it set up with 36in spreaders and I have to say I kind of like that. I can fold my hands behind my head and my elbows spread out just enough for that to feel natural. With the 36in center width I can get my knees up when I'm on my side and still have a decent lip on either side of me.

    I don't think I need all of the room I have at my feet, wouldn't want it a lot narrower though. The thing is I don't what the center any narrower than it is now so I'm hesitant to cut the foot end narrower. I might try TeeDee's approach and just use a narrower spreader on the foot end.

  4. #14
    Senior Member TeeDee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GrizzlyAdams View Post
    sure, I know that's the solution you've offered. I've tried it, it lessens the edge, but isn't as flat same as the webbing, and does require you to have that pad at hand. I can't sit cross-legged in the middle of the hammock to read, without pads over the cord by my legs and the cord in my back. I can use that position with my webbing based hammocks

    I have a couple of bridge hammocks with cord edges, it's tolerable, and if minimizing weight and bulk is my highest priority then that's the way I'll go every time.

    I was just wondering if there were any other reasons besides the obvious ones, and your own persuasiveness that led 10 of 10 subjects surveyed to prefer cord

    Grizz
    Grizz - had some time to think while laying in the ER yesterday and it occurred to me that I should probably relate my testing of cord materials for Corded Bridge Hammocks.

    As with nylon, polypropylene and polyester webbing, the characteristics of rope can change considerably with the construction and materials used in ropes.

    So far I have made and tested corded Bridges with the following ropes:

    1. Spyderline
    2. Lash-It!
    3. Vectrus
    4. Amsteel Blue
    5. AS-78 - a dyneema, SK-78


    I used 3 mm diameter rope in all corded Bridges (well the Spyderline is 2.8 mm, but I doubt the 0.2 mm makes any difference).

    First off, my recommendation from our and our testers experience is do NOT use any of the first 3 listed above.

    The Spyderline is a double braid rope. The polyester sheath makes the rope very rigid, hard and unyielding. I have a suspicion that is one of the purposes of the double braid and that all or most double braid ropes will mimic the characteristic of the Spyderline in this regard. Thus, I would recommend not using any double braided rope.

    The Lash-It under load becomes rigid and remains rigid after the load is released. The rigidity of the 3 mm Lash-It is the characteristic of the Lash-It that makes it undesirable for a corded Bridge. This is the same characteristic that makes Spyderline undesirable.

    The 3 mm Vectran by New England Ropes that we obtained has the same characteristic as the Spyderline and the Lash-It under load. It becomes extremely rigid and unyielding. This makes the Vectran good for a lot of applications where the low stretch and creep are desirable. The rigidity under load makes it undesirable for corded bridges. The Vectran differs from both the Spyderline and the Lash-it, in that it loses most or all of the rigidity when the load is released.

    All three of these ropes, Spyderline, Lash-It and Vectran I do not deem suitable for corded Bridges. You might as well use 3 mm steel cable, you will have the same comfortable level.

    The 3 mm Lash-It is no longer available and so nobody should be concerned about using it for a corded Bridge. I include it in the above discussion for completeness in indicating the testing I have done.

    After the above 3, I used Amsteel Blue (yeah, not only smurf hands, but smurf arcs. ). The Amsteel Blue becomes somewhat rigid under load, but releases most of the rigidity when the load is released. Since it isn't as hard and unyielding under load as the previous 3, the comfort level in a corded Bridge is much better.

    The last rope I tested was AS-78. This rope is even softer under no load than Amsteel Blue, and also softer and more yielding when loaded. When loaded it is still much more yielding than Amsteel Blue and yields the best comfort level of any of the 5 ropes I tested. This is the rope I have settled on for construction of all of my corded Bridges.

    I sat crosswise in a Bridge using AS-78. I could feel the rope on the inside of my knees, but with a single layer of GG thinlight sit pad, the discomfort level diminished to where I could sit with only slight discomfort under my legs. As far as my back, I could feel no rope across my back at all with nothing cushioning my back except a Tee shirt.

    I then said nothing to my other testers about my test so as to prevent any persuasion on my part and asked them to sit crosswise. Their experience mimicked mine. Slight discomfort under the legs and they could feel no rope across their backs at all.

    We all found that by simply doubling the sit pad, all discomfort under the legs could be eliminated.

    Grizz, I do not know what rope you used for your 3 corded Bridges, but would be interested to know since I can then surmise from your reported extreme discomfort that I can add it the 3 I tested above as unsuitable.
    Those who sacrifice freedom for safety, have neither.

    Do not dig your grave with your teeth. (Unknown)

  5. #15
    Senior Member GrizzlyAdams's Avatar
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    I've used Vectrus, already covered in your tests.

    By the foot at Annapolis Performance Sailing AS-78 sells for $1.31/ft. I found somewhere else that sells a 600 ft roll for $366, whose amortized cost per foot is OK, but 600 ft! Yikes! That's a lot of hammocks.

    Grizz

  6. #16
    Senior Member TeeDee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GrizzlyAdams View Post
    I've used Vectrus, already covered in your tests.

    By the foot at Annapolis Performance Sailing AS-78 sells for $1.31/ft. I found somewhere else that sells a 600 ft roll for $366, whose amortized cost per foot is OK, but 600 ft! Yikes! That's a lot of hammocks.

    Grizz
    Yeah - that's where I got it also, 600' roll. I use the AS-78 for the arc, the suspension triangle Whoopie slings, the Whoopie Slings on my MSLS and my tree huggers (although I'm thinking of using the 3 mm Lash-It for the tree huggers - that was only $0.16/ft) I'll also be using the AS-78 for my 50' lengths of emergency rope.

    At $366 for 600' it came to only $0.62/ft even with shipping. That makes it competitive with the 3 mm Amsteel Blue price on a per foot basis.

    Since I have settled on the 3 mm AS-78 for practically everything, a 600' roll works quite nicely for us.
    Those who sacrifice freedom for safety, have neither.

    Do not dig your grave with your teeth. (Unknown)

  7. #17
    Senior Member Merganser's Avatar
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    ca-ching! The dyneema I bought for hanging my gathered end hammock was Ocean 3000 3mm from West Marine. It's .49 a foot, I got that order on sale for I want to say .39. This stuff feels like it would just slice your leg right off...

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