The case for mule tape (and a comparative analysis)

[adam.skinner]

I recently became aware of the AntiGravityGear MuleTape suspension via an article showcasing light weight hammock suspension systems. Intrigued, I ordered a couple.

Here's how it works:


I tried out the "secret" at home. I have a Brazilian bedroom hammock attached to eye bolts, and I've been using some daisy chained rope and S hooks to hang it. I undid the daisy chain and used the slippery sheet bend method and it worked like a charm. Loosening the kernmantle rope from the cotton eye on my hammock takes a bit of force, though, so adjustment isn't as easy. I almost never take it down though, so...

My order arrived, and I tested it out using a Warbonnet Blackbird. The Blackbird I have has a dual "V" ring webbing system that's a pain to adjust, but has good flexibility. It's kind of bulky and a bit heavy. So I removed the webbing from it (leaving the V rings) and attached the mule tape to a beam on my porch, and another to a nearby tree. I did this without any additional webbing, using the muletape directly. After attaching my hammock and adjusting it, I got in and hung for a little while, swinging a bit.

The mule tape bit into the corner of the post, rounding it a bit, but the tree appeared unphased. This isn't exactly surprising, since this particular tree has a bit of metal line constraining it that it's actually grown around. To hear some people talk, you'd think that hanging on a tree for an evening with anything less than the magic 1" of webbing is going to choke the life out of it. Maybe the magnolia tree in my yard is just particularly resilient.

After having put weight on the system, adjusting it was no problem at all.

So what are the benefits of using muletape over other light (or not so light) suspension systems? One of my problems with whoopies is the dead space. Whoopie slings reduce the range of adjustability quite a bit, actually, and this can impact your ability to select sites with trees not far enough apart to accommodate it. The other problem with whoopies is one of efficiency: for each inch of adjustability, you need another inch of amsteel going back to the constriction point. And, of course, more amsteel to be constricted, and a little more on the end to act as a stopper / grasping point. These were the very problems that Dutch was trying to solve with this Speed hooks, only to find that amsteel didn't play nice when put between itself and some titanium.

A cinch buckle suspension doesn't suffer from either the "useless section" or "dead space" problems, but it's heavier and bulkier and requires hardware on the hammock. In the past, I've considered it a better option for beginners.

Muletape marries the light weight and low bulk of the whoopie sling suspension with the flexibility of the cinch buckle suspension. It's the solution that Dutch's speed hooks was trying to be, and it does it without hardware. Being able to work with or without additional tree straps is a plus, though I imagine most people who use mule tape will use tree straps with it.

Both the cinch buckle and whoopie sling suspensions are marginally easier to adjust, but both suffer from more significant downsides.

[BigRed77]

Thanks for the review! I may have to get some. BigRed77

[gargoyle]

Mule tape works. I have several set ups using it.
Is it as good for the tree vs. 1"? No. Is 1" as good as 2"? No. etc..
Obviously, the wider the strap, the better it is at dispersing the load placed on the tree/bark.
Some trees (depending on health, moisture, etc) show signs of wear or compression sooner than other trees. In terms of LNT, it is best to use a strap that will not do damage. But anything tied to a tree does damage.

Does your slippery hitch work, yep. AGG didn't invent it. They are just showing a different, less popular technique.
Creating such a small surface area with the bight does decrease the overall rating, both in the amsteel and webbing..by how much, I don't know? But it does. That's why the use of the toggle is recommended. Knots or compression of any kind are avoided for a reason.
Your amsteel loop will show signs of compression, soon enough... The toggle and whoopie allow for a larger and changing surface. Thus reducing wear at one specific point.
FWIW, you can even forgo the amsteel loop and tie the hitch directly to your hammock.

After your initial set up, I would add an additional loose slippery hitch to the webbing. It would prevent accidental release for someone pulling or you tripping on the tag end.

[nothermark]

Nothing there than cannot be done with 1" strap. OTOH the damage to the tree will be higher and probably not visible. The issue is the load on the inner cambium layer just under the bark where sap is transported and growth occurs. It all comes down to force/unit area so if you want to use mule tape on a 6 ft tree go for it. Please do not use it on a 6 inch tree!!!

[WV]

^ Yup. What they said. You may think it's between you and the individual tree, but when you post here it pays to listen to the wisdom of the community.

[MiriRose]

Creating such a small surface area with the bight does decrease the overall rating, both in the amsteel and webbing..by how much, I don't know? But it does. That's why the use of the toggle is recommended. Knots or compression of any kind are avoided for a reason.
Your amsteel loop will show signs of compression, soon enough... The toggle and whoopie allow for a larger and changing surface. Thus reducing wear at one specific point.

The Dutchware Whoopie Hook suspension, which is extremely popular here (for a reason! I have it myself and think it's great), has a girth hitch between one of the end loops on the tree huggers and the fixed head of the whoopie sling. That creates nearly as small a surface area as the Becket Hitch does between the Amsteel continuous loop and the MuleTape webbing, and it's always in the same place on the Amsteel and the webbing. With this system on the other hand, the position of the knot on the MuleTape changes because that's how you adjust it. The position on the Amsteel continuous loop doesn't inherently change, but there's certainly nothing preventing you from rotating it between uses so that the position of the hitch on the continuous loop is varied.

After your initial set up, I would add an additional loose slippery hitch to the webbing. It would prevent accidental release for someone pulling or you tripping on the tag end.

Haha, yeah!

[MiriRose]

Oh, note: The Muletape suspension system as it's currently being sold by AntiGravityGear includes 1" webbing tree huggers. The 0.5" Muletape strap girth hitches to one of the end loops of the tree huggers. This is shown in dejoha's review of it, http://theultimatehang.com/2015/02/a...ammock-review/, in the last photo in the photo set of the Becket hitch. It's also the configuration of the system as presented and compared in the article comparing lightweight suspension systems that the original poster refers to. So, no inherent need to choose between Muletape and 1" webbing! That said, AntiGravityGear did originally suggest using the 0.5" Muletape without 1" tree huggers for at least some situations.

[mophead]

It's light and fast to tie but IMO the constriction on the amsteel loops is concerning. The compression may not be permanent and rotating the amsteel might be a good solution but I didn't inspect it that closely. Another good option can be achieved by adding a ring and using amsteel. Both amsteel and muletape require a 1" strap around the tree.

Mule tape: (8ft*2.975g/ft) = 23.8g
Amsteel + ring: (8ft*1.522g/ft+11g) = 23.176g
and for those that want to die...
Dynaglide + ring: (8ft*0.76g/ft+11g) = 17.08g

Make a full turn around the ring before tying off in order to take some of the load off the knot and you're good. If it slips put a toggle in the loop or make a bite or two in the tail left over and put it through.

Edit: I will add that I would find the muletape to be a great solution if you could use it for the entire length. However, you should be using 1in minimum straps. Once I have to do that, I figure I might as well be tying on to something smaller and lighter like amteel. Dutch now sells kevlar which is 3.3g/ft I believe. Not much more weight than muletape and probably more durable if you wanted to use a strap for the whole length.

[MiriRose]

mophead, out of curiousity, what are your thoughts on a) larks-heading together an Amsteel loop and a 1" polyester webbing loop and b) the Dutch Hook (not the speed hook!)?

[mophead]

mophead, out of curiousity, what are your thoughts on a) larks-heading together an Amsteel loop and a 1" polyester webbing loop and b) the Dutch Hook (not the speed hook!)?

A) that's commonly done here and I do it all the time. What makes me nervous is when Amsteel is being pinched or compressed under my body weight. When I tried the slippery sheet bend with mule tape the Amsteel was pretty deformed after a night in the hammock.

Now, maybe this was only temporary deformation and the Amsteel was still in good shape but it appeared bad enough to make me look elsewhere.

B). His whoopie hooks? I've never used them so can't say much about them. I have used whoopies though an didn't care much for them. Too finicky for me... and all the extra line. They do work and things can be done about the min hang distance but I find it a lot easier to have two single stands.

I'm still waiting to see what Dutch comes up with for speed hook 2.0. But in the mean time I'm at least achieving the same principle using a ring/knot combo instead of a hook.