I need some feedback on my DIY beach hammock stand.

[latriper]

My family has a beach trip coming up in a few days and I REALLY wanted to be able to hang on the beach albeit farther away from the water than most. ( I don't want to have my guy lines getting in people's way)
Basically, my design comes from Derek Hansen's design for a three person stand but just for one person.

http://theultimatehang.com/2013/04/3...hammock-stand/.

So here it is.

1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg

The last picture was taken as I was laying in the hammock.

I would like to get everyone's feed back on a few things.
I am 6' 1" and 255 lbs. I used 5/64 dyneema (rated at 1,000 lbs) for the tie out cordage, I also used 2x4 instead of 2x3's. The picture shows it set up using the length of cordage specified in Derek's illustration (14'). I will move the 2x4's closer together as they are farther apart than needed and lower my hammock attachment points but...

1. What about shortening the distance from the 2x4 to rebar? Any reason this couldn't be shortened from 14' to 8' or so?

2. What about cutting the 2x4 in half and installing a hinge on one side with some sort of clevis pin on the other side to lock it in the open position and make it more portable?

3. Will 3' rebar be enough to hold me in the sand? (Destin, FL)

Let me know what you think and any advise would be appreciated!
Thanks!

[latriper]

Anybody??...Bueller........Bueller

[joe_guilbeau]

Pour water over the rebar after staking out, it will help the set.... and by the way...You're gonna Die!

[latriper]

Thanks...I hope not. But Sgt. Rock says so too! Lol!!

[Gadgetgeek]

I used to set up free-form marquee tents, think circus tent made of spandex. Anywho, when we were in soft ground, we tried to keep the guylines as far out as possible, so that the forces were not pulling up on the stakes as much (we used 1M 25mm rebar stakes) these things had to hold a lot of strain. In general we would go for about a 45 degree angle of the guyline in most conditions, but with the smaller tents, and good ground, we could go around 70. That was with the stake going in at a good 45-50 degree angle, and they were a real pig to pull up. In sand because we would want to go as deep as possible, the stakes would go in at an 80* angle or so, and farther back to compensate, sometimes even to a 20* angle. There is no way to know what the sand is going to be like, you just need to try it out. Personally I would try to have extras just in case you find rocks you have to work around, or the sand is fluffier than you need. one trick we would use was to do two pegs lined up with the pole, so that instead of having a wide spread of lines, you make a corridor. Looks nicer when you have four lines out, than trying to get them all in a nice arc, and tied evenly. In sand we found that more was better than deeper, since if the sand is only locking the peg with the last six inches, there is a lot of leverage against it, and its far more work to overcome that. so instead, accuracy by volume!

[Beckyinma]

Bright pink marker tape on the guy lines too!

[latriper]

Bright pink marker tape on the guy lines too!

Thanks, I have some chartreuse marker tape and will use that...if I get to carry it.

[joe_guilbeau]

This may help... From the Ashley Book of Knots
Untitled.jpg

[latriper]

This may help... From the Ashley Book of Knots
Untitled.jpg

Thanks! I believe I have seen something like this. One picture showed one main stake with three others attached to it in a fan shape behind it.
I was thinking about cutting the 2x4's in half and hinging one side and putting a strong pin on the other side to make transportation easier. Sadly, I was not able to get all of that done so I was not able to bring them on the trip. I did bring my Dyneema guy lines and some 12" steel tent stakes so I will try to put something together on the fly.
Thanks again!