Best Suspension for Arthritic Hands?

[pgibson]

I think that Cinch Buckles would be the best, The ones we have feed both directions with little to no effort. They release with only a little bit of slack on the suspension lines. But at the same time as soon as they are loaded they grab ahold and hang on to the webbing very well. I would recommend Whoopie's but they use such small diameter line that may be difficult to get ahold of.

Paul

[SweetLou]

the oldgringo has exactly the right idea. Sadly the commercial offerings come up short. The slap straps are made of nylon, which stretches. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING ???? On the treklight thing, you want webbing, not rope around the trees.

What I'd do .... take a polypro tree hugger, attach to the tree with a Dutch clip. Have tied to to the end of the tree hugger some length of strong cord where loops are tied on periodically (I've done exactly this with Spyderline, and the alpine butterfly . ) On the hammock end, line with a carbiner attached. To attach hammock, clip carbiner on suitable loop.

I suspect one of the HF cottage industry guys would be happy to make something like that for you. Or I could.

Grizz

Sounds interesting. I am interested in the Dutch clips and webbing for around the tree. Thanks for offering to make one, but I want to do this on my own. I'm learning to sew and making knots. Oh, and thanks for all the videos. They are great.

How far apart do you think the loops should be? I ordered some Amsteel rope from Redden. Someone had a link to their site here, so I assume it will be good for suspension.

[GrizzlyAdams]

...
How far apart do you think the loops should be? I ordered some Amsteel rope from Redden. Someone had a link to their site here, so I assume it will be good for suspension.

I'd guess maybe 6" apart.

Amsteel is good in general for suspension, but the alpine butterfly might not hold in it. I had problems with that when I was experimenting---loops that were between the tree and the clipped one have tension on both ends of the loop, and they collapsed. These problems disappeared when I used a sheathed cord (Spyderline). There are other knots though that would hold better, e.g., a figure-8.

This approach will use quite a lot of cord, figure x3 more maybe for a given length to span, e.g. 6'. Fortunately Amsteel is light.

Grizz

[Knotty]

The suggestion of a sheathed cord makes sense if using an approach that requires knots in the line. Amsteel is so slick that almost any knot can slip.

[oldgringo]

You could also dispense with the cord altogether...just make slapstraps out of polyester webbing.

[SweetLou]

Those Slapstraps looks interesting also.

Thanks for all the help. I now have a couple of ideas that I will try and see which is best for me. I'm thinking the cinch buckle might be the easiest, I'll see.

[Knotty]

To me, avoiding any knots would be the key. Webbing with cinch buckles or triglides sounds good. I think whoopie slings would also be good but attach them to the tree huggers with a biner and avoid the marlin spike hitch.

[LyttleBryan]

The webbing and buckle setup that Warbonnet guy is using on his new Blackbirds is also ideal. The webbing with a Dutch Clip requires no knots, and the buckle is very very easy to loosen and tighten.

[SweetLou]

After having dealt with knots and rope, webbing suspensions and finally a whoopie sling setup I think that the whoopie sling setup would be the easiest to do / undo. Other than the marlin spike hitch for the toggle, there are no other knots to mess with. I am able to put a marlin spike hitch in the webbing easily with gloves on. The marlin spike comes apart with a simple tug on the toggle. Adjustability is fast, easy and secure. I don't think you will find an easier setup. That's my 2 cents worth anyhow. Cheers.

You might be correct. I made my first Whoopie Sling tonight and I like it. My hand is hurting pretty good this evening and I found it very easy to adjust.

[chezrad]

I hope you find a solution that works for you. Not being able to do what you want to accomplish because of pain is really frustrating. Cheers.